Guinea-Bissau
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Other uses Template:Pp-move Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox country Guinea-Bissau,Template:Efn officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau,Template:Efn is a country in West Africa that covers Template:Convert with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Kaabu,<ref name="nationsonline.org">Template:Cite web</ref> as well as part of the Mali Empire.<ref name="nationsonline.org"/> Parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others had been under some rule by the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. In the 19th century, it was colonised as Portuguese Guinea.<ref name="nationsonline.org"/> Portuguese control was restricted and weak until the early 20th century, when its pacification campaigns solidified Portuguese sovereignty in the area. The final Portuguese victory over the last remaining bastion of mainland resistance came in 1915, with the conquest of the Papel-ruled Kingdom of Bissau by the Portuguese military officer Teixeira Pinto and the Wolof mercenary Abdul Injai.<ref name="Bowman-2009">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The Bissagos, islands off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, were officially conquered in 1936, ensuring Portuguese control of both the mainland and islands of the region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with Guinea (formerly French Guinea). Guinea-Bissau has had a history of political instability since independence. The current president is Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who was elected on 29 December 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
About 2% of the population speaks Portuguese, the official language, as a first language, and 33% speak it as a second language. Guinea-Bissau Creole, a Portuguese-based creole, is the national language and also considered the language of unity. According to a 2012 study, 54% of the population speak Creole as a first language and about 40% speak it as a second language.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> The remainder speak a variety of native African languages.
The nation is home to numerous followers of Islam, Christianity, and multiple traditional faiths.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Pew-2010">Template:Cite report</ref> The country's per capita gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world.
Guinea-Bissau is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Community of Portuguese Language Countries, Template:Lang, Alliance of Small Island States and the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone. It was also a member of the now-defunct Latin Union.
History
[edit]Pre-European contact
[edit]The deep history of what is now Guinea-Bissau is poorly understood by historians. The earliest inhabitants were the Jola, Papel, Manjak, Balanta, and Biafada peoples.Template:Cn Later the Mandinka and Fulani migrated into the region, in the 13th and 15th centuries, respectively. They pushed the earlier inhabitants towards the coast and onto the Bijagos islands.<ref name = Brit>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Rodney-1966">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp
The Balanta and Jola had weak or non-existent institutions of kingship but emphasised decentralization, with power invested in heads of villages and families.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp The Mandinka, Fula, Papel, Manjak, and Biafada chiefs were vassals to kings. The customs, rites, and ceremonies varied, but nobles commanded all the major positions, including the judicial system.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp Social stratification was seen in the clothing and accessories of the people, in housing materials, and in transportation options.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp Trade was widespread between ethnic groups. Items traded included pepper and kola nuts from the southern forests; kola nuts, iron, and iron utensils from the savannah-forest zone; salt and dried fish from the coast; and Mandinka cotton cloth.<ref name="Old Men"/>Template:Rp
Kingdom of Bissau
[edit]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, six wives, and subjects of his father's kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Relations between the kingdom and the Portuguese colonisers were initially warm, but deteriorated over time.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp The kingdom strongly defended its sovereignty against the Portuguese 'Pacification Campaigns', defeating them in 1891, 1894, and 1904. However, in 1915 the Portuguese under the command of Officer Teixeira Pinto and warlord Abdul Injai fully absorbed the kingdom.<ref name="Bowman-2009"/>
Biafada kingdoms
[edit]The Biafada people inhabited the area around the Rio Grande de Buba in three kingdoms: Biguba, Guinala, and Bissege.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp The former two were important ports with significant lançado communities.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp They were subjects of the Mandinka mansa of Kaabu.<ref name=Dictionary>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
The Bijagos
[edit]In the Bijagos Islands, people of different ethnic origins tended to settle in separate settlements. Great cultural diversity developed in the archipelago.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp
Bijago society was warlike. Men were dedicated to boatbuilding and raiding the mainland, attacking the coastal peoples as well as other islands. They believed that at sea they had no king. Women cultivated the land, constructed houses, and gathered and prepared foods. They could choose their husbands, and warriors with the best reputations ranked at the top of respected status. Successful warriors could have many wives and boats, and were entitled to one third of the spoils gained by warriors who used their boats in any expedition.<ref name="Rodney-1966"/>Template:Rp
Bijago night raids on coastal settlements had significant effects 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 villagers captured in raids as slaves to the Europeans. With colonisation underway in other parts of Africa and the Americas, demand for workers was high and the Europeans sometimes pushed for more captives to be taken.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
The Bijagos were mostly safe from enslavement, as they were out of reach of mainland slave raiders. Europeans avoided having them as slaves. 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 once reaching the New World.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
Kaabu
[edit]
Kaabu was established first as a province of Mali through the conquest in the 13th century of the Senegambia by Tiramakhan Traore, a general under Sundiata Keita. By the 14th century much of Guinea Bissau was under the administration of Mali. It was ruled by a farim kaabu (commander of Kaabu).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Mali declined gradually, beginning in the 14th century. By the early 16th century, the expanding power of Koli Tenguella cut off formerly secure Mali.
