Since independence from
Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and
military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian
dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path
to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was
characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging
of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early
1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the
country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war
in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a
transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA,
after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003,
after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a
bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim
president. In 2005, former President VIEIRA was re-elected president
pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation.
Geography
Guinea-Bissau
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the
North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Geographic coordinates:
12 00 N, 15 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 36,120 sq km
land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than three times
the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries:
total: 724 km
border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km
tropical; generally hot and
humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly
winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
Terrain:
mostly low coastal plain rising
to savanna in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic
Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location in the northeast
corner of the country 300 m
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of
the selected agreements
Geography - note:
this small country is swampy
along its western coast and low-lying inland
total: 19.2 years
male: 18.6 years female: 19.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.035% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
36.4 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
16.05 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69
male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 101.64
deaths/1,000 live births male: 111.74 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 91.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 47.52
years male: 45.71 years female: 49.39 years (2008
est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.72 children born/woman (2008
est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
10% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
17,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,200 (2001 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very
high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal
diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases:
malaria and yellow fever water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Guinean(s)
adjective: Guinean
Ethnic groups:
African 99% (includes Balanta
30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto
less than 1%
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim
45%, Christian 5%
Languages:
Portuguese (official), Crioulo,
African languages
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 42.4%
male: 58.1% female: 27.4% (2003 est.)
Government
Guinea-Bissau
Country name:
conventional long form:
Republic of Guinea-Bissau conventional short form:
Guinea-Bissau local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau
local short form: Guine-Bissau former: Portuguese
Guinea
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Bissau
geographic coordinates: 11 51 N, 15 35 W time
difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
Administrative divisions:
9 regions (regioes, singular -
regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara,
Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos
Independence:
24 September 1973 (declared);
10 September 1974 (from Portugal)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 24 September
(1973)
Constitution:
16 May 1984; amended 4 May
1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and in 1996
Legal system:
based on French civil law;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA (since 1 October 2005) head
of government: Prime Minister Martinho N'Dafa CABI (since 9 April
2007) cabinet: NA elections: president elected by
popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 24
July 2005 (next to be held in 2010); prime minister appointed by the
president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature
election results: Joao Bernardo VIEIRA elected president;
percent of vote, second ballot - Joao Bernardo VIEIRA 52.4%, Malam Bacai
SANHA 47.6%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National People's
Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 28
March 2004 (next to be held 16 November 2008) election results:
percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%,
APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2%; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD
17, UE 2, APU 1
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Supremo
Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president
and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil
cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of
appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil
cases valued at more than $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not
necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases valued at less than
$1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)
Political parties and leaders:
African Party for the
Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES
Junior]; Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Democratic Social
Front or FDS; Electoral Union or UE; Guinea-Bissau Civic Forum/Social
Democracy or FCGSD [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; Guinea-Bissau Democratic Party
or PDG; Guinea-Bissau Socialist Democratic Party or PDSG [Serifo BALDE];
Labor and Solidarity Party or PST [Iancuba INDJAI]; Party for Democratic
Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Party for Renewal and Progress or
PRP; Progress Party or PP [Ibrahima SOW]; Union for Change or UM [Amine
SAAD]; Union of Guinean Patriots or UPG [Francisca VAZ]; United Platform
or UP (coalition formed by PCD, FDS, FLING, and RGB-MB); United Popular
Alliance or APU; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD
chief of mission: none;
note - Guinea-Bissau does not have official representation in Washington,
DC
Diplomatic representation from the US:
the US Embassy suspended
operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces
loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta; the US Ambassador
to Senegal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of
yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there
is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular
pan-African colors of Ethiopia
Economy
Guinea-Bissau
Economy - overview:
One of the five poorest
countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and
fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the
country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish
and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber.
Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting
between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed
much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the
economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with
partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade reform and price
liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural
adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary
policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to
reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of
petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term
prospect. Offshore oil prospecting is underway in several sectors but has
not yet led to commercially viable crude deposits. The inequality of
income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The
government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward
economic development from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the
World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency
budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing
over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision,
however, resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06. Higher raw material
prices boosted growth to 3.7% in 2007.
foodstuffs, machinery and
transport equipment, petroleum products
Imports - partners:
Portugal 18.7%, Senegal 16.3%,
Italy 13%, Pakistan 4.5% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$79.12 million (2005)
Debt - external:
$941.5 million (2000 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
Currency (code):
Communaute Financiere Africaine
franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West
African States
Currency code:
XOF; GWP
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine
francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005),
528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF
franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications
Guinea-Bissau
Telephones - main lines in use:
10,200 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
95,000 (2005)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
small system domestic: combination of microwave radio relay,
open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications; fixed-line
teledensity less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity
reached 7 per 100 in 2005 international: country code - 245
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1 (transmitter out of
service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2001)
Radios:
49,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
NA (2005)
Televisions:
NA
Internet country code:
.gw
Internet hosts:
0 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
2 (2002)
Internet users:
37,000 (2006)
Transportation
Guinea-Bissau
Airports:
27 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3 over
3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1
(2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 24 1,524
to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 19
(2007)
Roadways:
total: 3,455 km
paved: 965 km unpaved: 2,490 km (2002)
Waterways:
rivers are navigable for some
distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of
interior (2007)
Ports and terminals:
Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim
Military
Guinea-Bissau
Military branches:
People's Revolutionary Armed
Force (FARP): Army, Navy, Air Force; paramilitary force
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for selective
compulsory military service (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 344,087
females age 16-49: 347,886 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 188,605
females age 16-49: 195,429 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
3.1% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
Guinea-Bissau
Disputes - international:
in 2006, political instability
within Senegal's Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese
refugees, cross-border raids, and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of
origin): 7,454 (Senegal) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
increasingly important transit
country for South American cocaine enroute to Europe; enabling environment
for trafficker operations thanks to pervasive corruption; archipelago-like
geography around the capital facilitates drug smuggling
