Map of Guinea-Bissau | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Since independence from Portugal in 1974 Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980 a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000 a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003 after only three years in office YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim president. In 2005 former President VIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation.


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Location: 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
Arable land: 8.31%
Permanent crops: 6.92%
Other: 84.77% (2005)

Irrigated land: 250 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 31 km³ (2003)

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 inland


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Population: 1,503,182 (July 2008 est.)
Growth rate: 2.035% (2008 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Guinean
Adjective: Guinean

Ethnic groups: African 99% (includes Balanta 30% Fula 20% Manjaca 14% Mandinga 13% Papel 7%) European and mulatto less than 1%

Languages: Portuguese (official) Crioulo African languages

Religions: Muslim 50% indigenous beliefs 40% Christian 10%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 41% (male 307,353/female 308,726)
15-64 years: 55.9% (male 404,747/female 436,245)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 18,819/female 27,292) (2008 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 19.2 years
Male: 18.6 years
Female: 19.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.035% (2008 est.)

Birth rate: 36.4 births/1000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 16.05 deaths/1000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2008 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, 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: 0.93 male/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female (2008 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 101.64 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 111.74 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 91.25 deaths/1000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 47.52 years
Male: 45.71 years
Female: 49.39 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.72 children born/woman (2008 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
Water contact disease: schistosomiasis
Respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures: 5.2% of GDP (1999)

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
Total: 5 years
Male: 7 years
Female: 4 years (2001)

Youth unemployment


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Country 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

Capital
Name: Bissau
Geographic coordinates: 11 51 N, 15 35 W
Time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

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 (declared); 10 September 1974 (from 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 in 1996

Legal system: based on French civil law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA (since 1 October 2005)
Head of government: Prime Minister Carlos CORREIA (since 5 August 2008)
Cabinet: NA
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 24 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature
Election results: Joao Bernardo VIEIRA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Joao Bernardo VIEIRA 52.4%, Malam Bacai SANHA 47.6%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held 16 November 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 more than $1000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases valued at less than $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]; Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Democratic Social Front or FDS; Electoral Union or UE; Guinea-Bissau Civic Forum/Social Democracy or FCGSD [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; Guinea-Bissau Democratic Party or PDG; Guinea-Bissau Socialist Democratic Party or PDSG [Serifo BALDE]; Labor and Solidarity Party or PST [Iancuba INDJAI]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Party for Renewal and Progress or PRP; Progress Party or PP [Ibrahima SOW]; Union for Change or UM [Amine SAAD]; Union of Guinean Patriots or UPG [Francisca VAZ]; United Platform or UP (coalition formed by PCD FDS FLING and RGB-MB); United Popular Alliance or APU; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD

International organization participation: ACP AfDB AU CPLP ECOWAS FAO FZ G-77 IBRD ICAO ICCt (signatory) ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ITSO ITU ITUC MIGA NAM OIC OIF OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO Union Latina UNWTO UPU WADB (regional) WAEMU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: none; note - Guinea-Bissau does not have official representation in Washington, DC
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; the US Ambassador to Senegal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau

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


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Economy overview: One of the five 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. Offshore oil prospecting is underway in several sectors but has not yet led to commercially viable crude deposits. 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 resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06. Higher raw material prices boosted growth to 3.7% in 2007.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $826.4 million (2007 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 2.7% (2007 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $600 (2007 est.)

Gross national saving

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: 4.7% (2003 est.)

Labor force: 480,000 (1999)
By occupation agriculture: 82%
By occupation industry and services: 18% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 0.5%
Highest 10: 42.4% (1991)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $NA
Expenditures: $NA

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.8% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate: 4.25% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit: $46.44 million (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Current account balance: -$6 million (2007 est.)

Exports: $133 million f.o.b. (2006)
Commodities: cashew nuts shrimp peanuts palm kernels sawn lumber
Partners: Brazil 56.2% India 33.6% Nigeria 8.3% (2007)

Imports: $200 million f.o.b. (2006)
Commodities: foodstuffs machinery and transport equipment petroleum products
Partners: Portugal 21.7% Senegal 16.8% France 6% Pakistan 4.7% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $941.5 million (2000 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates
Note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro


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Electricity
Production: 60 million kWh (2006 est.)
Consumption: 55.8 million kWh (2006 est.)
Exports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 4,600 (2007)
Mobile cellular: 296,200 (2007)

Telephone system
General assessment: small system
Domestic: combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications; fixed-line teledensity less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity reached 20 per 100 in 2007
International: country code - 245

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .gw
Hosts: 82 (2008)
Users: 37,000 (2006)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: 3.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for selective compulsory military service (2006)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 27 (2007)
With paved runways total: 3
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 24
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 19 (2007)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways
Total: 3,455 km
Paved: 965 km
Unpaved: 2,490 km (2002)

Waterways: rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2007)

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals: Bissau Buba Cacheu Farim


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Disputes international: in 2006 political instability within Senegal's Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese refugees cross-border raids and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 7,454 (Senegal) (2007)

Illicit drugs: increasingly important transit country for South American cocaine enroute to Europe; enabling environment for trafficker operations thanks to pervasive corruption; archipelago-like geography around the capital facilitates drug smuggling