Kaabu became an independent federation of kingdoms.<ref name="Wright-1987" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The ruling classes were composed of elite warriors known as the Nyancho (Ñaanco) who traced their patrilineal lineage to Tiramakhan Traore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp The Nyancho were a warrior culture, reputed to be excellent cavalry men and raiders.<ref name="Wright-1987">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp The Kaabu Mansaba was seated in Kansala, today known as Gabu, in the eastern Gabú region.<ref name="Old Men">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp
The slave trade dominated the economy, and the warrior classes grew rich with imported cloth, beads, metalware, and firearms.<ref name="Wright-1987" />Template:Rp Trade networks with Arabs and others to North Africa were dominant up to the 14th century. In the 15th century, coastal trade with the Europeans began to increase.<ref name="Old Men" />Template:Rp In the 17th and 18th centuries an estimated 700 slaves were exported annually from the region, many of them from Kaabu.<ref name="Old Men" />Template:Rp
In the late 18th century, the rise of the Imamate of Futa Jallon to the east posed a powerful challenge to the animist Kaabu. During the first half of the 19th century, civil war erupted as local Fula people sought independence.<ref name="Old Men" />Template:Rp This long-running conflict was marked by the 1867 Battle of Kansala; the Fuladu effectively defeated the Kaabu and dominated the area thereafter. But some smaller Mandinka kingdoms survived until their absorption into Portuguese colonies.
European contact
[edit]
15th–16th centuries
[edit]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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp
Although the Portuguese authorities initially discouraged European settlement on the mainland, this prohibition was ignored by lançados and tangomãos, who largely assimilated into indigenous culture and customs.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp They ignored Portuguese trade regulations that banned entering the region or trading without a royal licence, shipping out of unauthorised ports, or assimilating into the native community.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
After 1520 trade and settlements increased on the mainland, populated by Portuguese and native traders, as well as some Spanish, Genoese, English, French, and Dutch.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp The main ports were Cacheu, Bissau, and Guinala. Each river also had such trading centers as Toubaboudougou at their fall lines, the furthest navigable point. These posts traded directly with the peoples of the interior for resources such as gum arabic, ivory, hides, civet, dyes, enslaved Africans, and gold.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp Local African rulers generally refused to allow Europeans into the interior, to ensure their own control of trade routes and goods.<ref name="historyworld"/>
Disputes became increasingly frequent and serious in the late 1500s as the foreign traders sought to influence the host societies to their benefit.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp Meanwhile, the Portuguese monopoly, always leaky, was being increasingly challenged. In 1580 the Iberian Union unified the crowns of Portugal and Spain. Spain's enemies launched attacks on Portuguese possessions in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. French, Dutch, and English ships increasingly came to trade with the natives and the independent-minded lançados.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
17th–18th centuries
[edit]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.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
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. Afro-Portuguese traders and colonists, however, were not in a position to deny the free trade that the African kings demanded, as they had come to rely on European products and goods as necessities.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
The Portuguese were never able to maintain the monopoly they wanted; the economic interests of the native leaders and Afro-European traders and merchants never aligned with theirs. During this period the power of the Mali Empire in the region was dissipating. The farim of Kaabu, the king of Kassa, and other local rulers began to assert their independence.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
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 did not return until the 1750s. Meanwhile, the Cacheu and Cape Verde Company shut down in 1706.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp
