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

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Background:


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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: 36,125 km²
Land: 28,120 km²
Water: 8,005 km²
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries
Total: 762 km
Border countries: (2) Guinea 421 km; , Senegal 341 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-lying coastal plain with a deeply indented estuarine coastline rising to savanna in east; numerous off-shore islands including the Arquipelago Dos Bijagos consisting of 18 main islands and many small islets

Elevation
Highest point: unnamed elevation in the eastern part of the country 300 m
Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation: 70 m

Natural resources: fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum

Land use
Agricultural land: 44.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 8.2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 6.9% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 29.7% (2018 est.)
Forest: 55.2% (2018 est.)
Other: 0% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 250 km² (2012)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 34.1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
Industrial: 11.9 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
Agricultural: 144 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 31.4 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

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
Distribution: approximately one-fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast; the remainder is distributed among the eight other, mainly rural, regions : 1,976,187 (July 2021 est.)
Growth rate: 2.52% (2021 est.)
Below poverty line: 67% (2015 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bissau-Guinean(s)
Adjective: Bissau-Guinean

Ethnic groups: Fulani 28.5%, Balanta 22.5%, Mandinga 14.7%, Papel 9.1%, Manjaco 8.3%, Beafada 3.5%, Mancanha 3.1%, Bijago 2.1%, Felupe 1.7%, Mansoanca 1.4%, Balanta Mane 1%, other 1.8%, none 2.2% (2008 est.)

Languages: Portuguese-based Creole, Portuguese (official; largely used as a second or third language), Pular (a Fula language), Mandingo

Religions: Muslim 45.1%, Christian 22.1%, animist 14.9%, none 2%, unspecified 15.9% (2008 est.)

Demographic profile: Guinea-Bissau’s young and growing population is sustained by high fertility; approximately 60% of the population is under the age of 25. Its large reproductive-age population and total fertility rate of more than 4 children per woman offsets the country’s high infant and maternal mortality rates. The latter is among the world’s highest because of the prevalence of early childbearing, a lack of birth spacing, the high percentage of births outside of health care facilities, and a shortage of medicines and supplies.

Age structure
0-14 years: 43.17% (male 417,810/female 414,105)
15-24 years: 20.38% (male 192,451/female 200,370)
25-54 years: 30.24% (male 275,416/female 307,387)
55-64 years: 3.12% (male 29,549/female 30,661)
65 years and over: 3.08% (male 25,291/female 34,064) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 81.2
Youth dependency ratio: 76
Elderly dependency ratio: 5.2
Potential support ratio: 19.1 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 18 years
Male: 17.4 years
Female: 18.6 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.52% (2021 est.)

Birth rate: 36.64 births/1000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate: 7.69 deaths/1000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.72 migrant(s)/1000 population (2021 est.)

Population distribution: approximately one-fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast; the remainder is distributed among the eight other, mainly rural, regions

Urbanization
Urban population: 44.6% of total population (2021)
Rate of urbanization: 3.22% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 621,000 BISSAU (capital) (2021)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation (rampant felling of trees for timber and agricultural purposes); soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 27.12 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 0.29 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 1.46 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio: 667 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 50.44 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 56.33 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 44.37 deaths/1000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 63.26 years
Male: 61.04 years
Female: 65.55 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.72 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 20.6% (2018)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 91.2% of population
Improved rural: 60.3% of population
Improved total: 73.5% of population
Unimproved urban: 8.5% of population
Unimproved rural: 39.7% of population
Unimproved total: 26.5% of population (2017 est.)

Current health expenditure: 7% (2018)

Physicians density: 0.13 physicians/1000 population (2016)

Hospital bed density: 1 beds/1000 population (2009)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban: 66.5% of population
Improved rural: 13.4% of population
Improved total: 36.2% of population
Unimproved urban: 33.5% of population
Unimproved rural: 86.6% of population
Unimproved total: 63.8% of population (2017 est.)

