I | INTRODUCTION |
Guinea-Bissau, republic in northwestern Africa,
bounded on the north by Senegal, on the east and south by Guinea, and on the
west by the Atlantic Ocean. The country includes about 60 offshore islands,
among them the Bijagós (Bissagos) Islands. The area is 36,125 sq km (13,948 sq
mi).
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Most of Guinea-Bissau is a low-lying, swampy
coastal plain. The land rises gradually to form a plateau region in the east.
The maximum elevation of about 310 m (about 1,017 ft) is found in the southeast.
Numerous meandering rivers cross the country from east to west and form wide
estuaries near their mouths. Nearly all are navigable and serve as major
transportation arteries. The climate is tropical, with a mean annual temperature
of 25°C (77°F). A rainy season lasts from June to November. The average annual
rainfall at Bissau is 1,950 mm (77 in). Vegetation consists of mangrove and rain
forest on the coastal plain and a savanna woodland on the interior plateau.
Tropical hardwoods are a major potential resource. Although there is no mineral
production, large deposits of bauxite and phosphate exist. Petroleum deposits
are offshore.
A | Environmental Issues |
Severely restricted access to safe water
and sanitation explain the low life expectancy and high infant mortality
encountered in Guinea-Bissau. Deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, and
overfishing are additional problems.
III | POPULATION |
Guinea-Bissau has a population (2008
estimate) of 1,503,182. The capital and principal port, Bissau, has a population
(2003 estimate) of 336,000. Other ports include Cacheu and Bolama. The major
ethnic groups are the Balante, Fulani, Mandinka (also known as Mandingo or
Malinke), Mandyako, and Pepel. Cape Verdians form a small but significant
minority. In religion, about 45 percent of the population follows traditional
beliefs, and about 40 percent (primarily the Fulani and Mandinka) is Muslim.
Some 13 percent of the people are Christian. The official language is
Portuguese, but Crioulo, a fusion of Portuguese and African elements, is widely
spoken. In the 1994–1995 school year primary schools enrolled 100,369 students,
83 percent of the eligible students. Only 20 percent of secondary school-aged
children were enrolled in school. The country has several teacher-training
colleges. The government has undertaken a program to improve the adult literacy
rate, which stood at 45 percent in 2005.
IV | ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT |
The economy of Guinea-Bissau is dominated by
subsistence agriculture. Food crops include rice (which is the staple food of
the population), plantains, cassava, and maize. The principal export crops
include cashew nuts, which account for more than half of export earnings;
peanuts, which are grown in the interior; palm products, raised on the islands
and in the coastal region; and cotton. The fishing industry has grown rapidly
and is a major source of export earnings. Cattle breeding is important in the
interior. Manufacturing is mainly limited to the processing of raw materials and
the production of basic consumer goods. The country has 3,455 km (2,147 mi) of
roads. The unit of currency is the CFA franc, consisting of 100
centimes (522.9 francs equal U.S.$1; 2006 average).
Guinea-Bissau’s constitution was enacted in
1984 and has been amended several times. According to this constitution, the
president, who is directly elected to a five-year term, is head of state. The
president may serve no more than two terms of office. Legislative power is
vested in the 102-member National People’s Assembly, the members of which are
directly elected to four-year terms. The legislature elects the 15-member
Council of State and its prime minister, who heads the government. A political
liberalization program approved in 1991 ended one-party dominance in
Guinea-Bissau. Numerous political parties emerged over the course of the 1990s.
The nation held its first multiparty presidential and legislative elections in
1994.
V | HISTORY |
The early history of Guinea-Bissau is obscure,
but some of the major ethnic groups of the country, such as the Balante and
Pepel, were apparently established there by the 12th century. The area was
visited in 1446 by Nuno Tristão, a Portuguese slave trader, and became an
important slave center. A Portuguese post was established at Bissau in 1687, but
the Portuguese claim was disputed by the French and the British, and in 1792 the
latter briefly had a settlement at Bolama. In 1879 the region was constituted a
Portuguese colony, and border disputes with the French were settled by treaty in
1886. Not until 1915, however, were the Portuguese able to exercise effective
control over the country.
The status of Guinea-Bissau was changed from
colony to overseas province in 1952; soon afterward an African nationalist
movement arose, led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape
Verde (PAIGC). After sporadic violence, the party launched a war of independence
in the early 1960s. By September 1973 the rebels proclaimed an independent
republic and sought international recognition. On September 10, 1974, Portugal
formally granted Guinea-Bissau independence.
Guinea-Bissau’s new government, under the
presidency of PAIGC leader Luis de Almeida Cabral, established a monopoly over
foreign trade and moved toward a socialist state by authorizing nationalization
of all landholdings. In 1980 President Cabral was overthrown in a coup led by
Prime Minister João Bernardo Vieira. Elected to a five-year term in 1984,
President Vieira and his military-dominated government survived a coup attempt
in 1985. Vieira was reelected in 1989, 1994, and then again in 2005, following a
military coup.
In mid-1998 an army rebellion erupted following
Vieira’s dismissal of the army chief of staff, General Ansumane Mane. Fighting
between rebel troops and soldiers loyal to the government raged off and on
through May 1999, when rebel forces, led by Mane, successfully overthrew Vieira.
Mane turned power over to PAIGC statesman Malan Bacai Sanha, the speaker of the
National People’s Assembly, who was declared acting president. Kumba Yalá of the
Party of Social Renovation defeated Sanha in presidential elections, held in two
rounds, in November 1999 and January 2000. Yalá clashed with other government
leaders, firing the prime minister in 2001 and dissolving the legislature in
late 2002. He was overthrown in September 2003 by army officers who accused Yalá
of violating the constitution.
Guinea-Bissau restored civilian rule in 2005,
holding presidential elections in July of that year. Vieira defeated Sanha to
win the presidency in an election that was declared free and fair by
international monitors.
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