For a brief period in the 1790s, the British tried to establish a foothold on Bolama Island.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Slave trade
[edit]Guinea-Bissau was among the first regions whose people engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. For centuries its warriors had sent captives as slaves to North Africa. While it did not produce the same number of enslaved people to export to the Americas as other regions, the effects were still significant.<ref>Gale Group. (2017). "Guinea-Bissau." In M. S. Hill (Ed.), Worldmark encyclopedia of the nations (14th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 379–392). Gale.</ref><ref name="historyworld">Template:Cite web</ref>
In Cape Verde, Guinean slaves were instrumental in developing the labor-intensive plantation economy: they cultivated and processed, growing indigo and cotton, and also wove the panos cloth that became a standard currency in West Africa.<ref name=Brit/> During the 17th and 18th centuries, thousands of captive Africans were taken from the region every year by Portuguese, French, and British companies. An average of 3000 persons were shipped every year from Guinala alone.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp Many of these captives were taken during the Fula jihads and, specifically, the wars between the Imamate of Futa Jallon and Kaabu.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp
Wars were increasingly waged for the sole purpose of capturing slaves to sell to the Europeans in exchange for imported goods. They resembled man-hunts more than conflicts over territory or political power.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp 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 freeing them.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp The relationship between kings and European traders was a partnership, with the two regularly making deals on how the trade was to be conducted, defining who could be enslaved and who could not, and the prices of the slaves. Contemporary chroniclers questioned multiple kings on their part in the slave trade, and noted that they recognised the trade as evil but participated because otherwise the Europeans would not buy any other goods from them.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />Template:Rp
Beginning in the late 18th century, European countries gradually began slowing and/or abolishing the slave trade. 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.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp
Colonialism
[edit]
Up until the late 1800s, Portuguese control of their 'colony' outside of their forts and trading posts was a fiction. 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.<ref name = Brit/>
Struggle for independence
[edit]
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.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp
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. The PAIGC even managed to acquire a significant anti-aircraft capability in order to defend itself against aerial attack.<ref name=Dictionary/>Template:Rp 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Cabral's death, party leadership fell to Aristides Pereira, who would later become the first president of the Republic of Cape Verde.
Independence (1973–2000)
[edit]
Independence was unilaterally declared on 24 September 1973, which is now celebrated as the country's Independence Day, a public holiday.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The country was formally recognized as independent on 10 September 1974.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nicolae Ceaușescu's Romania was the first country to formally recognise Guinea-Bissau and the first to sign agreements with the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Upon the nation's independence, it declared Esta É a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada as its national anthem. Until 1996, this was shared with Cape Verde, which later adopted its own official national anthem Cântico da Liberdade.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Luís Cabral, brother of Amílcar and co-founder of PAIGC, was appointed the first president of Guinea-Bissau.<ref name="historyworld"/> Independence had begun under the best of auspices. The Bissau-Guinean diaspora had returned to the country en masse. A system of access to school for all had been created. Books were free and schools seemed to have a sufficient number of teachers. The education of girls, previously neglected, was encouraged and a new school calendar, more adapted to the rural world, was adopted.
