text:
History of Guinea-Bissau

People have inhabited the region now known as Guinea-Bissau for thousands of years. In the 13th century, it became a province of the Mali Empire that later became independent as the Empire of Kaabu. Portugal claimed the region beginning in the 1450s. During most of this period, Portuguese control of the region was limited to a number of forts along the coast. Portugal gained full control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–15. The offshore Bijagos islands were not colonised until 1936. After gaining independence in 1974, the country was controlled by a single-party system until 1991. The introduction of multi-party politics in 1991 brought the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out in 1998 and lasted until 1999.

Peoples
The history of the region has not been extensively documented in archaeological records. It had a population of hunter-gatherers by 1000 AD. Agriculturists using iron tools shortly followed.

The oldest inhabitants were the Jola, Papel, Manjak, Balanta, and Biafada peoples. Later, the Mandinka and Fulani migrated into the region, pushing the earlier inhabitants towards the coast. A small number of Mandinka had been present in the region as early as the 11th century, but they migrated en masse in the 13th century as Senegambia was incorporated into the Mali Empire by General Tiramakhan Traore, who founded Kaabu. A process of 'Mandinkization' ensued. The Fulani arrived as early as the 12th century as semi-nomadic herders, but did not have a large presence until the 15th century.

The Balanta and Jola had weak or nonexistent institutions of kingship with an emphasis on heads of villages and families. The Mandinka, Fula, Papel, Manjak, and Biafada chiefs were vassals to kings. Their customs, rites, and ceremonies varied, but nobles commanded all the major positions, including the judicial system. Social stratification was seen in people's clothing and accessories, housing materials, and transportation options.

Trade was widespread between ethnic groups. Items traded included pepper and kola nuts from the southern forests, iron from the savannah-forest zone, salt and dried fish from the coast, and Mandinka cotton cloth. The products were commonly sold at markets and fairs held every seven or eight days, which were sometimes attended by several thousand buyers and sellers from up to 60 miles away. Weapons were prohibited in the marketplace, and soldiers were positioned around the area to keep order throughout the day. Sections of the market were allocated for specific products, except for wine, which could be sold anywhere.

Origins
Kaabu was first established in the 13th century. It existed as a province of Mali through the conquest of Senegambia by a general of Sundiata Keita named Tiramakhan Traore. According to oral tradition, Tiramakhan Traore invaded the region to punish the Wolof king for having insulted Sundiata and followed by going south of the Gambia River and into the Casamance. This initiated a migration of Mandinka into the region. By the 14th century, much of Guinea-Bissau was under the administration of Mali and ruled by a farim kaabu (commander of Kaabu).

The Empire of Mali declined gradually, beginning in the 14th century. Formerly secure possessions in what is now Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau were cut off by the expanding power of Koli Tenguella in the early 16th century. Kaabu became an independent federation of kingdoms, the most powerful western Mandinka state of the period. .

Society
Kaabu's ruling classes were composed of elite warriors known as the Nyancho who traced their patrilineal lineage back to Tiramakhan Traore. The Nyancho were a warrior culture, reputed to be excellent cavalrymen and raiders. The Kaabu Mansaba was seated in Kansala, today known as Gabu, in the eastern Geba region. Malian imperial history was central to Kaabu culture, maintaining its major institutions and the lingua franca of Mandinka. Individuals from other ethnic backgrounds often became assimilated into this dominant culture, and frequent inter-ethnic marriages assisted the process.

The slave trade dominated the economy, enriching the warrior classes with imported cloth, beads, metal ware, and firearms. Trade networks to North Africa were dominant up to the 14th century, with coastal trade with the Europeans increasing beginning in the 15th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries an estimated 700 slaves left the region annually, many of them from Kaabu.

Decline
In the late 18th century, the rise of the Imamate of Futa Jallon to the east posed a powerful challenge to animist Kaabu. During the first half of the 19th century, civil war erupted as local Fula people sought independence. This long-running conflict led to the 1867 Battle of Kansala. A Fula army led by Alpha Molo Balde laid siege to the earthen walls of Kansala for 11 days. The Mandinka kept the Fulani from climbing the walls for a time, but were eventually overwhelmed. The Mansaba Dianke Walli, seeing that he would lose, ordered his troops to set the city's gunpowder on fire, killing the Mandinka defenders alongside most of the invading army. The loss of Kansala marked the end of the Kaabu empire and the rise of the Fuladu kingdom, though some smaller Mandinka kingdoms survived until their absorption by the Portuguese.

Biafada kingdoms
The Biafada people inhabited the area around the Rio Grande de Buba in three kingdoms: Biguba, Guinala, and Bissege. The former two were important ports with significant lançado communities. They were subjects of the Mandinka mansa of Kaabu.

Kingdom of Bissau
According to oral tradition, the Kingdom of Bissau was founded by the son of the king of Quinara (Guinala) who moved to the area with his pregnant sister, his six wives, and the subjects of his father's kingdom. Relations between the kingdom and the Portuguese were initially warm, but deteriorated over time.

The kingdom strongly defended its sovereignty against the Portuguese "pacification campaigns," defeating them in 1891, 1894, and 1904. In 1915, the Portuguese, under the command of officer Teixeira Pinto and warlord Abdul Injai, fully absorbed the kingdom.

Bijagos
In the Bijagos Islands, different islands were populated by people of different ethnic origins, leading to great cultural diversity in the archipelago.

Bijago society was warlike. Men were dedicated to building boats and raiding the mainland, attacking the coastal peoples as well as other islands. Women cultivated land, constructed houses, and gathered food, and could choose their husbands, generally warriors with the best reputation. Successful warriors could have many wives and boats, and were entitled to one-third of the spoils of the boat from any expedition.

Bijago night raids on coastal settlements had significant impact on the societies attacked. Portuguese traders on the mainland tried to stop the raids, as they hurt the local economy, but the islanders also sold considerable numbers of slaves to the Europeans, who frequently pushed for more captives. The Bijagos themselves were mostly safe from enslavement, out of the reach of mainland slave traders. Portuguese sources say the children made good slaves but not the adults, who were likely to commit suicide, lead rebellions aboard slave ships, or escape upon reaching the New World.

15th–16th centuries
The first Europeans to reach Guinea-Bissau were the Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto in 1455, Portuguese explorer Diogo Gomes in 1456, Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pareira in the 1480s, and Flemish explorer Eustache de la Fosse in 1479–1480. The region was known to the Portuguese as 'The Guinea of Cape Verde', and Santiago was the administrative capital and the source of most of its white settlers.

Although the Portuguese authorities initially discouraged European settlement on the mainland, this prohibition was ignored by lançados and tangomãos who assimilated into indigenous culture and customs. They were mainly from impoverished backgrounds, traders from Cape Verde or people exiled from Portugal, often of Jewish and/or New Christian background. They ignored Portuguese trade regulations banning entering the region or trading without a royal licence, shipping out of unauthorised ports, or assimilating into the native community. In 1520 they reduced measures against the lançados, and trade and settlements increased on the mainland populated by the Portuguese and native traders, as well some Spanish, Genoese, English, French, and Dutch.

With the region's rivers possessing no natural harbours, the lançados and native traders navigated riverways and creeks in small boats purchased from European ships or manufactured locally by trained grumetes (native African sailors, both slave and free). The main ports were Cacheu, Bissau, and Guinala, and each river also sported trading centers such as Toubaboudougou at their furthest navigable point that traded directly with the interior for resources such as gum arabic, ivory, hides, civet, dyes, slaves, and gold. A small number of European settlers established isolated farms along the rivers. Meanwhile, local African rulers generally refused to allow Europeans into the interior, to ensure their control of trade routes.

