Timeline: Guinea-Bissau

A chronology of key events:

Pre-15th century - The area of what is now Guinea-Bissau comes under the influence of the Mali Empire and becomes a tributary kingdom known as Gabu.

1446-47 - First Portuguese arrive; subsequently administered as part of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands, the Guinea area becomes important in the slave-trade.

MANECAS COSTA Said to be "one of West Africa's best-kept musical secrets" Representative of gumbe tradition Made Unicef goodwill ambassador at age of 20 BBC Radio 3 Profile - Manecas Costa

1879 - Guinea-Bissau becomes a separate colony. Portuguese control of the interior is slow and sometimes violent, and not effectively achieved until 1915.

War of independence

1951 - Guinea-Bissau declared a province of Portugal.

1956 - Amilcar Cabral establishes the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).

1963-74 - PAIGC launches war of independence.

1973 - PAIGC declares Guinea-Bissau independent of Portugal and gives it its present name; Amilcar Cabral assassinated.

1974 - Portugal grants Guinea-Bissau independence with Luis Cabral, Amilcar Cabral's brother, as president.

Military intervention

1980 - Luis Cabral ousted in military coup led by Joao Bernardo Vieira; plans for unification with Cape Verde dropped.

Rebels overthrew Joao Bernado Vieira in 1999 2005: Army man wins G Bissau election 1999: Ousted president facing trial

1990 - Parliament revokes the PAIGC's status as the sole legitimate party.

1994 - Vieira chosen as president in Guinea-Bissau's first free election.

1998 - Army mutinies after Vieira sacks his army commander, General Ansumane Mane, whom he accused of allowing weapons to be smuggled to rebels in Senegal.

1999 May - Soldiers led by General Ansumane Mane topple Vieira.

Military junta installs Malam Bacai Sanha, the former speaker of parliament, as interim president.

Domestic tensions

2000 January - Kumba Yala elected president.

2000 November - General Mane killed, allegedly after trying to stage coup.

A RASH OF COUPS Kumba Yala (right) was ousted in bloodless takeover 1999: Guinea Bissau president ousted 2003: Army chief takes over in Bissau

2001 January - Guinea-Bissau Resistance (RGB) party pulls out of ruling coalition saying it wasn't consulted about a cabinet reshuffle.

2001 May - IMF, World Bank suspend aid over millions missing from development funds. Towards year's end an IMF team praises improvements in financial controls.

2001 November - Foreign minister Antonieta Rosa Gomes dismissed after criticising President Yala. Increasing concern over the president's erratic behaviour.

Yala deposed

2001 December - Government says it has thwarted a coup attempt by army officers. Opposition casts doubt on allegations. Prime Minister Faustino Imbali is sacked for "failing to meet expectations".

2002 November - President Yala says he plans to dissolve parliament and call early elections. The move comes amid a long-running row with his prime minister.

2003 14 September - Military coup ousts President Yala.

2003 28 September - Civilian administration headed by interim President Henrique Rosa and interim Prime Minister Antonio Artur Rosa is sworn in after military, political parties agree to hold parliamentary and presidential elections.

Guinea Bissau's cashew crop is a vital source of income

2004

March - Former ruling party, the PAIGC, wins general election.

2004 October - Mutinous soldiers kill the head of the armed forces in pursuit of demands which include payment of outstanding wages.

2005 April - Joao Bernardo Vieira, former president toppled in 1999 rebellion, returns from exile in Portugal.

2005 May - Former president Kumba Yala, who was deposed in 2003, declares that he is still the rightful head of state. He stages a brief occupation of the presidency building.

2005 July - Former military ruler Joao Bernardo Vieira wins a run-off vote in presidential elections.

2005 October - After a few weeks in office, President Vieira sacks the government of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior.

2006 March-April - Guinea-Bissau soldiers battle Senegalese rebels along the southern border.

2006 June - Unions call a three-day strike over civil service wage arrears. The regional economic grouping ECOWAS promises to cover teachers' pay.

2006 October - Guinea-Bissau appeals for international help to stop people-traffickers using its remote coastline to smuggle migrants, including Asians, to Europe.

2007 March-April - Prime Minister Aristides Gomes resigns after his government loses a no-confidence vote. Martinho Ndafa Kabi is appointed as consensus prime minister.

2007 June - Donors have one last opportunity to save Guinea-Bissau from chaos and to combat Latin American drug cartels, the UN and International Monetary Fund warn.

2007 December - Parliament passes law guaranteeing amnesty for any violence committed during the years of political unrest between 1980 and 2004.

VIEIRA KILLING Renegade soldiers killed President Joao Bernardo Vieira in an apparent revenge attack in March 2009 Obituary: President Vieira History of crisis

2008 July - One of the three major parties quits the national unity coalition, triggering a political crisis.

2008 July-August - The justice minister and attorney-general both say they have received death threats over the arrest of three Venezuelans, the head of air traffic control and his deputy on suspicion of drugs trafficking.

2008 August - President Vieira dissolves parliament, which automatically brings about the fall of the government of Martinho Ndafa Kabi.

Mr Vieira appoints former prime minister Carlos Correia to head the government in the run-up to parliamentary elections in November 2008.

2008 November - President Vieira survives a gun attack on his home by mutinous soldiers, in what appears to be a failed coup.

2009 2 March - President Joao Bernardo Vieira is shot dead by renegade soldiers, hours after a bomb attack which killed the army's chief of staff, General Tagme Na Waie.

Parliament speaker Raimundo Pereira sworn in as interim president with task of organising elections within two months.

2009 April - Government announces that presidential elections will be held on 28 June, as two-month timescale was too tight.

2009 June - First round of presidential elections produces no clear winner, forcing a run-off between Malam Bacai Sanha of the PAIGC - the largest party in parliament - and Koumba Yala, a former president.