In 1980, economic conditions deteriorated significantly, leading to general discontent with the government in power. On 14 November 1980, João Bernardo Vieira, known as "Nino Vieira", overthrew President Luís Cabral. The constitution was suspended and a nine-member Military Council of the Revolution, chaired by Vieira, was established. Since then, the country has moved toward a liberal economy. Budget cuts have been made at the expense of the social sector and education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The country was controlled by the military council until 1984. The first multi-party elections were held in 1994. An army uprising in May 1998 led to the Guinea-Bissau Civil War and the president's ousting in June 1999.<ref>Uppsala Conflict Data Program Conflict Encyclopedia, Guinea Bissau: government, in depth, Negotiations, Veira's surrender and the end of the conflict Template:Webarchive, viewed 12 July 2013,</ref> Elections were held again in 2000, and Kumba Ialá was elected president.<ref>Guinea-Bissau's Kumba Yala: from crisis to crisis Template:Webarchive. Afrol.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
21st century
[edit]In September 2003, a military coup was conducted. The military arrested Ialá on the charge of being "unable to solve the problems".<ref>Smith, Brian (27 September 2003) "US and UN give tacit backing to Guinea Bissau coup" Template:Webarchive, Wsws.org, September 2003. Retrieved 22 June 2013</ref> After being delayed several times, legislative elections were held in March 2004. A mutiny in October 2004 over pay arrears resulted in the death of the head of the armed forces.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 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.<ref>GUINEA-BISSAU: Vieira officially declared president Template:Webarchive. irinnews.org (10 August 2005).</ref> Foreign monitors described the elections as "calm and organized", despite some reports of arms entering the country prior to the election and few "disturbances during campaigning", including attacks on government offices by unidentified gunmen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Three years later, Sanhá's PAIGC won a strong parliamentary majority, with 67 of 100 seats, in the parliamentary election held in November 2008.<ref>Guinea Bissau vote goes smooth amid hopes for stability. AFP via Google.com (16 November 2008). Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> In November 2008, President Vieira's official residence was attacked by members of the armed forces, killing a guard but leaving the president unharmed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 2 March 2009, however, 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.<ref>Template:Cite web. news.com.au (2 March 2009).</ref> Vieira's death did not trigger widespread violence, but there were signs of turmoil in the country, according to the advocacy group Swisspeace.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was won by Malam Bacai Sanhá, against Kumba Ialá as the presidential candidate of the PRS.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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 the interim president and a leading presidential candidate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Former vice chief of staff, General Mamadu Ture Kuruma, assumed control of the country in the transitional period and started negotiations with opposition parties.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The 2014 general election saw José Mário Vaz elected President of Guinea-Bissau. Vaz became the first elected president to complete his five-year mandate. At the same time, he was eliminated in the first round of the 2019 presidential elections, ultimately seeing Umaro Sissoco Embaló emerge as the victor. Embaló, the first president to be elected without the backing of the PAIGC, took office in February 2020.<ref name="aa.com.tr">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 1 February 2022, there was an attempted coup d'état to overthrow President Umaro Sissoco Embaló.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 2 February 2022, state radio announced that four assailants and two members of the presidential guard had been killed in the incident.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The African Union and ECOWAS both condemned the coup.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Six days after the attempted coup d'état, on 7 February 2022, there was an attack on the building of Rádio Capital FM,<ref name="Portugal-2022">Template:Cite web</ref> a radio station critical of the Bissau-Guinean government;<ref name="SOL-2022">Template:Cite web</ref> this was the second time the radio station suffered an attack of this nature in less than two years.<ref name="Portugal-2022" /> A journalist working for the station recalled, while wishing to stay anonymous, that one of their colleagues had recognized one of the cars carrying the attackers as belonging to the presidency.<ref name="SOL-2022" />