Europeans were not accepted in all communities, with the Jolas, Balantas, and Bijagos initially hostile. The other ethnicities of the region all harboured communities of lançados, who were subject to taxation and the laws and customs of the community they lived in, including the local courts. Disputes became increasingly frequent and serious in the late 1500s as the foreign traders sought to influence the host societies to their benefit. Under pressure from hostile locals, the Portuguese abandoned the settlement of Buguendo near Cacheu in 1580 and Guinala in 1583, where they retreated to a fort. In 1590 they built a fort at Cacheu, which the local Manjaks unsuccessfully stormed shortly after its construction. These forts, poorly manned and provisioned, were unable to completely free the lançados from their responsibilities to the native monarchs, their hosts, who themselves could not kick the traders out as goods that they brought in were in high demand with the upper class.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese monopoly was being increasingly challenged. In 1580 the Iberian Union unified the crowns of Portugal and Spain, leading to the attack of Portuguese possessions in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde by Spain's enemies. French, Dutch, and English ships increasingly came to trade with the natives and the independent-minded lançados.

17th–18th centuries
In the early 17th century the government attempted to force all Guinean trade to go through Santiago and to promote trade and settlement on the mainland while restricting the sale of weapons to the locals. These efforts were largely unsuccessful. With the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, King João IV attempted to restrict the Spanish trade in Guinea that had flourished for the previous 60 years. The Afro-Portuguese in Bissau, Guinala, Geba, and Cacheu swore allegiance to the Portuguese king, but were not in a position to deny the free trade that the African kings, who now saw European products as necessities, demanded. In Cacheu famine had wiped out the slave troops in charge of defending the fort, the water supply remained in Manjak hands, and the lançados (and their Africanized descendants) were no more enthused about losing customers than the locals, so Captain-Major Luis de Magalhães had no choice but to lift the embargo.

In 1641 the Conselho Ultramarino replaced de Magalhães with Gonçalo de Gamboa de Ayala. He had some success winning over local leaders and stopping Spanish ships at Cacheu. In Bissau, however, two Spanish ships entered and were afforded full protection by the King of Bissau. Ayala threatened violent repercussions, but nothing came of it. He did successfully resettle the Afro-European community of Geba to Farim northeast of Cacheu. The Portuguese were never able to impose their monopolistic vision on the local and Afro-European traders, as the economic interests of the native leaders and Afro-European merchants never fully aligned with theirs. During this period the power of the Mali Empire in the region was dissipating, and the farim of Kaabu, the king of Kassa and other local rulers began to assert their independence.

In the early 1700s the Portuguese abandoned Bissau and retreated to Cacheu after the captain-major was captured and killed by the local king. They would not return until the 1750s. Meanwhile, the Cacheu and Cape Verde Company shut down in 1706. For a brief period in the 1790s, the British tried to establish a foothold on Bolama.

Slave trade
Guinea-Bissau was among the first regions touched by the Atlantic slave trade and, while it did not produce the same number of enslaved people as other regions, the impact was still significant. At first slaves were mainly sent to Cape Verde and the Iberian Peninsula, with the Madeira and the Canary Islands seeing an influx at lower volumes. In Cape Verde especially they were instrumental in developing the plantation economy, growing indigo and cotton and weaving panos cloth that became a standard currency in West Africa.

From 1580 to 1640 many slaves from Guinea-Bissau were destined for the Spanish West Indies, with an average of 3000 shipped every year from Guinala alone. The 17th and 18th centuries saw thousands of people taken from the region every year by Portuguese, French, and British companies. The Fula jihads and specifically the wars between the Imamate of Futa Jallon and Kaabu provided many of these.

There were four main ways in which people were enslaved: as punishment for law breaking, selling themselves or relatives during famines, kidnapped by native marauders or European raiders, or as prisoners of war. Most slaves were bought by Europeans from local rulers or traders. Every ethnicity in the region participated in the trade with the exception of the Balantas and Jolas. Most wars were waged for the sole purpose of capturing slaves to sell to the Europeans in exchange for imported goods, such that they resembled man-hunts more than conflicts over territory or political power. The nobles and kings benefited, while the common people bore the brunt of the raiding and insecurity. If a noble was captured they were likely to be released, as the captors, whoever they were, would generally accept a ransom in exchange for their freedom. The relationship between kings and European traders was a partnership, with the two regularly making deals on how the trade was to be conducted, who was to be enslaved and who was not, and the prices of the slaves. Contemporary chroniclers Fernão Guerreiro and Mateo de Anguiano questioned multiple kings on their part in the slave trade, noting that they recognised the trade as evil but participated because the Europeans would buy no other goods from them.

Beginning in the late 18th century, European countries gradually began slowing and/or abolishing the slave trade. The British navy and, to a more half-hearted extent, the U.S. Navy attempted to intercept slavers off the coast of Guinea in the first half of the 19th century. This restriction of supply, however, only increased prices and intensified illegal slave-trading activity. Portugal abandoned slavery in 1869 and Brazil in 1888, but a system of contract labor replaced it that was only barely better for the workers.

Colonialism
Up until the late 1800s, Portuguese control of their 'colony' outside of their forts and trading posts was a fiction. African rulers held power in the countryside, and frequent attacks and assassinations against the Portuguese marked the middle decades of the century. Guinea-Bissau became the scene of increased European colonial competition beginning in the 1860s. The dispute over the status of Bolama was resolved in Portugal's favor through the mediation of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870, but French encroachment on Portuguese claims continued. In 1886 the Casamance region of what is now Senegal was ceded to them. \

Attempting to shore up domestic finances and strengthen the grip on the colony, in 1891 António José Enes, Minister of Marine and Colonies, reformed tax laws and granted concessions in Guinea, mainly to foreign companies, to increase exports. The modest increase in government income, however, did not defray the cost of the troops used to impose the taxes. Resistance continued throughout the area, but these reforms laid the groundwork for future military expansion.

To meet the Berlin Congress standard of 'effective occupation', the Portuguese colonial government embarked on a series of 'pacification campaigns' that were mostly military failures up until the arrival of Capt. João Teixeira Pinto in 1912. Supported by a large mercenary army commanded by Senegalese fugitive Abdul Injai, he quickly and brutally crushed local resistance on the mainland. Three more bloody campaigns in 1917, 1925, and 1936 were required to 'pacify' the Bissagos Islands. Portuguese Guinea remained a neglected backwater, however, with administration expenses exceeding revenue. In 1951, responding to anti-colonial criticism in the United Nations, the Portuguese government rebranded all of their colonies, including Portuguese Guinea, as overseas provinces (Províncias Ultramarines).

Struggle for independence

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded in 1956 under the leadership of Amílcar Cabral. Initially committed to peaceful methods, the 1959 Pidjiguiti massacre pushed the party towards more militarized tactics, leaning heavily on the political mobilization of the peasantry in the countryside. After years of planning and preparing from their base in Conakry, the PAIGC launched the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence on 23 January 1963.

Unlike guerrilla movements in other Portuguese colonies, the PAIGC rapidly extended its control over large portions of the territory. Aided by the jungle-like terrain, it had easy access to borders with neighbouring allies and large quantities of arms from Cuba, China, the Soviet Union, and left-leaning African countries. Cuba also agreed to supply artillery experts, doctors, and technicians. The PAIGC even managed to acquire a significant anti-aircraft capability in order to defend itself against aerial attack. By 1973, the PAIGC was in control of many parts of Guinea, although the movement suffered a setback in January 1973 when its founder and leader Amilcar Cabral was assassinated.

After Cabral's death, party leadership fell to Aristides Pereira, who would later become the first president of the Republic of Cape Verde. The PAIGC National Assembly met at Boe in the southeastern region and declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau on 24 September 1973. This was recognized by a 93–7 UN General Assembly vote in November.

