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Once hailed as a potential model for African development, Guinea-Bissau is now one of the poorest countries in the world. It has a massive foreign debt and an economy which relies heavily on foreign aid. Compounding this, the country experienced a bitter civil war in the late 1990s in which thousands were killed, wounded and displaced.
Overview
Formerly Portuguese Guinea, Guinea-Bissau won independence from Portugal in 1974 after a long struggle spearheaded by the left-wing African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). For the next six years post-independence leader Luis Cabral presided over a command economy.
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AT-A-GLANCE
Politics: President Joao Bernardo Vieira, killed by renegade soldiers in March 2009, won presidential elections in 2005. The military denies a coup has taken place. Country's most recent (bloodless) coup was in 2003
Economy: Political instability and mismanagement have undermined the economy. Country is dependent on primary crops - mainly cashew nuts - and subsistence agriculture. Government often struggles to pay wages.
International: Country has become transhipment point for Latin American drugs; army clashed with Senegal's Casamance separatists in 2006
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In 1980 he was overthrown by his army chief, Joao Vieira, who accused him of corruption and mismanagement. Mr Vieira led the country towards a market economy and a multi-party system, but was accused of crony capitalism, corruption and autocracy. In 1994 he was chosen as president in Guinea-Bissau's first free elections. Four years later he was ousted after he dismissed his army chief, thereby triggering a crippling civil war. This eventually ended after foreign mediation led to a truce, policed by West African peacekeepers, and free elections in January 2000. The victor in the poll, Kumba Yala, was ousted in a bloodless military coup in September 2003. The military chief who led the coup said the move was, in part, a response to the worsening economic and political situation. Mr Vieira's rule was brought to a bloody end in March 2009, when renegade soldiers entered his palace and shot him dead, reportedly to avenge the killing hours earlier of the army chief, a rival of the president. The country's vital cashew nut crop provides a modest living for most of Guinea-Bissau's farmers and is the main source of foreign exchange.
Facts
- Full name: The Republic of Guinea-Bissau
- Population: 1.7 million (UN, 2007)
- Capital: Bissau
- Area: 36,125 sq km (13,948 sq miles)
- Major languages: Portuguese, Crioulo, African languages
- Major religions: Indigenous beliefs, Islam, Christianity
- Life expectancy: 45 years (men), 48 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) = 100 centimes
- Main exports: Cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn timber
- GNI per capita: US $200 (World Bank, 2007)
- Internet domain: .gw
- International dialling code: +245
Leaders
Interim President: Raimundo Pereira Parliament speaker Raimundo Pereira was sworn in as interim leader on 3 March, following the assassination of President Vieira. The army set him the task of organising new presidential elections within two months, but the government later postponed them until 28 June. He became speaker in December 2008 following parliamentary elections, and is a member of the veteran PAIGC party that had latterly opposed President Vieira. President: Joao Bernardo Vieira (killed 2 March 2009) President Joao Bernardo Vieira was shot dead on 2 March 2009 by renegade soldiers. His death followed the killing hours earlier of the head of the armed forces, General Tagme Na Waie.
President Vieira was killed by renegade soldiers
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A military spokesman said President Vieira was behind the general's death and that is why he had been targeted. A statement from the military broadcast over state radio said the country's constitution would be respected and the head of parliament would be taking over. Joao Bernardo Vieira was elected in June 2005, in a poll intended to cap years of coups and military dictatorships, which marked the end of a caretaker government that took over after former president Kumba Yala was deposed in 2003. Mr Vieira, a former military ruler, was declared the winner of the poll. Election officials said he won 52% of a run-off vote, beating his rival Malam Bacai Sanha. Rival supporters clashed in the capital over the initial results and Mr Sanha's party alleged fraud. But EU observers declared the poll to be free and fair and the president took office in October, promising to foster reconciliation and national unity. Mr Vieira returned to Guinea-Bissau in April 2005 after six years of exile in Portugal. He said he had come back as a "soldier of peace". He ran as an independent, campaigning among the young and unemployed. Mr Vieira, sometimes known as "Nino", ruled Guinea-Bissau for 19 years after taking power in a military coup in 1980. He liberalised markets and introduced multi-party politics; however, critics accused him of human rights abuses. Having trained in China, he was a guerrilla commander in the country's campaign for independence. He led the armed forces after independence in 1974.
Media
The overthrow of Kumba Yala in 2003 put an end to an increasingly repressive media environment. Journalists had been detained, and the Portuguese broadcaster RTP Africa had been taken off the air over its coverage of Guinea-Bissau. Broadcasters face many challenges, not least the lack of a reliable power supply. Private radio stations operate alongside the state-run broadcaster. There are few private newspapers, but the lack of a vibrant private media scene may be due more to financial constraints than to government interference. The press
- No Pintcha - state-run
- Correio de Bissau - private
- Fraskera - private
- Banobero - private
Television
- Radio Televisao de Guinea-Bissau (RTGB) - state-run
- RTP Africa - operated by Portuguese public broadcaster RTP; run by local management but with studios and infrastructure funded by Portugal
Radio
- Radio Nacional - state-run
- Radio Pindjiguiti - private
- Bombolom FM - private
- Voice of Quelele - private
News agency/internet
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