In 2022, Embaló became the first African ruler to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion of the country in February, meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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In 2023, an attempted coup reportedly occurred in the capital, Bissau, leading Embaló to order the dissolution of the opposition-controlled parliament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 11 September 2024, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló announced that he would not seek a second term in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for November 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 3 March 2025, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said that he would run for a second term in November, contrary to his earlier vows to step down.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Politics
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Guinea-Bissau is a republic.<ref name="USDOS">Template:Cite web</ref> In the past, the government had been highly centralized. Multi-party governance was not established until mid-1991.<ref name="USDOS"/> The president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. From independence in 1974, until Jose Mario Vaz ended his five-year term as president on 24 June 2019, no president successfully served a full five-year term.<ref name="aa.com.tr"/>
At the legislative level, a unicameral Assembleia Nacional Popular (National People's Assembly) is made up of 100 members. They are popularly elected from multi-member constituencies to serve a four-year term. The judicial system is headed by a Tribunal Supremo da Justiça (Supreme Court), made up of nine justices appointed by the president; they serve at the pleasure of the president.<ref>Guinea-Bissau Supreme Court Template:Webarchive. Stj.pt. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
The two main political parties are the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) and the PRS (Party for Social Renewal). There are more than 20 minor parties.<ref>Guinea-Bissau Political Parties Template:Webarchive. Nationsencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
Foreign relations
[edit]Guinea-Bissau is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organisation and political association of Lusophone nations where Portuguese is an official language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Military
[edit]Template:Further A 2019 estimate put the size of the Guinea-Bissau Armed Forces at around 4,400 personnel and military spending is less than 2% of GDP.<ref name="CIA"/> In 2018, Guinea-Bissau signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Administrative divisions
[edit]Template:Main Template:Regions of Guinea-Bissau Image Map Guinea-Bissau is divided into eight regions (Template:Lang) and one autonomous sector (Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These, in turn, are subdivided into 37 Sectors.<ref name="WorldAtlas">Template:Cite web</ref> The regions are:<ref name="WorldAtlas"/> Template:Div col Template:Notelist
Geography
[edit]
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Guinea-Bissau is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east,<ref name="WorldAtlas"/> with the Atlantic Ocean to its west.<ref name="WorldAtlas"/> It lies mostly between latitudes 11° and 13°N (a small area is south of 11°), and longitudes 11° and 15°W.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
At Template:Convert,<ref name="WorldAtlas"/> the country is larger in size than Taiwan or Belgium. The highest point is Monte Torin with an elevation of Template:Convert. Its terrain is mostly low coastal plains with swamps of the Guinean mangroves rising to the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic in the east.<ref name=cia/> Its monsoon-like rainy season alternates with periods of hot, dry harmattan winds blowing from the Sahara. The Bijagos Archipelago lies off of the mainland.<ref>Nossiter, Adam (4 November 2009) "Bijagós, a Tranquil Haven in a Troubled Land", The New York Times, 8 November 2009</ref> The country is home to two ecoregions: Guinean forest–savanna mosaic and Guinean mangroves.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Climate
[edit]Template:Main Guinea-Bissau is warm all year round with mild temperature fluctuations; it averages Template:Convert. The average rainfall for Bissau is Template:Convert, 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.<ref>Guinea-Bissau Climate Template:Webarchive. Nationsencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
Economy
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Guinea-Bissau's GDP per capita and Human Development Index are among the lowest in the world. More than two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line.<ref>World Bank profile Template:Webarchive. World Bank.org (31 May 2013). Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> The economy depends mainly on agriculture; fish, cashew nuts, and ground nuts are its major exports.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A long period of political instability has resulted in depressed economic activity, deteriorating social conditions, and increased macroeconomic imbalances. It takes longer on average to register a new business in Guinea-Bissau (233 days or about 33 weeks) than in any other country in the world except Suriname.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Guinea-Bissau has started to show some economic advances after a pact of stability was signed by the main political parties of the country, leading to an IMF-backed structural reform program.<ref>Guinea-Bissau and the IMF Template:Webarchive. Imf.org (13 May 2013). Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