Independence
Following Portugal's April 1974 Carnation Revolution, it granted independence to Guinea-Bissau on 10 September 1974. Luís Cabral, Amílcar Cabral's half-brother, became President. The United States recognised Guinea Bissau's independence on 10 September 1974.

In late 1980, the government was overthrown in a coup led by Prime Minister and former armed forces commander João Bernardo Vieira.

Democracy
In 1994, 20 years after independence from Portugal, the country's first multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held. An army uprising that triggered the Guinea-Bissau Civil War in 1998, created hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The president was ousted by a military junta on 7 May 1999. An interim government turned over power in February 2000 when opposition leader Kumba Ialá took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy has been complicated by a crippled economy devastated by civil war and military interference in government.

Presidency of Kumba Ialá
Despite reports that there had been an influx of arms in the weeks leading up to the election and reports of some 'disturbances during campaigning' – including attacks on the presidential palace and the Interior Ministry by as-yet-unidentified gunmen – European monitors labelled the election as "calm and organized".

In January 2000, the second round of a general election took place. The presidential election resulted in a victory for opposition leader Kumba Ialá of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), who defeated Malam Bacai Sanhá of the ruling PAIGC. The PRS were also victorious in the National People's Assembly election, winning 38 of the 102 seats.

2003 coup
In September 2003, a military coup led by Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Verissimo Correia Seabra took place. The sitting President Ialá as well as Prime Minister Mário Pires were placed under house arrest. After being delayed several times, legislative elections were held in March 2004. A mutiny of military factions in October 2004 resulted in the death of the General Correia Seabra causing widespread unrest.

Second presidency of João Bernardo Vieira
In June 2005, presidential elections were held for the first time since the 2003 coup. Deposed President Ialá returned as the candidate for the PRS, claiming to be the legitimate president of the country. The election was won by former president João Bernardo Vieira, deposed in the 1999 coup. Vieira beat Malam Bacai Sanhá in a run-off election. Sanhá initially refused to concede, claiming that tampering and electoral fraud occurred in two constituencies including the capital, Bissau.

Despite reports of arms entering the country prior to the election and some "disturbances during campaigning", including attacks on government offices by unidentified gunmen, foreign election monitors described the 2005 election overall as "calm and organized".

Three years later, PAIGC won a strong parliamentary majority, with 67 of 100 seats, in the parliamentary election held in November 2008. In November 2008, President Vieira's official residence was attacked by members of the armed forces, killing a guard but leaving the president unharmed.

On 2 March 2009, Vieira was assassinated by what preliminary reports indicated to be a group of soldiers avenging the death of the head of joint chiefs of staff, General Batista Tagme Na Wai, who had been killed in an explosion the day before. Vieira's death did not trigger widespread violence, but there were signs of turmoil in the country, according to the advocacy group Swisspeace. Military leaders in the country pledged to respect the constitutional order of succession. National Assembly Speaker Raimundo Pereira was appointed as an interim president until a nationwide election on 28 June 2009. It was won by Malam Bacai Sanhá of the PAIGC, against Kumba Ialá as the presidential candidate of the PRS.

2012 coup
On 9 January 2012, President Sanhá died of complications from diabetes, and Pereira was again appointed as an interim president. On the evening of 12 April 2012, members of the country's military staged a coup d'état and arrested Pereira as well as a leading presidential candidate. Former vice chief of staff, General Mamadu Ture Kuruma, assumed control of the country in the transitional period and started negotiations with opposition parties.

Presidencies of José Mário Vaz and Umaro Sissoco Embaló
José Mário Vaz was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 2014 until 2019 presidential elections. At the end of his term, Vaz became the first elected president to complete his five-year mandate. He lost the 2019 election to Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who took office in February 2020. Embaló is the first president to be elected without the backing of the PAIGC.

In February 2022, there was a failed coup attempt against President Embaló. According to Embaló, the coup attempt was linked to drug trafficking. Another coup attempt in 2023 resulted in clashes between government forces and the National Guard.

title: History of Guinea-Bissau


text:
Geography of Guinea-Bissau

The geography of Guinea-Bissau is that of low coastal plains bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The country borders Senegal in the north and Guinea in the southeast.

Terrain and ecology

The terrain of Guinea-Bissau is mostly low coastal plain with swamps of Guinean mangroves rising to Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the east. A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 1,203km² of tidal flats in Guinea-Bissau, making it the 28th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area.

The lowest point on Guinea-Bissau is at sea level at the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point in Guinea-Bissau is Monte Torin with an elevation of 262 m.

Natural resources found in Guinea-Bissau include fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone and unexploited deposits of petroleum. 10.67% of the land is arable and 235.6 square kilometres are irrigated.

Natural hazards include a hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze that may reduce visibility during the dry season and brush fires. Severe environmental issues include deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing and overfishing.

Near the Senegal border there have been historic sightings of the painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus, but that endangered canid may now be extirpated in that locale.

Climate
Guinea-Bissau's climate is tropical. This means it is generally hot and humid. It has a monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds and a dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds. Guinea-Bissau is warm all year around and there is little temperature fluctuation; it averages 26.3 C. The average rainfall for the capital city Bissau is 2024 mm although this is almost entirely accounted for during the rainy season which falls between June and September/October. From December through April, the country receives very little rainfall.

Information from the CIA World Factbook

 * Location
 * Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal

 * Geographic coordinates
 * 12°N, -15°W

 * Map references
 * Area:
 * Total: 36,125 km²
 * country rank in the world: 134th
 * Land: 28,120 km²
 * Water: 8,005 km²

 * Area comparative
 * Australia comparative: slightly more than $1⁄2$ the size of Tasmania
 * Canada comparative: approximately $1⁄2$ the size of New Brunswick
 * United Kingdom comparative: approximately $3⁄5$ larger than Wales
 * United States comparative: approximately $1⁄8$ larger than Maryland
 * EU comparative: slightly more than $1⁄2$ the size of Ireland

 * Land boundaries
 * Total: 762 km
 * Border countries: Guinea 421 km, Senegal 341 km
 * Coastline
 * 350 km

 * Maritime claims
 * Territorial sea: 12 nmi
 * Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi
 * 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

 * Natural resources
 * Fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum

 * Land use:
 * Arable land: 10.67%
 * Permanent crops: 8.89%
 * Other: 80.44% (2012 est.)

 * Irrigated land
 * 223.6 km2 (2003)

 * Total renewable water resources
 * 31 km3

 * Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
 * Total: 0.18 km3/yr (18%/6%/76%)
 * Per capita: 135.7 m3/yr (2005)

 * Natural hazards
 * Hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires

 * Environment—current issues:
 * Deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing

 * Environment—international agreements:
 * Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
 * Signed, but not ratified: None of the selected agreements

Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Guinea-Bissau, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

 * Northernmost point – the northern section of the border with Senegal*
 * Easternmost point – unnamed location on the border with Guinea immediately south-west of the Guinean village of Sofan, Gabú Region
 * Southernmost point – unnamed headland on Ilha Cataque, Tombali Region
 * Westernmost point - Cape Roxo at the point where the border with Senegal enters the Atlantic Ocean, Cacheu Region
 * *Note: Guinea-Bissau does not have a northernmost point, the border here being formed by a straight horizontal line

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Geography of Guinea-Bissau


text:
Demographics of Guinea-Bissau

This is a demography of the population of Guinea-Bissau including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Ethnic groups
The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse with distinct languages, customs, and social structures. Most Guineans, 99%, are Black people — mostly Fula and Mandinka-speakers concentrated in the north and northeast, the Balanta and Papel, living in the southern coastal regions, and the Manjaco and Mancanha, occupying the central and northern coastal areas.

Most of the rest, 1% of its total population, are mestiços of mixed Portuguese and black descent, including Cape Verdean minority. Due to the exodus of most Portuguese settlers after independence, less than 1% of Guinea-Bissauans are pure Portuguese. The country also has a Chinese minority, including Macanese people of mixed Portuguese and Cantonese blood from Macau.

