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Guinea-Bissau
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The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (; , ) is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. Its size is nearly 37,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 1,600,000. Formerly the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Guinea, upon independence, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with the Republic of Guinea.
ea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, part of the Mali Empire; parts of this kingdom persisted until the eighteenth century, while others were part of the Portuguese Empire.
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Encyclopedia
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (; , ) is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. Its size is nearly 37,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 1,600,000. Formerly the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Guinea, upon independence, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with the Republic of Guinea.
History
Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, part of the Mali Empire; parts of this kingdom persisted until the eighteenth century, while others were part of the Portuguese Empire. Portuguese Guinea was known also, from its main economic activity, as the Slave Coast. Although the rivers and coast of this area were among the first places colonized by the Portuguese, since the 16th century, the interior was not explored until the nineteenth century. The local African rulers in Guinea, who prospered greatly from the slave trade, had no interest in allowing the Europeans any further inland than the fortified coastal settlements where the trading took place. The Portuguese presence in Guinea was therefore largely limited to the port of Bissau and Cacheu. 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, also up north in part of present South Senegal.
An armed rebellion beginning in 1956 by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) under the leadership of Amílcar Cabral gradually consolidated its hold on then Portuguese Guinea. Unlike guerrilla movements in other Portuguese colonies, the PAIGC rapidly extended its military control over large portions of the territory, aided by the jungle-like terrain, its easily-reached borderlines 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. Independence was unilaterally declared on September 24, 1973. Recognition became universal following the April 25, 1974 socialist-inspired military coup in Portugal which overthrew Lisbon's Estado Novo regime.
Independence
Following independence local black soldiers that fought along with the Portuguese Army against the PAIGC guerrillas were slaughtered by the thousands. Some managed to escape and settled in Portugal or other African nations. One of those massacres occurred in Bissorã. In 1980 PAIGC admitted in its 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.
The country was controlled by a revolutionary council until 1984. The first multi-party elections were held in 1994, but an army uprising in 1998 led to the president's ousting and the Guinea-Bissau Civil War. Elections were held again in 2000 and Kumba Ialá was elected president.
In September 2003, a coup took place in which the military arrested Ialá on the charge of being "unable to solve the problems." 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 head of the armed forces, and caused widespread unrest.
The Vieira years
In June 2005, presidential elections were held for the first time since the coup that deposed Ialá. Ialá returned as the candidate for the PRS, claiming to be the legitimate president of the country, but the election was won by former president João Bernardo Vieira, deposed in the 1998 coup. Vieira was a candidate for one of the factions of the PAIGC. Vieira beat Malam Bacai Sanhá in a runoff election, but Sanhá refused initially to concede, claiming that the elections have been fraudulent in two constituencies, including the capital, Bissau.
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 late 2008, the Associated Press reported that "Mutinous soldiers fought their way into the fortified residence of Guinea-Bissau's president in a three-hour gun battle [on Sunday, November 23, 2008] but did not hurt the head of state." The report continued, "The soldiers attacked President Joao Bernardo Vieira's home shortly after midnight, killing at least one of his guards and injuring several others before security forces were able to push them back, Interior Minister Cipriano Cassama said. The attackers did not reach the room Vieira was hiding in and neither he nor his wife was hurt, Cassama said."
The apparent coup attempt may have been prompted by the outcome of parliamentary elections, which had been held a week prior. During the campaign, former President Ialá asserted that Vieira was Guinea-Bissau's leading trafficker of drugs (an accusation to which Vieira did not respond). Despite the charges, Vieira's PAIGC obtained a significant majority in the 100-member legislature, securing 67 seats (a gain of 22 seats), while Ialá's party lost 7 seats.
On March 2, 2009 President João Bernardo 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. Tagme died in an explosion on Sunday, March 1, 2009 in an assassination apparently ordered by President Vieira. Military leaders in the country have pledged to respect the constitutional order of succession and plan to appoint National Assembly Speaker Raimundo Pereira as an interim president until a nationwide election in 60 days.
Politics
Guinea-Bissau is a republic. In the past, the government has been highly centralized and multiparty governance has been in effect since mid-1991. The president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. At the legislative level, there is a unicameral "Assembleia Nacional Popular" (National People's Assembly) made up of 100 members. They are popularly elected from multi-member constituencies to serve a four-year term. At the judicial level, there is a "Supremo Tribunal da Justiça" (Supreme Court) which consists of nine justices appointed by the president. They serve at the pleasure of the president.
João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira became President of Guinea-Bissau in 2005. Vieira returned to power in 2005 after winning the presidential election only six years after being ousted from office during a civil war. Previously, he held power for 19 years after taking power in 1980 in a bloodless coup. In that action, he toppled the government of Luís Cabral. He was killed on March 2, 2009, by soldiers in retaliation for the killing of the head of the joint chiefs of staff, General Batista Tagme Na Waie.
Regions and sectors
Guinea-Bissau is divided into 8 regions and one autonomous sector . These in turn are subdivided into thirty-seven sectors. The regions are:
Geography
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At 13,945 sq mi. (36,120 km²), Guinea-Bissau is nearly identical in size to Taiwan, and somewhat larger than the US state of Maryland. This small, tropical country lies at a low altitude; its highest point is 984 feet (300 m). The interior is savanna, and the coastline is swampy plain. Its monsoon-like rainy season alternates with periods of hot, dry harmattan winds blowing from the Sahara. The Bijagos Archipelago extends out to sea.