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 3% (2020 est.)
People living with hivaids: 37,000 (2020 est.)
Deaths: 1,500 (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: very high (2020)
Food or water borne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vector borne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
Watercontactdiseases: schistosomiasis
Animalcontactdiseases: rabies

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 9.5% (2016)

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 18.8% (2019)

Education expenditures: 2.9% of GDP (2019)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 59.9%
Male: 71.8%
Female: 48.3% (2015)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

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
Etymology: the country is named after the Guinea region of West Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea and stretches north to the Sahel; 'Bissau,' the name of the capital city, distinguishes the country from neighboring Guinea

Government type: semi-presidential 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)
Etymology: the meaning of Bissau is uncertain, it might be an alternative name for the Papel people who live in the area of the city of Bissau

Administrative divisions: 9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama/Bijagos, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali

Dependent areas

Independence: 24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (from Portugal)

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 September (1973)

Constitution
History: promulgated 16 May 1984; note - constitution suspended following military coup April 2012, restored 2014; note - in May 2020, President EMBALO established a commission to draft a revised constitution
Amendments: proposed by the National People’s Assembly if supported by at least one third of its members, by the Council of State (a presidential consultant body), or by the government; passage requires approval by at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly; constitutional articles on the republican and secular form of government and national sovereignty cannot be amended; amended 1991, 1993, 1996

Legal system: mixed legal system of civil law, which incorporated Portuguese law at independence and influenced by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), African Francophone Public Law, and customary law

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; non-party state to the ICCt

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: yes
Citizenship by descentonly: yes
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Umaro Sissoko EMBALO (since 27 February 2020); note - President EMBALO was declared winner of the 29 December 2019 runoff presidential election by the electoral commission. In late February 2020, Embalo seized power with the help of the military without being officially inaugurated, even though the Supreme Court of Justice had yet to rule on an electoral litigation appeal lodged by his political rival Domingos Simoes PEREIRA.
Head of government: Prime Minister Nuno NABIAM (since 27 February 2020)
Cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the prime minister, appointed by the president
Elections and appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term; election last held on 24 November 2019 with a runoff on 29 December 2019 (next to be held in 2024); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the National People's Assembly; note - the president cannot apply for a third consecutive term, nor during the 5 years following the end of the second term
Election results: Umaro Sissoco EMBALO elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Domingos Simoes PEREIRA (PAIGC) 40.1%, Umaro Sissoco EMBALO (Madem G15) 27.7%, Nuno Gomez NABIAM (APU-PDGB) 13.2%, Jose Mario VAZ (independent) 12.4%, other 6.6%; percent of vote in second round - Umaro Sissoco EMBALO 53.6%, Domingos Simoes PEREIRA 46.5%

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (102 seats; 100 members directly elected in 27 multi-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote and 2 elected in single-seat constituencies for citizens living abroad (1 for Africa, 1 for Europe); all members serve 4-year terms)
Elections: last held on 10 March 2019 (next to be held in March 2023)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 35.2%, Madem G-15 21.1%, PRS 21.1%, other 22.6%; seats by party - PAIGC 47, Madem G-15 27, PRS 21, other 7; composition - men 88, women 14, percent of women 13.7%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (consists of 9 judges and organized into Civil, Criminal, and Social and Administrative Disputes Chambers); note - the Supreme Court has both appellate and constitutional jurisdiction
Judge selection and term of office: judges nominated by the Higher Council of the Magistrate, a major government organ responsible for judge appointments, dismissals, and judiciary discipline; judges appointed by the president for life
Subordinate courts: Appeals Court; regional (first instance) courts; military court

Political parties and leaders: African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde or PAIGC [Domingos SIMOES PEREIRA]
Democratic Convergence Party or PCD [Vicente FERNANDES]
Movement for Democratic Alternation Group of 15 or MADEM-G15 [Braima CAMARA]
National People’s Assembly – Democratic Party of Guinea Bissau or APU-PDGB [Nuno Gomes NABIAM]
New Democracy Party or PND [Mamadu Iaia DJALO]
Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Alberto NAMBEIA]
Republican Party for Independence and Development or PRID [Aristides GOMES]
Union for Change or UM [Agnelo REGALA]

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AOSIS, AU, CPLP, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSMA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), 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 embassy: the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998; the US Ambassador to Senegal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau
From the us mailing address: 2,080 Bissau Place, Washington DC  20,521-2,080
From the us email address and website:

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