Most people are farmers. 38%-45% are Muslims - this makes Guinea-Bissau the only Portuguese-speaking nation with a sizable Muslim population. Most Muslims are Sunnis. The rest of the population are pagans, principally the Balanta, and Christians, mostly Roman Catholics.

Population
According to the 2022 revision of the world factbook the total population was 2,026,778 in 2022. The proportion of children below the age of 14 in 2020 was 43.17%, 53.75% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.08% was 65 years or older. The proportion of the population below the age of 15 in 2010 was 41.3%, 55.4% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.3% were aged 65 years or older.

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019) (Data refer to national projections.):

Vital statistics
Registration of vital events is in Guinea-Bissau not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.

 * One birth every 8 minutes
 * One death every 28 minutes
 * One net migrant every 360 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 11 minutes

The following demographic are from the independent Guinea-Bissau Statistical Service and from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

 * 2,026,778 (2022 est.)
 * 1,833,247 (July 2018 est.)
 * 1,596,677 (July 2011 est.)

Religions
Muslim 46.1%, folk religions 30.6%, Christian 18.9%, other or unaffiliated 4.4% (2020 est.)

Age structure

 * 0-14 years: 43.17% (male 417,810/female 414,105)
 * 15-24 years: 20.38% (male 192,451/female 200,370)
 * 25-54 years: 30.24% (male 275,416/female 307,387)
 * 55-64 years: 3.12% (male 29,549/female 30,661)
 * 65 years and over: 3.08% (male 25,291/female 34,064) (2020 est.)

 * 0-14 years: 43.55% (male 400,666 /female 397,704)
 * 15-24 years: 20.23% (male 181,286 /female 189,515)
 * 25-54 years: 29.9% (male 259,762 /female 288,300)
 * 55-64 years: 3.29% (male 27,621 /female 32,611)
 * 65 years and over: 3.04% (male 24,331 /female 31,451) (2018 est.)

Birth rate

 * 36.45 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 12nd
 * 37.3 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 13th

Death rate

 * 7.5 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 106th
 * 8.5 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 79th

Total fertility rate

 * 4.69 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 14th
 * 4.81 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 18th

Population growth rate

 * 2.53% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 21st
 * 2.48% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 23rd
 * 1.988% (2011 est.)

Median age

 * total: 18 years. Country comparison to the world: 214th
 * male: 17.4 years
 * female: 18.6 years (2020 est.)

 * total: 17.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 216th
 * male: 17.2 years
 * female: 18.5 years (2018 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

 * 20.6% (2018)
 * 16% (2014)

Net migration rate

 * -3.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 188th
 * -3.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 189th

Life expectancy at birth

 * total population: 63.68 years. Country comparison to the world: 207th
 * male: 61.45 years
 * female: 65.99 years (2022 est.)

 * total population: 61.4 years (2018 est.)
 * male: 59.2 years (2018 est.)
 * female: 63.6 years (2018 est.)

 * total population: 50.23 years
 * male: 48.21 years
 * female: 52.31 years (2015 est.)

Dependency ratios

 * total dependency ratio: 80.4 (2015 est.)
 * youth dependency ratio: 75.2 (2015 est.)
 * elderly dependency ratio: 5.2 (2015 est.)
 * potential support ratio: 19.3 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

 * urban population: 45% of total population (2022)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.22% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

 * urban population: 43.4% of total population (2018)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.41% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

 * at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
 * 0–14 years: 1 male(s)/female
 * 15–24 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
 * 25–54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
 * 55–64 years: 0.6 male(s)/female
 * 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
 * total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

Nationality

 * noun:Guinean (s)
 * adjective:Guinean

Ethnic groups

 * Fulani 28.5%
 * Balanta 22.5%
 * Mandinga 14.7%
 * Papel 9.1%
 * Manjaco 8.3%
 * Beafada 3.5%
 * Mancanha 3.1%
 * Bijago 2.1%
 * Felupe 1.7%
 * Mansoanca 1.4%
 * Balanta Mane 1%
 * Other 1.8%
 * None 2.2%

Languages

 * Crioulo 90.4%
 * Portuguese 27.1% (official)
 * French 5.1%
 * English 2.9%
 * Other 2.4%

Education expenditures

 * 2.9% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 155th

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
 * total population: 59.9%
 * male: 71.8%
 * female: 48.3% (2015 est.)

Major infectious diseases

 * degree of risk: very high (2020)
 * food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
 * vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
 * water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
 * animal contact diseases: rabies

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Guinea-Bissau is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an "infected" person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine.

title: Demographics of Guinea-Bissau


text:
Politics of Guinea-Bissau

The politics of Guinea-Bissau take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system, wherein the President is head of state and the Prime Minister is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National People's Assembly.

Since 1994, the Bissau-Guinean party system has been dominated by the socialist African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde and the Party for Social Renewal. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Despite the democratic, constitutional framework, the military has exercised substantial power, and has interfered repeatedly in civilian leadership since multi-party elections were instituted in 1994. In the past 16 years, Guinea-Bissau has experienced two coups, a civil war, an attempted coup, and a presidential assassination by the military. Since the country's independence in 1974, only one president successfully completed his five-year term, José Mário Vaz.

Political developments
In 1989, the ruling African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), under the direction of President João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, began to outline a political liberalization program which the People's National Assembly approved in 1991. Reforms that paved the way for multi-party democracy included the repeal of articles of the constitution, which had enshrined the leading role of the PAIGC. Laws were ratified to allow the formation of other political parties, a free press, and independent trade unions with the right to strike.

Guinea-Bissau's first multi-party elections for president and parliament were held in 1994. Following the 1998-99 civil war, presidential and legislative elections were again held, bringing opposition leader Kumba Ialá and his Party for Social Renewal to power. Ialá was ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2003, and Henrique Rosa was sworn in as president.

Former president Viera was once again elected as president in July 2005. The government of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior was elected in March 2004 in a free and fair election, but was replaced by the government of Prime Minister Aristides Gomes, which took office in November 2005. Gomes lost a no-confidence vote and submitted his resignation in March 2007.

Martinho Ndafa Kabi was then nominated as prime minister by a coalition composed of the PAIGC, the Social Renewal Party (PRS), and the United Social Democratic Party (PUSD). On April 9, 2007, it was announced that President João Bernardo Vieira had rejected the choice of Kabi, but the coalition said that they maintained him as their choice. Later that day, Vieira appointed Kabi as the new prime minister. Kabi took office on April 13, and his government, composed of 20 ministers (including eight from the PAIGC, eight from the PRS, and two from the PUSD) was named on April 17.

2009 assassination
President Viera was killed on March 2, 2009, by soldiers as retaliation for the killing of the head of the joint chiefs of staff, General Tagme Na Waie, who was murdered the previous day.

2010 military unrest
Prior to the 2008 election, a decision to change the electoral date and extend the parliamentary mandate resulted in major controversy when Assembly deputies snubbed the president and chose to extend their mandate. After the Supreme Court annulled that law, President Vieira dissolved the Assembly, thus allowing the standing committee to continue working, and appointed a new government composed of loyalists.

Rear Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto tried to organize a coup on August 7, 2008, but the attempt was put down. Na Tchuto managed to escape the country. The attempted coup added to instability ahead of parliamentary elections. Gambia subsequently arrested Na Tchuto. He later returned to Guinea-Bissau disguised as a fisherman, and took refuge at a UN compound. Although the UN agreed to surrender him to the government, Na Tchuto continued to reside in the compound. As a result of his return, security in the country was tightened, contributing to uncertainty and instability.

