Statistical information Guinea-Bissau 2005
Guinea-Bissau in the World
Guinea-Bissau - Introduction 2005
top of pageBackground: Since independence from Portugal in 1974 Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable upheaval. The founding government consisted of a single party system and command economy. In 1980 a military coup established Joao VIEIRA as president and a path to a market economy and multiparty system was implemented. A number of coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him and in 1994 he was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military coup attempt and civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in 1999. In February 2000 an interim government turned over power when opposition leader Kumba YALA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. YALA was ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2003 and Henrique ROSA was sworn in as President. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy will be complicated by its crippled economy devastated in the civil war.
Guinea-Bissau - Geography 2005
top of pageLocation: Western Africa bordering the North Atlantic Ocean between Guinea and Senegal
Geographic coordinates: 12 00 N 15 00 W
Map reference: Africa
Area
Total: 36,120 km²
Land: 28,000 km²
Water: 8,120 km²
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries
Total: 724 km
Border countries: (2) Guinea 386 km; , Senegal 338 km
Coastline: 350 km
Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
Terrain: mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east
Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
Natural resources: fish timber phosphates bauxite clay granite limestone unexploited deposits of petroleum
Land use
Land use
Arable land: 10.67%
Permanent crops: 8.82%
Other: 80.51% (2001)
Irrigated land: 170 km² (1998 est.)
Major rivers
Major watersheds area km²
Total water withdrawal
Total renewable water resources
Natural hazards: hot dry dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
Geography
Note: this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland
Guinea-Bissau - People 2005
top of pagePopulation: 1,416,027 (July 2005 est.)
Growth rate: 1.96% (2005 est.)
Below poverty line: NA
Nationality
Noun: Guinean
Adjective: Guinean
Ethnic groups: African 99% (Balanta 30% Fula 20% Manjaca 14% Mandinga 13% Papel 7%) European and mulatto less than 1%
Languages: Portuguese (official) Crioulo African languages
Religions: indigenous beliefs 50% Muslim 45% Christian 5%
Demographic profile
Age structure
Age structure
0-14 years: 41.5% (male 293,280/female 294,483)
15-64 years: 55.5% (male 376,719/female 409,402)
65 years and over: 3% (male 17,865/female 24,278) (2005 est.)
Dependency ratios
Median age
Total: 18.97 years
Male: 18.37 years
Female: 19.57 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.96% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 37.65 births/1000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 16.53 deaths/1000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.54 migrant(s)/1000 population (2005 est.)
Population distribution
Urbanization
Major urban areas
Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Air pollutants
Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1 male/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male/female
Total population: 0.94 male/female (2005 est.)
Mothers mean age at first birth
Maternal mortality ratio
Infant mortality rate
Total: 107.17 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 117.78 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 96.25 deaths/1000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 46.61 years
Male: 44.77 years
Female: 48.52 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.93 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Drinking water source
Current health expenditure
Physicians density
Hospital bed density
Sanitation facility access
Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 10% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 17,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 1200 (2001 est.)
Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: very high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever are high risks in some locations
Water contact disease: schistosomiasis
Respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2004)
Obesity adult prevalence rate
Alcohol consumption
Tobacco use
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
Education expenditures
Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 42.4%
Male: 58.1%
Female: 27.4% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Youth unemployment
Guinea-Bissau - Government 2005
top of pageCountry name
Conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau
Local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau
Local short form: Guine-Bissau
Former: Portuguese Guinea
Government type: republic multiparty since mid-1991
Capital: Bissau
Administrative divisions: 9 regions (regioes singular - regiao); Bafata Biombo Bissau Bolama Cacheu Gabu Oio Quinara Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos
Dependent areas
Independence: 24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal)
National holiday: Independence Day 24 September (1973)
Constitution: 16 May 1984; amended 4 May 1991 4 December 1991 26 February 1993 9 June 1993 and 1996
Legal system: NA
International law organization participation
Citizenship
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch
Chief of state: President Henrique ROSA (interim; since 28 September 2003); note - a September 2003 coup overthrew the elected government of Kumba YALA; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 to 28 September 2003
Head of government: Prime Minister Carlos GOMES Junior (since 9 May 2004)
Cabinet: NA
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 28 November 1999 and 16 January 2000 (next to be held May 2005); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature
Election results: Kumba YALA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Kumba YALA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28%
Note: a bloodless coup led to the dissolution of the elected government of Kumba YALA in September 2003; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 September 2003 until stepping aside on 28 September 2003 with the establishment of a caretaker government
Legislative branch
Elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2008)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2%; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at over $1000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)
Political parties and leaders: African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea or FLING [Francois MENDY]; Guinea-Bissau Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Helder Vaz LOPES]; Guinean Civic Forum or FCG [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; International League for Ecological Protection or LIPE [Alhaje Bubacar DJALO president]; National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Abubacer BALDE secretary general]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Social Renovation Party or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Union for Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA president Dr. Anne SAAD secretary general]; United Platform or UP [coalition formed by PCD FDS FLING and RGB-MB]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Francisco Jose FADUL]
International organization participation: ACCT ACP AfDB AU ECOWAS FAO FZ G-77 IBRD ICAO ICCt (signatory) ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ITU NAM OIC OPCW (signatory) UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WADB (regional) WAEMU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO
Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique Adriano DA SILVA
In the us chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 519, Washington, DC 20,005
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 347-3,950
In the us fax: [1] (202) 347-3,954
From the us: the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta; US embassy Dakar is responsible for covering Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4,296; FAX - [221] 822-5,903
Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
National symbols
National anthem
National heritage
Guinea-Bissau - Economy 2005
top of pageEconomy overview: One of the 10 poorest countries in the world Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts palm kernels and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs the development of petroleum phosphate and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base. In December 2003 the World Bank IMF and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004 representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision however have resulted in continued low growth in 2004.
Real gdp purchasing power parity: $1.008 billion (2004 est.)
Real gdp growth rate: 2.6% (2004 est.)
Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $700 (2004 est.)
Gross national saving
Gdp composition by sector of origin
Gdp composition by end use
Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 62%
Industry: 12%
Services: 26% (1999 est.)
Agriculture products: rice corn beans cassava (tapioca) cashew nuts peanuts palm kernels cotton; timber; fish
Industries: agricultural products processing beer soft drinks
Industrial production growth rate: 2.6% (1997 est.)
Labor force: 480,000 (1999)
By occupation: agriculture 82% (2000 est.)
Labor force