After several years of economic downturn and political instability, in 1997, Guinea-Bissau entered the CFA franc monetary system, bringing about some internal monetary stability.<ref>CFA Franc and Guinea-Bissau Template:Webarchive. Uemoa.int. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> The civil war from 1998 to 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.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Beginning around 2005, drug traffickers based in Latin America began to use Guinea-Bissau, along with several neighbouring West African nations, as a transshipment point to Europe for cocaine.<ref>Guinea-Bissau:A narco-state? Template:Webarchive. Time. (29 October 2009). Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> The nation was described by a United Nations official as being at risk for becoming a "narco-state".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The government and the military have done little to stop drug trafficking, which increased after the 2012 coup d'état.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The government of Guinea-Bissau continues to be ravaged by illegal drug distribution, according to The Economist.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Guinea-Bissau is a member of the Organization for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Society
[edit]Demographics
[edit]Template:Main Template:Multiple image According to Template:UN Population, Guinea-Bissau's population was Template:UN Population in Template:UN Population, compared to 518,000 in 1950. 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.<ref name="WPP 2010">Template:Cite web</ref>
Ethnic groups
[edit]
The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse and has many distinct languages, customs, and social structures.<ref name="USDOS"/>
Bissau-Guineans can be divided into the following ethnic groups:<ref name="USDOS"/>
- Fula and the Mandinka-speaking people, who constitute the largest portion of the population and are concentrated in the north and northeast;<ref name="USDOS"/>
- Balanta and Papel people, who live in the southern coastal regions;<ref name="USDOS"/> and
- Manjaco and Mancanha, who occupy the central and northern coastal areas.<ref name="USDOS"/>
Most of the remainder are mestiços of mixed Portuguese and African descent.<ref name="cciei.org">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Portuguese natives are a very small percentage of Bissau-Guineans.<ref name="cciei.org"/> After Guinea-Bissau gained independence, most of the Portuguese nationals left the country. The country has a tiny Chinese population.<ref>China-Guinea-Bissau Template:Webarchive. China.org.cn. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> These include traders and merchants of mixed Portuguese and Cantonese ancestry from the former Portuguese colony of Macau.<ref name="cciei.org"/> There is also a small Cape Verdean, Lebanese and Jewish community in the country. Portuguese people made up the largest white population during colonial period but there was also some Lebanese people, Italians, French people and English people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Major cities
[edit]Main cities in Guinea-Bissau include:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Rank | City | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 estimate | Region | ||
| 1 | Bissau | 492,004 | Bissau |
| 2 | Gabú | 48,670 | Gabú |
| 3 | Bafatá | 37,985 | Bafatá |
| 4 | Bissorã | 29,468 | Oio |
| 5 | Bolama | 16,216 | Bolama |
| 6 | Cacheu | 14,320 | Cacheu |
| 7 | Bubaque | 12,922 | Bolama |
| 8 | Catió | 11,498 | Tombali |
| 9 | Mansôa | 9,198 | Oio |
| 10 | Buba | 8,993 | Quinara |
Languages
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Though a small country, Guinea-Bissau has several ethnic groups which are very distinct from each other, with their own cultures and languages. This is due to Guinea-Bissau being a refugee and migration territory within Africa. Colonisation and racial intermixing brought Portuguese and the Portuguese creole known as Kriol or crioulo.<ref name="barbosa">Template:Cite thesis</ref>
The sole official language of Guinea-Bissau since independence, Standard Portuguese is spoken mostly as a second language, with few native speakers and its use is often confined to the intellectual and political elites. It is the language of government and national communication as a legacy of colonial rule. Schooling from the primary to tertiary levels is conducted in Portuguese, although only 67% of children have access to any formal education. Data suggests that the number of Portuguese speakers ranges from 11 to 15%.<ref name="cciei.org"/> In the latest census (2009) 27.1% of the population claimed to speak non-creole Portuguese (46.3% of city dwellers and 14.7% of the rural population, respectively).<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Portuguese creole is spoken by 44% of the population and is effectively the lingua franca among distinct groups for most of the population.<ref name="cciei.org"/> Creole's usage is still expanding, and it is understood by the vast majority of the population. However, decreolisation processes are occurring, due to undergoing interference from Standard Portuguese and the creole forms a continuum of varieties with the standard language, the most distant are basilects and the closer ones, acrolects. A post-creole continuum exists in Guinea-Bissau and crioulo 'leve' ('soft' creole) variety being closer to the Portuguese-language norm.<ref name="barbosa" />
