Fa d’Ambô is the language of the island of Annobón in the Gulf of Guinea. It probably developed from the creole of São Tomé as it was spoken at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Most of the c. 5,000 speakers live on the island of Annobón and in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. On Annobón, people speak Fa d’Ambô most of the time, while they speak Spanish, the official language of the country, only in formal contexts, e.g. in the educational system. In Malabo the situation is much more complicated as it is a melting pot of languages, including the vernacular language Pichi, an English-based creole. Probably close to 100% of the men are at least bilingual, as they usually go to Malabo to work. For women this percentage is lower. Some of them have never left the island and have used Spanish only in school.