On April 1, 2010, soldiers entered UN offices and arrested Na Tchuto. The same day, more soldiers entered Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior's residence and detained him on the premises. Simultaneously, forty military officers, including Zamora Induta, head of Guinea-Bissau's armed forces, were confined at an army base. Hundreds of the PM's supporters demanded his release. In response, the deputy army chief, Antonio Indjai, said: "If the people continue to go out into the streets to show their support for Carlos Gomes Junior, then I will kill Carlos Gomes Junior ... or I will send someone to kill him."

The following day, the prime minister was taken to meet with the president where the president said: "I will not resign because I was democratically elected. I consider what happened on Thursday as an incident. The situation is now stable. I can assure you that institutions will return to their normal functions." The UN secretary general and other international powers condemned the move, while government ministers issued a statement saying "Members of government expressed their support and their attachment to the prime minister, and firmly condemned the use of force as a means to resolve problems." Tensions seemingly calmed, with President Sanha saying the coup attempt was "a confusion between soldiers that reached the government", and the UN Secretary General spoke about the PM's "detention and subsequent release." Nevertheless, while members of the cabinet and the international community condemned the attempted coup and talked about the PM's release, reports still indicated that "renegade soldiers" had the prime minister "under guard."

2011 attempted coup
After Army chief of staff General Antonio Indjai was reported arrested by the orders of navy chief Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, his troops freed him as Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior sought political asylum at the Angolan embassy. Indjai then said that his naval counterpart had been arrested. These events occurred while President Sanha had been in Paris, France for medical care.

2012 coup
On 12 April 2012, the military took over the central district of the capital. On 16 April, military leaders and a coalition of political parties announced the formation of a Transitional National Council, under international pressure.

2019 Disputed Election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 24 November 2019.

In the first round of voting, Domingos Simões Pereira led the field, with 40.13% of the vote. Incumbent president José Mário Vaz finished fourth in the first round of voting, failing to progress to the runoff. According to the preliminary and final results published by the national commission of elections, Umaro Sissoco Embaló won the runoff vote against Simões Pereira, 54% to 46%. Simões Pereira continues to dispute the results. Although neither the supreme court of Guinea-Bissau nor the parliament had given its approval for the official swearing-in ceremony, Sissoco Embaló had organized an alternative swearing-in ceremony in a hotel in Bissau to announce himself as legal president of Guinea-Bissau. Several politicians in Guinea-Bissau, including prime minister Aristides Gomes, accused Sissoco Embaló of arranging a Coup d'état, although outgoing president Mário Vaz stepped down to allow Embaló to take power.

Jose Mario Vaz was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 2014 until the 2019 presidential elections. For two decades Jose Mario Vaz was the first elected president who finished his five-year mandate. Umaro Sissoco Embaló was the winner of the election and he took office in February 2020. However he faced a last-minute stand-off with parliament before taking office. Embaló is the first president to be elected without the backing of the PAIGC.

Executive branch

 * President
 * Umaro Sissoco Embaló
 * Madem G15
 * 27 February 2020
 * Prime Minister
 * Geraldo Martins
 * Independent politician
 * 8 August 2023
 * }
 * }

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The prime minister is appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature.

Legislative branch

The National People's Assembly (Assembleia Nacional Popular) has 102 members, elected for four-year terms in multi-member constituencies.

Judicial branch
The Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal da Justiça) consists of nine justices, who are appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure. It is the final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases. Regional courts, one in each of the country's nine regions, are the first courts of appeal for sectoral court decisions, and hear all felony cases, as well as civil cases concerning more than $1,000. Below these are 24 sectoral Courts, presided over by judges who are not necessarily trained in the law, which hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases.

Administrative divisions
Guinea-Bissau is divided in 9 regions (regiões, singular - região): Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, and Tombali.

International organization participation
ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

title: Politics of Guinea-Bissau


text:
Economy of Guinea-Bissau

The economy of Guinea-Bissau comprises a mixture of state-owned and private companies. Guinea-Bissau is among the world's least developed nations and one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and depends mainly on agriculture and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country ranked ninth in cashew production for the year 2019.

Guinea-Bissau exports to Asia non-fillet frozen fish and seafood, peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. License fees for fishing in their sea-zone (Gulf of Guinea) provide the government with some small revenue. Rice is the major crop and staple food. Due to European regulations, fish and cashew-nuts exports to Europe are totally prohibited as well as agriculture products in general.

Early colonialism
From a European viewpoint, the economic history of the Guinea Coast is largely associated with slavery. Indeed, one of the alternative names for the region was the Slave Coast. When the Portuguese first sailed down the Atlantic coast of Africa in the 1430s, they were interested in gold. Ever since Mansa Musa, king of the Mali Empire, made his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325, with 500 slaves and 100 camels (each carrying gold) the region had become synonymous with such wealth. The trade from sub-Saharan Africa was controlled by the Islamic Empire which stretched along Africa's northern coast. Muslim trade routes across the Sahara, which had existed for centuries, involved salt, kola, textiles, fish, grain and slaves.

As the Portuguese extended their influence around the coast, Mauritania, Senegambia (by 1445) and Guinea, they created trading posts. Rather than becoming direct competitors to the Muslim merchants, the expanding market opportunities in Europe and the Mediterranean resulted in increased trade across the Sahara. In addition, the Portuguese merchants gained access to the interior via the Sénégal and Gambia rivers which bisected long-standing trans-Saharan routes.

The Portuguese brought in copper ware, cloth, tools, wine and horses. Trade goods soon also included arms and ammunition. In exchange, the Portuguese received gold (transported from mines of the Akan deposits), pepper (a trade which lasted until Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498) and ivory.

There was a very small market for African slaves as domestic workers in Europe, and as workers on the sugar plantations of the Mediterranean. The Portuguese found they could make considerable amounts of gold transporting slaves from one trading post to another, along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Muslim merchants had a high demand for slaves, which were used as porters on the trans-Saharan routes, and for sale in the Islamic Empire. The Portuguese found Muslim merchants entrenched along the African coast as far as the Bight of Benin.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the African slave trade, centuries old in Africa, was not yet the major feature of the coastal economy of Guinea. The expansion of trade occurs after the Portuguese reach this region in 1446, bringing great wealth to several local slave trading tribes. The Portuguese used slave labour to colonize and develop the previously uninhabited Cape Verde islands where they founded settlements and grew cotton and indigo. They then traded these goods, in the estuary of the Geba River, for black slaves captured by other black peoples in local African wars and raids.

The slaves were sold in Europe and, from the 16th century, in the Americas. The Company of Guinea was a Portuguese governative institution whose task was to deal with the spices and to fix the prices of the goods. It was called Casa da Guiné, Casa da Guiné e Mina from 1482 to 1483 and Casa da Índia e da Guiné in 1499. The local African rulers in Guinea, who prosper greatly from the slave trade, have no interest in allowing the Europeans any further inland than the fortified coastal settlements where the trading takes place. The Portuguese presence in Guinea was therefore largely limited to the port of Bissau.

Colonial era
As with the other Portuguese territories in mainland Africa (Portuguese Angola and Portuguese Mozambique), Portugal exercised control over the coastal areas of Portuguese Guinea when first laying claim to the whole region as a colony. For three decades there are costly and continuous campaigns to suppress the local African rulers. By 1915 this process was complete, enabling Portuguese colonial rule to progress in a relatively unruffled state - until the emergence of nationalist movements all over Africa in the 1950s.

For a brief period in the 1790s the British attempted to establish a rival foothold on an offshore island, at Bolama, but by the 19th century the Portuguese were sufficiently secure in Bissau to regard the neighbouring coastline as their own special territory. It was therefore natural for Portugal to lay claim to this region, soon to be known as Portuguese Guinea, when the European scramble for Africa began in the 1880s. Britain's interest in the region declined since the end of the British slave trade in 1807. After the abolition of slavery in the Portuguese overseas territories in the 1830s, the slave trade went into serious decline.