The remaining rural population speaks a variety of native African languages unique to each ethnicity: Fula (16%), Balanta (14%), Mandinka (7%), Manjak (5%), Papel (3%), Felupe (1%), Beafada (0.7%), Bijagó (0.3%), and Nalu (0.1%), which form the ethnic African languages spoken by the population.<ref name="barbosa" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most Portuguese and Mestiços speakers also have one of the African languages and Kriol as additional languages. Ethnic African languages are not discouraged, in any situation, despite their lower prestige. These languages are the link between individuals of the same ethnic background and daily used in villages, between neighbours or friends, traditional and religious ceremonies, and also used in contact between the urban and rural populations. However, none of these languages are dominant in Guinea-Bissau.<ref name="barbosa" />
French is taught as a foreign language in schools, because Guinea-Bissau is surrounded by French-speaking nations.<ref name="cciei.org"/> Guinea-Bissau is a full member of the Francophonie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Religion
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Various studies suggest that slightly less than half of the population of Guinea-Bissau is Muslim, while substantial minorities follow folk religions or Christianity. The CIA World Factbook's 2020 estimate stated that the population was 46.1% Muslim, 30.6% following folk religions, 18.9% Christian, 4.4% other or unaffiliated.<ref name="CIA" /> In 2010, a Pew Research survey determined that the population was 45.1% Muslim and 19.7% Christian, with 30.9% practicing folk religion and 4.3 other faiths.<ref name="Pew-2010" /><ref>Template:Cite report</ref> A 2015 Pew-Templeton study found that the population was 45.1% Muslim, 30.9% practicing folk religions, 19.7% Christian, and 4.3% unaffiliated.<ref name="GRF" /> The ARDA projected in 2020 the share of the Muslim population to be 44.7%. It also estimated 41.2% of the population to be practitioners of ethnic religions and 13% to be Christians.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Concerning religious identity among Muslims, a Pew report determined that in Guinea-Bissau there is no prevailing sectarian identity. Guinea-Bissau shared this distinction with other Sub-Saharan countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia, Nigeria and Cameroon.<ref name=pewformus/>This Pew research also stated that countries in this specific study that declared to not have any clear dominant sectarian identity were mostly concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.<ref name=pewformus>Template:Cite report</ref> Another Pew report, The Future of World Religions, predicts that from 2010 to 2050, practitioners of Islam will increase their share of the population in Guinea-Bissau.<ref name="GRF">Template:Cite web</ref>
Many residents practice syncretic forms of Islamic and Christian faiths, combining their practices with traditional African beliefs.<ref name=cia>"Guinea-Bissau" Template:Webarchive, CIA the World Factbook, Cia.gov. Retrieved 5 February 2012.</ref><ref>"Guinea-Bissau" Template:Webarchive, Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> Muslims dominate the north and east, while Christians dominate the south and coastal regions. The Roman Catholic Church claims most of the Christian community.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The 2021 US Department of State Report on International Religious Freedom<ref name=stated>Template:Cite web</ref> mentions the fact that leaders of different religious communities believe that the existing communities are essentially tolerant, but express some concerns about rising religious fundamentalism in the country. An incident in July 2022, when a Catholic church in the overwhelmingly Muslim region of Gabú was vandalised, raised concern amongst the Christian community that Islamic extremism might be infiltrating the country. However, there have been no further similar incidents, and no direct links to Islamic extremists have surfaced.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Education
[edit]Education is compulsory from the age of 7 to 13.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pre-school education for children between three and six years of age is optional and in its early stages. There are five levels of education: pre-school, elemental and complementary basic education, general and complementary secondary education, general secondary education, technical and professional teaching, and higher education (university and non-universities). Basic education is under reform, and now forms a single cycle, comprising six years of education. Secondary education is widely available and there are two cycles (7th to 9th classe and 10th to 11th classe). Professional education in public institutions is nonoperational, however private school offerings opened, including the Centro de Formação São João Bosco (since 2004) and the Centro de Formação Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (since 2011).<ref name="barbosa" />
Higher education is limited and most prefer to be educated abroad, with students preferring to enroll in Portugal.<ref name="barbosa" /> A number of universities, to which an institutionally autonomous Faculty of Law as well as a Faculty of Medicine that is maintained by Cuba and functions in different cities.
