Guinea-Bissau

§1. Guinea-Bissau Introduction

Background:
  In 1994, 20 years after independence from Portugal, the country's first
  multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held. An army
  uprising that triggered a bloody civil war in 1998, created hundreds of
  thousands of displaced persons. The president was ousted by a military
  junta in May 1999. An interim government turned over power in February 2000
  when opposition leader Koumba YALLA took office following two rounds of
  transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to
  democracy will be complicated by a crippled economy devastated by civil war
  and the military's predilection for governmental meddling.

§2. Guinea-Bissau Geography

Location:
  Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and
  Senegal

Geographic coordinates:
  12 00 N, 15 00 W

Map references:
  Africa

Area:
  total: 36,120 kmē
  land: 28,000 kmē
  water: 8,120 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries:
  total: 724 km border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km

Coastline:
  350 km

Maritime claims:
  exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 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 highest point: unnamed location in the
    northeast corner of the country 300 m

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

Land use:
  arable land: 11%
  permanent crops: 1%
  permanent pastures: 38%
  forests and woodland: 38%
  other: 12% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  17 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
  hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season;
  brush fires

Environment - current issues:
  deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
    Species, Law of the Sea, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the
    selected agreements

§3. Guinea-Bissau People

Population:
  1,315,822 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 42.09% (male 276,312; female 277,536)
  15-64 years: 55.05% (male 344,493; female 379,889)
  65 years and over: 2.86% (male 16,850; female 20,742) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  2.23% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  39.29 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  15.33 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  110.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 49.42 years male: 47.12 years
  female: 51.78 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  5.2 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  2.5% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  14,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  1,300 (1999 est.)

Nationality:
  noun: Guinean (s)
  adjective: Guinean

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

Religions:
  indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5%

Languages:
  Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 53.9%
  male: 67.1%
  female: 40.7% (1997 est.)

§4. Guinea-Bissau Government

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, 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

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

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Koumba YALLA (since 18 February 2000)
  head of government: Prime Minister Faustino IMBALI (since 20 March 2001)
  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 NA 2004);
    prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party
    leaders in the legislature
  election results: Koumba YALLA elected president; percent of vote, second
    ballot - Koumba YALLA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28%

Legislative branch:
  unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100
  seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve a maximum of four
  years)
  elections: last held 28 November 1999 (next to be held by NA 2003)
  election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRS 37,
    RGB 27, PAIGC 25, 11 remaining seats went to 5 of the remaining 10
    parties that fielded candidates

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices who
  are 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 $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts
  (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under
  $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)

Political parties and leaders:
  African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC
  [Francisco BENANTE]; 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 [Koumba YALLA]; Union
  for Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary
  general]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Victor Sau'de MARIA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
  ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory
  user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
  UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Mario LOPES DA ROSA chancery: Suite 519, 1511
    K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
  telephone: [1] (202) 347-3950
  FAX: [1] (202) 347-3954

Diplomatic representation 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

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

§5. Guinea-Bissau Economy

Economy - overview:
  One of the 20 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 1999-2000. 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.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  7.6% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 54% industry: 15%
  services: 31% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  50% (1991 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  3% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  480,000

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 78%

Unemployment rate:
  NA%

Budget:
  revenues: $NA
  expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries:
  agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks

Industrial production growth rate:
  2.6% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production:
  55 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0%
  nuclear: 0%
  other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:
  51.2 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:
  rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels,
  cotton; timber; fish

Exports:
  $80 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber (1996)

Exports - partners:
  India 59%, Singapore 12%, Italy 10% (1998)

Imports:
  $55.2 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products (1996)

Imports - partners:
  Portugal 26%, France 8%, Senegal 8%, Netherlands 7% (1998)

Debt - external:
  $964 million (1998 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $115.4 million (1995)

Currency:
  Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority
  is the Central Bank of the West African States; previously the
  Guinea-Bissau peso (GWP) was used

Currency code:
  XOF; GWP

Exchange rates:
  Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21
  (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997);
  Guinea-Bissauan pesos per US dollar - 26,373 (1996)
  note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc as the national
    currency; since 1 January 1999, the CFA franc is pegged to the euro at a
    rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Guinea-Bissau Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  8,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  NA

Telephone system:
  general assessment: small system domestic: combination of microwave radio
    relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications
  international: NA

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:
  49,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
  2 (1997)

Televisions:
  NA

Internet country code:
  .gw

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  1 (2000)

Internet users:
  1,500 (2000)

§7. Guinea-Bissau Transportation

Railways:
  0 km

Highways:
  total: 4,400 km
  paved: 453 km
  unpaved: 3,947 km (1996)

Waterways:
  several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping

Ports and harbors:
  Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim

Merchant marine:
  none (2000 est.)

Airports:
  29 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  914 to 1,523 m: 4
  under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.)

§8. Guinea-Bissau Military

Military branches:
  People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air
  Force), paramilitary force

Military manpower - availability:
  males age 15-49: 305,071 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
  males age 15-49: 173,703 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $8 million (FY96)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  2.8% (FY96)

§9. Guinea-Bissau Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none
