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Guinea-Bissau

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Guinea-Bissau, Africa. For more information see
   SOS Children in Guinea-Bissau, Africa
   República da Guiné-Bissau
   Republic of Guinea-Bissau

   Flag of Guinea-Bissau Emblem of Guinea-Bissau
   Flag                  Emblem
   Motto: Unidade, Luta, Progresso  (Portuguese)
   "Unity, Struggle, Progress"
   Anthem: Esta é a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada  (Portuguese)
   Location of Guinea-Bissau
   Capital Bissau^1
   11°52′N 15°36′W
   Largest city Bissau
   Official languages Portuguese
   Government Republic
    - President João Bernardo Vieira
    - Prime Minister Aristides Gomes
   Independence from Portugal
    - Declared September 24, 1973
    - Recognised September 10, 1974
   Area
    - Total 36,125 km² ( 136th)
   13,948 sq mi
    - Water (%) 22.4
   Population
    - July 2005 estimate 1,586,000 ( 148th)
    - 2002 census 1,345,479
    - Density 44/km² ( 154th)
   114/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $1.167 billion ( 165th)
    - Per capita $736 ( 177th)
   HDI  (2004) 0.349 (low) ( 173rd)
   Currency CFA franc ( XOF)
   Time zone GMT ( UTC+0)
   Internet TLD .gw
   Calling code +245
   ^1Former President Kumba Ialá decided to change the capital city to
   Buba, but this is unlikely to occur.

   Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (pr.
   gin-ee-bi-sou. Portuguese: 'República da Guiné-Bissau', IPA:
   [ʁɛ'publikɐ dɐ gi'nɛ bi'sau]), is a country in western Africa, and one
   of the smallest nations in continental Africa. It is bordered by
   Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the
   Atlantic Ocean to its west. Formerly the Portuguese colony of
   Portuguese Guinea, upon independence, the name of its capital, Bissau,
   was added to the country's official name in order to prevent confusion
   between itself and the Republic of Guinea.

History

   Guinea-Bissau was once the kingdom of Gabù, part of the Mali Empire;
   parts of the kingdom persisted until the 18th century. Although the
   rivers and coast of this area were among the first places colonized by
   the Portuguese, who began slave trade in the 17th century, the interior
   was not explored until the 19th century.

   An armed rebellion beginning in 1956 by the African Party for the
   Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) gradually consolidated
   its hold on the country. Unlike other Portuguese anticolonial efforts,
   the PAIGC rapidly extended its military control over large portions of
   the country, aided by the jungle-like terrain and large quantities of
   arms from China, the Soviet Union, and other African countries. The
   PAIGC even managed to acquire a significant anti-aircraft capability in
   order to defend itself against aerial attack. By 1973, the PAIGC was in
   control of most of the country. Independence was unilaterally declared
   on September 24, 1973 and was recognized by a 93-7 UN General Assembly
   vote in November 1973. , Recognition became universal following the
   socialist-inspired military coup in 1974. The country was controlled by
   a revolutionary council until 1984. The first multi-party elections
   were held in 1994, but an army uprising in 1998 led to the president's
   ousting and the Guinea-Bissau Civil War. Elections were held in 2000
   and Kumba Ialá was elected president.

   In September 2003 a coup took place in which the military arrested Ialá
   on the charge of being "unable to solve the problems." After being
   delayed several times, legislative elections were held in March 2004. A
   mutiny of military factions in October 2004 resulted in the death of
   the head of the armed forces, and caused widespread unrest.

   In June 2005, presidential elections were held for the first time since
   the coup that deposed Ialá. Ialá returned as the candidate for the PRS,
   claiming to be the legitimate president of the country, but the
   election was won by former president João Bernardo Vieira, deposed in
   the 1998 coup. Vieira was a candidate for one sect of the PAIGC. Vieira
   beat Malam Bacai Sanha in a runoff-election, but Sanha refused
   initially to concede, claiming that the elections have been fraudulent
   in two constituencies, including the capital Bissau.

   Despite reports that there had been an influx of arms in the weeks
   leading up to the election and reports of some 'disturbances during
   campaigning' - including attacks on the presidential palace and the
   Interior Ministry by as-yet-unidentified gunmen - European monitors
   labelled the election as "calm and organized".