Child labor is very common.<ref name=ilab/> The enrollment of boys is higher than that of girls. In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 53.5%, with higher enrollment ratio for males (67.7%) compared to females (40%).<ref name=ilab>"Guinea-Bissau". 2001 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2002). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.</ref>
Non-formal education is centered on community schools and the teaching of adults.<ref name="barbosa" /> In 2011, the literacy rate was estimated at 55.3% (68.9% male, and 42.1% female).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Conflicts
[edit]Usually, the many different ethnic groups in Guinea-Bissau coexist peacefully, but when conflicts do erupt, they tend to revolve around access to land.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Culture
[edit]Media
[edit]Music
[edit]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.<ref>Lobeck, Katharina (21 May 2003) Manecas Costa Paraiso di Gumbe Review Template:Webarchive. BBC. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
The cabasa is the primary musical instrument of Guinea-Bissau,<ref>The Kora. Freewebs.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> 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.<ref>Radio Africa: Guinea Bissau vinyl discography Template:Webarchive. Radioafrica.com.au. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Bissagos Islands.<ref>Music of Guinea-Bissau Template:Webarchive. Ccas11bijagos.pbworks.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>
Cuisine
[edit]Common dishes include soups and stews. Common ingredients include yams, sweet potato, cassava, onion, tomato, and plantain. Spices, peppers, and chilis are used in cooking, including Aframomum melegueta seeds (Guinea pepper).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Film
[edit]Flora Gomes is an internationally renowned film director; his most famous film is Nha Fala (Template:Langx).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gomes's Mortu Nega (Death Denied) (1988)<ref>Mortu Nega Template:Webarchive. California Newsreel. Newsreel.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> was the first fiction film and the second feature film ever made in Guinea-Bissau. (The first feature film was N'tturudu, by director Template:Ill in 1987.) At FESPACO 1989, Mortu Nega won the prestigious Oumarou Ganda Prize. In 1992, Gomes directed Udju Azul di Yonta,<ref>Udju Azul di Yonta Template:Webarchive. California Newsreel. Newsreel.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gomes has also served on the boards of many Africa-centric film festivals.<ref>Flora Gomes The Two Faces of War: National Liberation in Guinea-Bissau Template:Webarchive. Watsoninstitute.org (25 October 2007). Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> The actress Babetida Sadjo was born in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sports
[edit]Football is the most popular sport in Guinea-Bissau. The Guinea-Bissau national football team is under the authority of the Federação de Futebol da Guiné-Bissau. They are a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Template:Notelist Template:Reflist
Sources
[edit]- Attribution
Further reading
[edit]- Abdel Malek, K.,"Le processus d'accès à l'indépendance de la Guinée-Bissau", Bulletin de l'Association des Anciens Elèves de l'Institut National de Langues et de Cultures Orientales, No. 1, April 1998. pp. 53–60
- Forrest, Joshua B., Lineages of State Fragility. Rural Civil Society in Guinea-Bissau (Ohio University Press/James Currey Ltd., 2003)
- Galli, Rosemary E, Guinea Bissau: Politics, Economics and Society, Pinter Pub Ltd., 1987
- Lobban, Richard Andrew Jr., and Mendy, Peter Karibe, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, third edition (Scarecrow Press, 1997)
- Vigh, Henrik, Navigating Terrains of War: Youth And Soldiering in Guinea-Bissau, Berghahn Books, 2006
External links
[edit]- Template:Wikiatlas
- Template:Official website, Government of Guinea-Bissau
- Country Profile from BBC News
- Guinea-Bissau profile from ECOWAS
- Guinea-Bissau at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- News headline links from Al Jazeera.
- Pages with broken file links
- Guinea-Bissau
- 1974 establishments in Guinea-Bissau
- Countries and territories where Portuguese is an official language
- Countries in Africa
- Economic Community of West African States
- Former Portuguese colonies
- Least developed countries
- Member states of the African Union
- Member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries
- Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
- Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
- Member states of the United Nations
- Republics
- Small Island Developing States
- States and territories established in 1974
- West African countries