Portugal's main rivals were the French, their colonial neighbours along the coast on both sides - in Senegal and in the region which became French Guinea. The Portuguese presence in Guinea was not disputed by the French. The only point at issue was the precise line of the borders. This was established by agreement between the two colonial powers in two series of negotiations, in 1886 and 1902–5. Until the end of the 19th century, rubber was the main export.

As an overseas province
In 1951, when the Portuguese government overhauled the entire colonial system, all Portugal's colonies, including Portuguese Guinea, were renamed Overseas Provinces (Províncias Ultramarinas). New infrastructures were built for education, health, agriculture, transportation, commerce, services, and administration.

Cashew, peanut, rice, timber, livestock and fish were the main economic productions. The port of Bissau was one of the main employers and a very important source of taxes for the province's authorities.

Independence war
The fight for independence began in 1956, when Amílcar Cabral founded the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde), the PAIGC. In 1961, when a purely political campaign for independence had made predictably little progress, the PAIGC adopted guerrilla tactics. Although heavily outnumbered by Portuguese troops (approximately 30,000 Portuguese to some 10,000 guerrillas), the PAIGe had the great advantage of safe havens over the border in Senegal and Guinea, both recently independent of French rule.

Several communist countries supported the guerrillas with weapons and military training. The conflict in Portuguese Guinea involving the PAIGC guerrillas and the Portuguese Army was the most intense and damaging of all Portuguese Colonial War. Thus, during the 1960s and early 1970s, Portuguese development plans promoting strong economic growth and effective socioeconomic policies, like those applied by the Portuguese in the other two theaters of war (Portuguese Angola and Portuguese Mozambique), were not possible. In 1972 Cabral set up a government in exile in Conakry, the capital of neighbouring Guinea. It was there, in 1973, that he was assassinated outside his house - just a year before a left-wing military coup in Portugal dramatically altered the political situation.

By 1973 the PAIGC controlled most of the interior of the country, while the coastal and estuary towns, including the main population and economic centres, remained under Portuguese control. The village of Madina do Boé in the southeasternmost area of the territory, close to the border with neighbouring Guinea, was the location where PAIGC guerrillas declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau on September 24, 1973. The war in the colonies was increasingly unpopular in Portugal itself, as the people got weary of war and balked at its ever-rising expense. Following the coup d'état in Portugal in 1974, the new left-wing revolutionary government of Portugal began to negotiate with the PAIGC and decided to offer independence to all the overseas territories.

After independence
As his brother Amílcar Cabral had been assassinated in 1973, Luís Cabral became the first president of independent Guinea-Bissau in the time after independence was granted on September 10, 1974. Already as the President of Guinea-Bissau, Luís Cabral tried to impose a planned economy in the country, and supported a socialist model that left the economy of Guinea-Bissau itself ruined. Similarly, the repression imposed on the population by his authoritarian single-party regime, and severe food shortages, also left marks.

Luís Cabral served from 1974 to 1980, when a military coup d'état led by João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira deposed him. Despite having always denied it, Luís Cabral was accused of being responsible for the death of a large number of black Guinea-Bissauan soldiers who had fought along with the Portuguese Army against the PAIGC guerrillas during the Portuguese Colonial War. After the military coup, in 1980 PAIGC admitted in its official newspaper "Nó Pintcha" (dated November 29, 1980) that many were executed and buried in unmarked collective graves in the woods of Cumerá, Portogole and Mansabá. All these events did not help the new country to reach the level of prosperity, economic growth and development the new rulers had promised to its population.

In 1985 the first Chinese oversees fishing fleet to go abroad was sent to Guinea-Bissau, 13 trawlers from the China National Fisheries Corporation.

In May 1997 Guinea-Bissau joined the francophone West African Monetary Union. Consequently, National Bank of Guinea-Bissau was converted as a national branch of Central Bank of West African States, and the national currency Guinea Bissau peso was replaced by West African CFA franc.

Macro-economic trend
Following the April 2012 coup d'État growth plunged to reach -1.5% of GDP. In 2013, the country's GDP grew only by 0.9%. This low growth level during a period of democratic transition is explained by a combination of low administrative efficiency, low investments on account of the political instability and a bad cashew export season. Key macroeconomic indicators estimated by the African Development Bank are presented in the chart below: 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. Agricultural production is estimated to have fallen by 17% during the conflict. Cashew nut output, the main export crop, declined in 1998 by an estimated 30%. World cashew prices dropped by more than 50% in 2000, compounding the economic devastation caused by the conflict.

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. Under the government's post-conflict economic and financial program, implemented with IMF and World Bank input, real GDP recovered in 1999 by almost 8%. In December 2000 Guinea-Bissau qualified for almost $800 million in debt-service relief under the first phase of the enhanced HIPC initiative and is scheduled to submit its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in March 2002. Guinea-Bissau will receive the bulk of its assistance under the enhanced HIPC initiative when it satisfies a number of conditions, including implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. The country produces 400,000 barrels/day of petrol.

Mean wages were $0.52 per man-hour in 2009. In 2019 the minimal monthly wage was around 35000 CFA = US$60.

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.

Financial sector
The financial sector of Guinea-Bissau is relatively underdeveloped: in 2013, financial intermediation accounted for 4% of GDP, banking penetration is below 1% of the population (IMF 2013. Article IV Consultations – Guinea-Bissau, IMF Country Report No 13/197) and access to finance is cited as the second most important constraint for businesses. As of 2015, only four banks were operating in the country. According to the IMF, regional private foreign banks held about 65% of shares in the Bissau-Guinean banking system (IMF 2013). Banks are regulated by the WAEMU authorities. In the aftermath of the civil war (1998/1999), private sector credit had fallen below 1% of GDP. In 2003 the balance sheets of banks amounted to EUR 21.3 million. Since then credit to the economy has risen to nearly 13.8% of GDP.

"Terra Ranka" (A fresh start): a new economic plan
On March 25, 2015, the Government of Guinea-Bissau convened an international donor conference in Brussels. Hosted by the European Union with support from the UNDP and other partners including the African Development Bank and the World Bank, the country's major partners joined in welcoming the country's new vision up to 2025, and to put pledges forth for its strategic and operational plan dubbed "Terra Ranka" (A fresh start). Pledges totalled EUR 1.3 billion.

The strategic and operational plan is composed of six pillars: (i) peace and governance, (ii) infrastructure, (iii) industrialisation, (iv) urban development, (v) human development and (vi) biodiversity. Each of the pillars is composed of a series of structuring projects to be financed either through direct donor support or through the mobilisation of private funding.

Income from waste dumping
In the 1980s Guinea-Bissau was part of a trend in the African continent toward the dumping of waste as a source of income. Plans to import toxic waste from Europe were cancelled after an international campaign to halt the trade. The government was offered a contract to dispose of 15 million tons of toxic waste over a 15-year period. The income from it was equivalent to twice the value of its external debt. After strong pressure from other African countries and environmental groups the Guinea-Bissau government renounced the deal.

Drug trafficking
Over the last decade European consumption of cocaine is believed to have tripled, and West Africa has become a primary transit point for trafficking the drug from Colombia to Europe. Guinea-Bissau is the leading West African country in this regard, with smugglers taking advantage of government corruption and disorder to operate unimpeded. The army and police are alleged to be complicit, and a lack of boats or planes to patrol or control the vast sea-zone further brings them to turn a blind eye to cocaine shipments from Latin America. The local population does not have access to the drug. Planes fly in, and use Guinea-Bissau's 88 remote islands, the majority of which are uninhabited.

Energy
As of 2019, only 28% of the total population had access to electricity, with only 7% of rural population and 56% of urban population having access to electricity.

