NAVIGATION
|
HOME
• FLAG FINDER
• MAP FINDER
• SOURCES
• ADD YOURSELF TO THE ATLAS! COUNTRIES A-D • COUNTRIES E-K • COUNTRIES L-R • COUNTRIES S-Z |
NAVIGATION
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Republica da Guine-Bissau
former: Portuguese Guinea
GOVERNMENT
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau local short form: Guine-Bissau local long form: Republica da 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 Kumba YALA (since 18 February 2000)
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: Kumba YALA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Kumba YALA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28% cabinet: NA head of government: Prime Minister Mario PIRES (since 17 November 2002) |
|
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 20 April 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 [Kumba YALA]; 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, ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique Adriano DA SILVA
chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 519, 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; for the time being, US embassy Dakar is responsible for covering Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4296; FAX - [221] 822-5903 |
|
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 |
ECONOMY
|
Economy - 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 1999-2001. 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. |
|
GDP:
|
purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
7.2% (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $900 (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 54%
industry: 15% services: 31% (1997 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
NA% |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 42% (1991) (1991) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
5% (2001 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
480,000 |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 82% (2000 est.) |
|
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:
|
60 million kWh (2000) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
55.8 million kWh (2000) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
0 kWh (2000) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
0 kWh (2000) |
|
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 |
|
Exports - partners:
|
India 51.4%, Italy 2.7%, South Korea 2.0%, Belgium 2.0% (2000) |
|
Imports:
|
$55.2 million f.o.b. (2000 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products |
|
Imports - partners:
|
Portugal 30%, Senegal 14.6%, Thailand 8.5%, China 5.7% (2000) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$931 million (1999 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$115.4 million (1995) (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 - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997)
note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the XOF franc as the national currency; since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro |
|
Fiscal year:
|
calendar year |