Guinea-Bissau << GIHN ee bih SOW >> is a small, independent country on the bulge of Africa’s west coast. It includes the offshore Bijagos (or Bissagos) Islands. Bissau is the capital, chief port, and largest city.
Most of the people of Guinea-Bissau are farmers. The leading crops include peanuts and rice, which thrive in the country’s tropical climate. Guinea-Bissau was Portuguese Guinea, an overseas province of Portugal, until 1974. That same year, the province won its independence after an 11-year war against Portuguese rule.
Government.
Under the Constitution of Guinea-Bissau, the president is the most powerful official, and the National People’s Assembly is the country’s legislature. The president is elected by the people to a five-year term. The people elect the Assembly’s members to terms lasting no more than four years.
In 1991, the Assembly approved constitutional amendments that made Guinea-Bissau a multiparty democracy. Until then, the only party had been the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde. This party is usually known by the initials PAIGC, the abbreviation of its name in Portuguese.
People.
About 85 percent of Guinea-Bissau’s people belong to African ethnic groups. Most of the rest are of mixed African and Portuguese ancestry. There are about 20 African ethnic groups. The largest ones, in order of size, are the Balanta; the Fulani; the Manjako; and the Mandinka (see Fulani; Mandinka).
About half of the people in Guinea-Bissau live in rural areas and make a bare living farming. Many of them live in straw houses with thatched roofs. About half of the people practice animism, the belief that everything in nature has a spirit (see Animism). Many others are Muslims. The official language of Guinea-Bissau is Portuguese. But most of the people more often speak crioulo, which is a local language that combines other local African languages and Portuguese.
While under Portuguese rule, the people of Guinea-Bissau received little education. When the country won its freedom, only about 5 percent of the people could read and write. During the war for independence, rebel leaders began many schools and adult education programs in areas under their control. After the war, the new government turned several former Portuguese military buildings into schools.
Land and climate.
Guinea-Bissau’s coastal area consists of rain forests and thick swamps. Mangrove trees grow in the water along the shore. The land slopes upward from the coast, and savannas (grasslands with scattered trees) cover most of the inland regions. Many rivers flow through the country. The chief rivers include the Cacheu, the Corubal, and the Geba.
Guinea-Bissau has a tropical climate with a dry and a wet season. During the dry season, which lasts from December to May, temperatures average 74 °F (23 °C). During the wet season, which lasts from June to November, temperatures average 83 °F (28 °C). The heaviest rains fall in July and August. The yearly rainfall averages 95 inches (241 centimeters) along the coast and 55 inches (140 centimeters) inland.
Economy.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world. Many people live in poverty, and foreign aid is important to the country’s economy. Guinea-Bissau’s agriculture, industry, and mineral resources are underdeveloped.
About 80 percent of all workers are farmers. Leading crops include beans, cashews, cassava, coconuts, corn, peanuts, plantains, and rice. Farmers also raise beef and dairy cattle and hogs.
Guinea-Bissau’s few industries employ only a small percentage of the nation’s workers. Food and beverage processing is the chief industry. Mining plays a small role in the country’s economy. Guinea-Bissau has deposits of bauxite and phosphate.
Guinea-Bissau imports food products, machinery, motor vehicles, and petroleum products. Cashew nuts rank as the country’s main export. The country’s other exports include fish products and sawn lumber. Guinea-Bissau trades with China, India, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Senegal.
Guinea-Bissau has few paved roads. Many of the country’s dirt roads in the south become unusable during the rainy season. Rivers serve as a chief means of transportation. The Cacheu, Corubal, and Geba rivers are deep enough for some oceangoing ships to travel many miles upstream. Bissau has an international airport and the country’s main port.
History.
Balanta and other African peoples grew rice in what is now Guinea-Bissau long before European explorers arrived in the 1400’s. From the mid-1400’s to the 1800’s, the Portuguese and other Europeans used the area as a slave-trading base. The Portuguese built a fort at Bissau in the late 1600’s. The area became a Portuguese colony called Portuguese Guinea in 1879. It became an overseas province of Portugal in 1951.
In the mid-1900’s, an independence movement swept across Africa. In 1956, African nationalist leaders in Portuguese Guinea founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). Cape Verde (now Cabo Verde) was a Portuguese-ruled island group about 475 miles (764 kilometers) northwest of Portuguese Guinea. Amilcar Cabral led the party from 1956 to 1973, when he was assassinated. In the early 1960’s, the PAIGC trained many Portuguese Guinean farmers in guerrilla warfare.
The war for independence began in 1963. By 1968, the PAIGC controlled about two-thirds of the province. The people in these areas elected the first National People’s Assembly in 1972. The next year, the Assembly declared the province to be an independent nation called Guinea-Bissau. Luis Cabral, a PAIGC leader and a brother of Amilcar Cabral, became the new nation’s first president. The war ended in 1974, when Portugal recognized Guinea-Bissau’s independence. Cape Verde became independent in 1975. The PAIGC, under General Secretary Aristides Pereira, began work to rebuild and develop the country. The party also worked to unite Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde under one government.
In 1980, military leaders overthrew the civilian government. They abolished the National People’s Assembly and formed a ruling military council. The military government forcefully opposed the unification of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. In 1984, it adopted a constitution that set up a new National People’s Assembly. The Assembly elected a new president, Brigadier General Joao Bernardo Vieira.
The PAIGC was Guinea-Bissau’s only political party until 1991. That year, the Assembly legalized the formation of other parties. Vieira won multiparty elections held in 1994 and remained president. In 1998 and 1999, fighting between rebel troops and government forces killed or displaced thousands of people. The rebels, led by General Ansumane Mane, removed Vieira from office in May 1999. Malam Bacai Sanhá, who had been head of the Assembly, then became acting president. In legislative elections held in November, the Social Renovation Party won the most seats in the Assembly. In 2000, Guinea-Bissau’s voters elected Kumba Yala, the head of the Social Renovation Party, as the country’s president.
In September 2003, military leaders forced Yala out of office. Later that month, a transitional government was established, with Henrique Rosa, a businessman, serving as interim president. Legislative elections were held in 2004, and the PAIGC won the most seats. In a presidential election held in 2005, Vieira, the former ruler, ran as an independent candidate and won. Tensions remained high between Vieira and the military. In 2008, soldiers attempted to kill Vieira at the presidential palace. In March 2009, the army’s chief of staff was killed in an explosion. A group of soldiers blamed the president for the attack and killed Vieira at his house. Raimundo Pereira, speaker of the National People’s Assembly, became interim president. In July, Malam Bacai Sanhá was elected to again serve as president. Sanhá died in 2012. Military leaders took control of the government before new elections could be held but later handed power over to a transitional civilian government. Presidential elections were held in 2014, and the PAIGC candidate, José Mário Vaz, became president.
President Vaz ran for reelection in 2019, but he failed to qualify for the second round of the election. Former prime minister Umaro Sissoco Embalo was elected as president. In May 2022, Embalo dissolved the National People’s Assembly and scheduled snap elections for December. A snap election is one that is called earlier than expected. However, Embalo appointed a new government in June 2022, and the elections were postponed.