In 2016, 99% of electricity generation capacity came from fossil sources and 1% from renewable sources.

title: Economy of Guinea-Bissau


text:
Telecommunications in Guinea-Bissau

Telecommunications in Guinea-Bissau include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world. This reality is reflected in the state of the country's telecommunications development. It is estimated that in 2012 there were only 5000 fixed telephone lines serving the country's 1.6 million inhabitants and that only 2.9% of the population had access to and were regular users of the Internet.

Radio and television

 * Radio stations:
 * One state-owned radio station (Guinea-Bissau National Radio), several private radio stations, and some community radio stations; multiple international broadcasters are available (2007);
 * One AM, four FM, and no shortwave (2001).
 * Radios: 49,000 (1997).
 * Television stations: One state-owned TV station (Guinea-Bissau Television) and a second station, Radio e Televisao de Portugal África (RTP África), operated by Portuguese public broadcaster (RTP) (2007).

Private radio stations operate alongside the state-run broadcaster. Broadcasters face many challenges, not least the lack of a reliable power supply. The media experience "harsh treatment" from the authorities, security forces, and individuals with connections to the military and drug traffickers. A climate of fear has led to self-censorship among the media, which particularly affects reporting on drug trafficking.

Following the 12 April 2012 coup, the junta shut down all private radio stations and the national television station. They allowed only the national broadcaster, Guinea-Bissau National Radio, to broadcast intermittent military communiqués. On 15 April, the junta allowed the stations to reopen, but on 16 April warned them not to criticize the military or the coup or report on protests. These threats continued until 25 May when the civilian government was installed.

Telephones

 * Calling code: +245
 * International call prefix: 00
 * Main lines:
 * 5,000 lines in use, 210th in the world (2012);
 * 4,600 lines in use, 214th in the world (2008).
 * Mobile cellular:
 * 1.1 million lines, 156th in the world (2012);
 * 500,200 lines, 155th in the world (2008).
 * Telephone system: small system including a combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and mobile-cellular communications; fixed-line teledensity is less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity approached 50 per 100 persons (2011).

Internet

 * Top-level domain: .gw
 * Internet users:
 * 47,132 users, 181st in the world; 2.9% of the population, 196th in the world (2012);
 * 37,100 users, 177th in the world (2009).
 * Fixed broadband: Unknown (2012).
 * Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012).
 * Internet hosts:
 * 90 hosts, 211th in the world (2012);
 * 82 hosts, 202nd in the world (2009).
 * IPv4: 5,120 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 3.1 addresses per 1000 people (2012).

Internet censorship and surveillance
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.

The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press; however, there are reports that the government does not always respect these rights. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, but the government does not always respect these prohibitions in practice. Police routinely ignore privacy rights and protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

title: Telecommunications in Guinea-Bissau


text:
Transport in Guinea-Bissau

Transport infrastructure in Guinea-Bissau is basic, with most roads outside the capital Bissau being unpaved.

Railways
There are no railways in Guinea-Bissau. At the Port of Bissau, there was a small cargo railway working from the late 19th century into the 1940s.

In 1998 an agreement was signed between Portugal and Guinea-Bissau for construction of a railway to Guinea, but the outbreak of the Guinea-Bissau Civil War in 1998 made these plans impossible.

Roads
The Trans–West African Coastal Highway crosses Guinea-Bissau, connecting it to Banjul (the Gambia), Conakry (Guinea), and eventually to 11 other nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
 * Total: 4,400 km
 * Paved: 453 km
 * Unpaved: 3,947 km (1996 est.)

Waterways
Several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping in Guinea-Bissau.

Seaports and harbours

 * Port of Bissau
 * Buba
 * Cacheu
 * Farim

Merchant Marine
In 1999 no merchant vessels were operating.

Airports
The main airport serving the country, and the only one with scheduled commercial service, is Osvaldo Vieira International Airport in Bissau.

 * 30 (1999 est.)

Paved runways:

 * 3 (Osvaldo Vieira International Airport, Cufar Airport, and Bubaque Airport)

 Over 3, 047 m:

 * 1

1,524 to 2,437 m:

 * 1

914 to 1,523 m:

 * 1

Unpaved runways:

 * 27

1,524 to 2,437 m:

 * 1

914 to 1,523 m:

 * 4

under 914 m:

 * 22 (1999 est.)

title: Transport in Guinea-Bissau


text:
Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (Guinea-Bissau)

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo, abbr. FARP) is the national military of Guinea-Bissau. It consists of an army, a navy, an air force, and paramilitary forces. The World Bank estimated that there were around 4,000 personnel in the armed forces. The estimated military expenditure are $23.3 million, and military spending as a percentage of GDP is 1.7%.

The World Fact Book reports that the military service age is 18–25 years of age for selective compulsory military service, and 16 years of age or younger for voluntary service, with parental consent.

2010 Guinea-Bissau military unrest
Major General Batista Tagme Na Waie was chief of staff of the Guinea-Bissau armed forces until his assassination in 2009.

Military unrest occurred in Guinea-Bissau on 1 April 2010. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior was placed under house arrest by soldiers, who also detained Army Chief of Staff Zamora Induta. Supporters of Gomes and his party, PAIGC, reacted to the move by demonstrating in the capital, Bissau; Antonio Indjai, the Deputy Chief of Staff, then warned that he would have Gomes killed if the protests continued.

The EU ended its mission to reform the country's security forces, EU SSR Guinea-Bissau, on 4 August 2010, a risk that may further embolden powerful generals and drug traffickers in the army and elsewhere. The EU mission's spokesman in Guinea-Bissau said the EU had to suspend its programme when the mastermind of the mutiny, General Antonio Indjai, became army chief of staff. "The EU mission thinks this is a breach in the constitutional order. We can't work with him".

International drug trade
The multitude of small offshore islands and a military able to sidestep government with impunity has made it a favourite trans-shipment point for drugs to Europe. Aircraft drop payloads on or near the islands, and speedboats pick up bales to go direct to Europe or onshore. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for sanctions against those involved in Guinea-Bissau's drugs trade.

Air Force head Ibraima Papa Camara and former navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto have been named "drug kingpins".

Angolan assistance
Angola, at the presidency of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) since 2010, has since 2011 participated in a military mission in Guinea-Bissau (MISSANG) to assist in the reform of defence and security. MISSANG had a strength of 249 Angolan men (both soldiers and police officers), following an agreement signed between the defence ministers of both countries, as a complement to a Governmental accord ratified by both parliaments.

The Angolan assistance mission included a programme of technical and military cooperation focused on a reform of the Guinean armed forces and police, including the repair of barracks and police stations, organisation of administrative services and technical and military training locally and in Angolan institutions. The mission was halted by the Angolan Government, following a politico-military crisis that led to the ousting of the interim president of Guinea-Bissau, Raimundo Pereira, and the prime minister, Gomes Júnior. By 22 June 2012, the Angolan vessel Rio M'bridge, carrying the mission's equipment, had arrived back in Luanda.

Equipment
Large parts of the equipmen of the army of Guinean-Bissau are of Warsaw Pact origin.

Air Force
After achieving independence from Portugal, the air force was formed by officers returning from training in Cuba and the USSR. The FAGB was re-equipped by the Soviet Union with a limited aid package in which its first combat aircraft were introduced.

