Guinea-Bissau

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

NA

Radio broadcast stations

AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios

49,000 (1997)

Telephone system

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

Telephones - main lines in use

13,120 (1995)

Telephones - mobile cellular

NA

Television broadcast stations

2 (1997)

Televisions

NA

Agriculture - products

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

Budget

$NA

Currency

1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Debt - external

$921 million (1997 est.)

Economic aid - recipient

$115.4 million (1995)

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. 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 off-shore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run.

Electricity - consumption

37 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - production

40 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1998)

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 647.25 (January 2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); Guinea-Bissauan pesos (PG) per US$1 - 26,373 (1996), 18,073 (1995) note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc as the national currency following its membership in BCEAO; since 1 January 1999, the CFAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro

Exports

$26.8 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports - commodities

cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber (1996)

Exports - partners

India 59%, Singapore 12%, Italy 10% (1997)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 54% industry: 11% services: 35% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $900 (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

9.5% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)

Imports

$22.9 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Imports - commodities

foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products (1996)

Imports - partners

Portugal 26%, France 8%, Senegal 8%, Netherlands 7% (1997)

Industrial production growth rate

2.6% (1997 est.)

Industries

agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

5.5% (1999)

Labor force

480,000

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture 78%

Population below poverty line

50% (1991 est.)

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total: 36,120 sq km land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

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

Coastline

350 km

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m

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

Geographic coordinates

12 00 N, 15 00 W

Irrigated land

17 sq km (1993 est.)

Land boundaries

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

Land use

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

Location

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

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural hazards

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

Natural resources

fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum

Terrain

mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east

Administrative divisions

9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali note: Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos

Capital

Bissau

Constitution

16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996

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

Data code

PU

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

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

Executive branch

chief of state: President Koumba YALLA (since 18 February 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Caetana N'TCHAMA (since NA February 2000) 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%

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

Government type

republic, multiparty since mid-1991

Independence

24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal)

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

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, hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases

Legal system

NA

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 September (1973)

Political parties and leaders

African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Malan Bacai SANHA]; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea or FLING [Jose Katengul M. ENDES]; Guinea-Bissau Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Domingos FERNANDES Gomes]; 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]

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

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.

Military branches

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

Military expenditures - dollar figure

$8 million (FY96)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

2.8% (FY96)

Military manpower - availability

males age 15-49: 296,482 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service

males age 15-49: 168,930 (2000 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 42% (male 271,100; female 272,304) 15-64 years: 55% (male 335,150; female 370,667) 65 years and over: 3% (male 16,574; female 19,920) (2000 est.)

Birth rate

39.63 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate

15.62 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Ethnic groups

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

Infant mortality rate

112.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Languages

Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 49.04 years male: 46.77 years female: 51.37 years (2000 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun: Guinean (s) adjective: Guinean

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Population

1,285,715 (July 2000 est.)

Population growth rate

2.4% (2000 est.)

Religions

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

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.27 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Disputes - international

none [Country Listing] [ The World Factbook Home]

Airports

30 (1999 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 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 22 (1999 est.)

Highways

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

Merchant marine

none (1999 est.)

Ports and harbors

Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim

Railways

0 km

Waterways

several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping