San Antonio de Palé

San Antonio de Palé
The town with Annobón Airport to the right
Location of San Antonio de Palé on the island of Annobón
Country	Equatorial Guinea
Province	Annobón
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2015 Census)
• Total	5,314

San Antonio de Palé, formerly known as St Antony, São Antonio de Praia and Palea, is the capital of Annobón (an island in Equatorial Guinea that was once part of the Spanish Empire in Africa).

The town has 600 inhabitants, the majority of whom speak the Annobonese Creole. It is located in the extreme north of the island, which is the driest and flattest area. It is home to Annobón Airport, a dock, a hospital, a school, a lighthouse, a radio station, and a Catholic mission.

History

Founded by Portuguese explorers, the town served as a center of evangelization for runaway slaves from Angola. Capuchin and Carmelite missionaries first made the town their base in 1580. It passed under Spanish sovereignty in 1778, along with the rest of Annobón, but the population rebelled and removed Spanish authority until the final decades of the 19th century. In 1801, the British constructed a small fort there, and later on, in 1827, Spain rented out the area around San Antonio as a British base to repress the slave trade. The town remained a small village with only a rudimentary church through the 19th century.

References

• Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Anno Bom" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 72.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Annobon" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 74.