Major cities
| Cities in Guinea-Bissau |
|---|
Rank | City | Population | Region | 1979 Census | 2005 estimate | 1 | Bissau | 109,214 | 388,028 | Bissau | 2 | Bafatá | 13,429 | 22,521 | Bafatá | 3 | Gabú | 7,803 | 14,430 | Gabú | 4 | Bissorã | N/A | 12,688 | Oio | 5 | Bolama | 9,100 | 10,769 | Bolama | 6 | Cacheu | 7,600 | 10,490 | Cacheu | 7 | Bubaque | 8,400 | 9,941 | Bolama | 8 | Catió | 5,170 | 9,898 | Tombali | 9 | Mansôa | 5,390 | 7,821 | Oio | 10 | Buba | N/A | 7,779 | Quinara | 11 | Quebo | N/A | 7,072 | Quinara | 12 | Canchungo | 4,965 | 6,853 | Cacheu | 13 | Farim | 4,468 | 6,792 | Oio | 14 | Quinhámel | N/A | 3,128 | Biombo | 15 | Fulacunda | N/A | 1,327 | Quinara |
Climate
Guinea-Bissau is warm all year around and there is little temperature fluctuation; it averages 26.3°C (79.3°F). The average rainfall for 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 experiences drought.
Economy
Guinea-Bissau achieved its independence from Portugal in 1974 after a protracted independence war that brought tremendous damage to the country’s economic infrastructure. In 1997, Guinea Bissau entered the CFA franc monetary system, bringing about some internal monetary stability. The civil war that took place in 1998 and 1999 and a military coup in September 2003 again disrupted economic activity, leaving a substantial part of the economic and social infrastructure in ruins and intensifying the already widespread poverty. Following the parliamentary elections in March 2004 and presidential elections in July 2005, the country is trying to recover from the long period of instability despite a still-fragile political situation.
More than two-thirds of Guinea-Bissau's population lives below the poverty line. The economy depends mainly on agriculture; fishing, cashew nuts and ground nuts are its major exports. A long period of political instability has resulted in depressed economic activity, deteriorating social conditions, and increased macroeconomic imbalances. Guinea-Bissau has started to show some economic advances in the last 2 years, after a pact of stability was signed by the main political parties of the country, leading to an IMF-backed structural reform program. The key challenges for the country in the period ahead will be to restore fiscal discipline, rebuild public administration, improve the economic climate for private investment, and promote economic diversification.
In April 2007, UN Office on Drugs and Crime head Antonio Maria Costa said he feared Guinea-Bissau could become a "narco-state" following several large cocaine seizures in the country. This seems to be occurring as Colombian cartels have used Guinea-Bissau as a transshipment point to Europe in pursuit of the European market for cocaine.
The cocaine trade generates more than 10 times the national income, and Guinea-Bissau is reputed to have the worst drug-trafficking problem in all of Africa.
Gallery
Demographics
The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse and has many distinct languages, customs, and social structures. Guinea-Bissauans can be divided into the following three ethnic groups: Fula and the Mandinka-speaking people, who comprise the largest portion of the population and are concentrated in the north and northeast; the Balanta and Papel people, who live in the southern coastal regions; and the Manjaco and Mancanha, who occupy the central and northern coastal areas. Most of the remainder are mestiços of mixed Portuguese and African descent, including a Cape Verdean minority. Portuguese natives comprise a very small percentage of Guinea-Bissauans. This deficit was directly caused by the exodus of Portuguese settlers that took place after Guinea-Bissau gained independence. The country has also a tiny Chinese population, including those of mixed Portuguese and Chinese ancestry from Macau, a former Asian Portuguese colony. Only 14% of the population speaks the official language Portuguese. 44% speak Kriol, a Portuguese-based creole language, and the remainder speaks native African languages. Most Portuguese and Mestiços speak one of the African languages and Kriol as second languages. French is also learned in schools, as the country is surrounded by French-speaking countries and is a full member of the Francophonie.
Islam is the predominant religion, practiced by approximately 50 percent of the country's population. In addition to this, 40 percent hold Indigenous beliefs and 10 percent of the country's population belong to the Christian community.
Culture
- See also: List of writers from Guinea-Bissau, Music of Guinea-Bissau
The music of Guinea-Bissau is usually associated with the polyrhythmic gumbe genre, the country's primary musical export. However, civil unrest and other factors have combined over the years to keep gumbe, and other genres, out of mainstream audiences, even in generally syncretist African countries.
The calabash is the primary musical instrument of Guinea-Bissau, and is used in extremely swift and rhythmically complex dance music. Lyrics are almost always in Guinea-Bissau Creole, a Portuguese-based creole language, and are often humorous and topical, revolving around current events and controversies, especially AIDS.
The word gumbe is sometimes used generically, to refer to any music of the country, although it most specifically refers to a unique style that fuses about ten of the country's folk music traditions. Tina and tinga are other popular genres, while extent folk traditions include ceremonial music used in funerals, initiations and other rituals, as well as Balanta brosca and kussundé, Mandinga djambadon and the kundere sound of the Bijagos islands.
Matriarchy
In the Bolama archipelago, a matriarchal social system is practiced, according to the Associated Press, though it is currently being eroded by islamization. In this system, women choose husbands who are compelled to marry them, and religious affairs are controlled by a female priesthood.
See also
Sources
- Richard Andrew Lobban, Jr. and Peter Karibe Mendy,
Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, third edition (Scarecrow Press, 1997) ISBN 0-8108-3226-7 (includes extensive bibliography)
External links
Government
- [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-g/guinea-bissau.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members]
General information
UCB Libraries GovPubs
News media
Tourism
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