Fernando Poo (also written Fernando Pó), an island off the west coast of Africa, is part of Equatorial Guinea. Fernando Poo issued its own stamps (thanks to its colonizer Spain) as early as 1868, and continued to issue stamps until 1968. (The island is now called Bioko.)
Like Río Muni, Fernando Poo was a separate colony of Spain until becoming part of the larger entity called Spanish Guinea in 1926. Despite this, and the fact that Spanish Guinea had its own stamps, Fernando Poo still issued its own stamps during the ensuing decades.
For collectors of Spanish colonial stamps or of African stamps, the various issues of Fernando Poo, which was named for Fernão do Pó, continue to hold a lot of interest. Fernão do Pó of Portugal was the first European to visit the island in 1472. The older issues of 1905 and 1907 are particularly popular.
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Since 1972, the island has been called Bioko, and since 1968 has been using the same stamps as the rest of Equatorial Guinea.