Navy
In September 2010, Rear-Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto attempted a coup, but was arrested after failing to gain support. "Guinea-Bissau's navy chief, who was arrested last week and accused of trying to stage a coup, has escaped custody and fled to nearby Gambia, the armed forces said on Tuesday."


text:
Politics of Guyana

Guyana is a parliamentary republic in which the President of Guyana is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President, advised by a cabinet. Legislative power is vested in both the President and the National Assembly of Guyana. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Executive branch

Executive authority is exercised by the president, who appoints and supervises the prime minister and other ministers. The president is not directly elected; each party presenting a slate of candidates for the assembly must designate in advance a leader who will become president if that party receives the largest number of votes. The president has the authority to dissolve the parliament, but in contrast to a parliamentary system, the Constitution of Guyana does not provide any mechanism for parliament to replace the president during his or her term of office, except in case of mental incapacity or gross constitutional violations.
 * President
 * Irfaan Ali
 * People's Progressive Party
 * 2 August 2020
 * First vice president and prime minister
 * Mark Phillips
 * People's Progressive Party
 * 2 August 2020
 * }
 * }

Only the prime minister is required to be a member of the assembly. In practice, most other ministers also are members. Those who are not serve as non-elected members, which permits them to debate but not to vote. The president is not a member of the National Assembly but may Address it at any time or have his address read by any member he may designate at convenient time for the Assembly.

The Cabinet consists of the President, the Prime Minister, the Vice Presidents (if any are appointed), and the Ministers appointed by the President. The Cabinet is tasked with aiding and advising the President as it relates to the general control and direction of the government. While the Cabinet is appointed by the President, it is also collectively responsible to National Assembly. A successful no-confidence motion against the government obligates president and cabinet to resign and trigger new elections within 3 months.

Legislative branch
Legislative power of Guyana rests in a unicameral National Assembly. In 2001 the makeup of the National Assembly was reformed. Now 25 members are elected via proportional representation from 10 Geographic Constituencies. Additionally 40 members are chosen also on the basis of proportional representation from National lists named by the political parties. The president may dissolve the assembly and call new elections at any time, but no later than 5 years from its first sitting.

Judicial branch
The highest judicial body is the Court of Appeal, headed by a chancellor of the judiciary. The second level is the High Court, presided over by Chief Justice of Guyana. The chancellor and the chief justice are appointed by the president. The Audit Office of Guyana (AOG) is the country's Supreme Audit Institution (SAI).

Administrative divisions
For administrative purposes, Guyana is divided into 10 regions, each headed by a chairman who presides over a regional democratic council. Local communities are administered by village or city councils. The regions are Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Demerara-Mahaica, East Berbice-Corentyne, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, Mahaica-Berbice, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Potaro-Siparuni, Upper Demerara-Berbice and Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo.

Political conditions
Race and ideology have been the dominant political influences in Guyana. Since the split of the multiracial People's Progressive Party (PPP) in 1955, politics has been based more on ethnicity than on ideology. From 1964 to 1992, the pro-African People's National Congress (PNC) party dominated Guyana's politics.

The overwhelming majority of Guyanese of East Indian extraction traditionally have backed the People's Progressive Party, headed by the Jagans. Rice farmers and sugar workers in the rural areas form the bulk of PPP's support, but Indo-Guyanese who dominate the country's urban business community also have provided important support.

Following independence, and with the help of substantial foreign aid, social benefits were provided to a broader section of the population, specifically in health, education, housing, road and bridge building, agriculture, and rural development. However, during Forbes Burnham's last years, the government's attempts to build a socialist society caused a massive emigration of skilled workers, and, along with other economic factors, led to a significant decline in the overall quality of life in Guyana.

After Burnham's death in 1985, President Hoyte took steps to stem the economic decline, including strengthening financial controls over the parastatal corporations and supporting the private sector. In August 1987, at a PNC Congress, Hoyte announced that the PNC rejected orthodox communism and the one-party state.

As the elections scheduled for 1990 approached, Hoyte, under increasing pressure from inside and outside Guyana, gradually opened the political system. After a visit to Guyana by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1990, Hoyte made changes in the electoral rules, appointed a new chairman of the Elections Commission, and endorsed putting together new voters' lists, thus delaying the election. The elections, which finally took place in 1992, were witnessed by 100 international observers, including a group headed by Carter and another from the Commonwealth of Nations. Both groups issued reports saying that the elections had been free and fair, despite violent attacks on the Elections Commission building on election day and other irregularities.

Cheddi Jagan served as Premier (1957–1964) and then minority leader in Parliament until his election as president in 1992. One of the Caribbean's most charismatic and famous leaders, Jagan was a founder of the PPP which led Guyana's struggle for independence. Over the years, he moderated his Marxist-Leninist ideology. After his election as president, Jagan demonstrated a commitment to democracy, followed a pro-Western foreign policy, adopted free market policies, and pursued sustainable development for Guyana's environment. Nonetheless, he continued to press for debt relief and a new global human order in which developed countries would increase assistance to less developed nations. Jagan died on 6 March 1997, and was succeeded by Sam Hinds, whom he had appointed Prime Minister. President Hinds then appointed Janet Jagan, widow of the late President, to serve as Prime Minister.

In national elections on 15 December 1997, Janet Jagan was elected president, and her PPP party won a 55% majority of seats in Parliament. She was sworn in on 19 December. Jagan was a founding member of the PPP and was very active in party politics. She was Guyana's first female prime minister and vice president, two roles she performed concurrently before being elected to the presidency. She was also unique in being white, Jewish and a naturalized citizen (born in the United States).

The PNC, which won just under 40% of the vote, disputed the results of the 1997 elections, alleging electoral fraud. Public demonstrations and some violence followed, until a CARICOM team came to Georgetown to broker an accord between the two parties, calling for an international audit of the election results, a redrafting of the constitution, and elections under the constitution within 3 years. Jagan resigned in August 1999 due to ill health and was succeeded by Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo, who had been named Prime Minister a day earlier. National elections were held on March 19, 2001, three months later than planned as the election committees said they were unprepared. Fears that the violence that marred the previous election led to monitoring by foreign bodies, including Jimmy Carter. In March incumbent President Jagdeo won the election with a voter turnout of over 90%. Over 150 international observers representing six international missions witnessed the polling. The observers pronounced the elections fair and open although marred by some administrative problems.

Meanwhile, tensions with Suriname were seriously strained by a dispute over their shared maritime border after Guyana had allowed oil-prospectors licence to explore the areas.

In December 2002, Hoyte died, with Robert Corbin replacing him as leader of the PNC. He agreed to engage in 'constructive engagement' with Jagdeo and the PPP.

Severe flooding following torrential rainfall wreaked havoc in Guyana beginning in January 2005. The downpour, which lasted about six weeks, inundated the coastal belt, caused the deaths of 34 people, and destroyed large parts of the rice and sugarcane crops. The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean estimated in March that the country would need $415 million for recovery and rehabilitation. About 275,000 people—37% of the population—were affected in some way by the floods. In 2013, the Hope Canal was completed to address the flooding.

In May 2008, President Bharrat Jagdeo was a signatory to The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty of the Union of South American Nations. On 12 February 2010, Guyana ratified its membership in the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

In December 2011, President Bharrat Jagdeo was succeeded by Donald Ramotar of the governing People's Progressive Party (PPP/C). However, the ruling party, mainly supported by Guyana's ethnic-Indians, lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 19 years.

In May 2015, David Granger of A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) narrowly won the elections. He represented the alliance of Afro-Guyanese parties. In May 2015, David Granger was sworn is as the new President of Guyana.

In August 2020, the 75-year-old incumbent David Granger lost narrowly and he did not accept the result. Irfaan Ali of the People's Progressive Party/Civic was sworn in as the new president five months after the election because of allegations of fraud and irregularities.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Guyana as "flawed democracy" in 2016.

Territorial disputes
All of the area west of the Essequibo River is claimed by Venezuela, preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute over the headwaters of the Corentyne; the long-standing dispute with Suriname over the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters has been resolved by UNCLOS with Guyana awarded 93% of the disputed territory.

International organization participation
Guyana is a full and participating founder-member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the headquarters of which is located in Georgetown. The CARICOM Single Market & Economy (CSME) will, by necessity, bring Caribbean-wide legislation into force and a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). International affiliations include: ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO.

title: Politics of Guyana