Politics

   Guinea-Bissau has a multi-party National People's Assembly as well as a
   president, both of which are elected by popular vote. The president
   appoints the prime minister after consultation with the parties in the
   assembly. The former president, Kumba Yala, belongs to the Social
   Renovation Party or PRS; other parties in the assembly include the
   Guinea-Bissau Resistance and PAIGC.

Administrative Divisions

   Map of the regions of Guinea-Bissau

   Guinea-Bissau is divided into 8 regions (regiões) and 1 autonomous
   sector (sector autónomo), and are subdivided into 37 sectors.

   The regions include:
     * Bafata
     * Biombo
     * Bissau (autonomous sector)
     * Bolama
     * Cacheu
     * Gabu
     * Oio
     * Quinara
     * Tombali

   Sectors: see Sectors of Guinea-Bissau

Geography

   Map Of Guinea Bissau
   Satellite image of Guinea-Bissau, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Guinea-Bissau, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library

   At 13,945 sq mi. (36,120 km²) Guinea-Bissau is nearly identical in size
   to Taiwan, and somewhat larger than the US state of Maryland. This
   small, tropical country lies at a low altitude; its highest point is
   984 feet (300  m). The interior is savanna, and the coastline is swampy
   plain. Its monsoon-like rainy season alternates with periods of hot,
   dry harmattan winds blowing from the Sahara. The Bijagos Archipelago
   extends out to sea.

Economy

   Guinea-Bissau is among the 20 poorest countries of the world. Its
   farming and fishing economy was badly disrupted by the 1998–1999 civil
   war. It has a foreign debt of $US 921 million and is subject to an IMF
   structural adjustment program.

   One of Guinea-Bissau's important income sources is cashew nuts, of
   which it exports 90,000 tons per year. In January 2005 the government
   announced that a locust swarm was threatening this vital crop, and that
   the country did not have the resources to tackle the infestation.

Demographics

   The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse and has many
   distinct languages, customs, and social structures. Nearly 99% of
   Guineans are black and can be divided into the following three
   catergories: Fula and the Mandinka-speaking people, who comprise the
   largest portion of the population and are concentrated in the north and
   northeast; the Balanta and Papel people, who live in the southern
   coastal regions; and the Manjaco and Mancanha, who occupy the central
   and northern coastal areas. Most of the remaing 1% are mestiços of
   mixed Portuguese and black descent, including a Cape Verdean minority.
   Pure Portuguese comprise only a very small portion of Guinea-Bissauans.
   This deficit was directly caused by the exodus of Portuguese settlers
   that took place after Guinea-Bissau gained independence. More than 90%
   of the population speak African languages, the most popularly spoken of
   which is Kriol, a Portuguese-based creole language. Its usage
   constitutes some 44% of Guinea-Bissau's verbiage. In contrast, the
   official language, Portuguese, is spoken by only 14%. Most people are
   farmers with traditional religious beliefs ( animism); 45% are Muslim,
   principally the Fula and Mandinka peoples; and less than 8% are
   Christian, most of whom are Roman Catholic.

Culture

   Music of Guinea-Bissau is usually associated with the polyrhythmic
   gumbe genre, the country's primary musical export. However, civil
   unrest and a small size have combined over the years to keep gumbe, and
   other genres, out of mainstream audiences, even in generally syncretist
   African countries.

   The calabash is the primary musical instrument of Guinea-Bissau, and is
   used in extremely swift and rhythmically complex dance music. Lyrics
   are almost always in Capeverdean Crioulo (Kriolu), a Portuguese-based
   creole language, and are often humorous and topical, revolving around
   current events and controversies, especially AIDS.

   The word gumbe is sometimes used generically, to refer to any music of
   the country, although it most specifically refers to a unique style
   that fuses about ten of the country's folk music traditions. Tina and
   tinga are other popular genres, while extent folk traditions include
   ceremonial music used in funerals, initiations and other rituals, as
   well as Balanta brosca and kussundé, Mandinga djambadon and the kundere
   sound of the Bijagos islands.

   See also: List of writers from Guinea-Bissau, music of Guinea-Bissau
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea-Bissau"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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