Guinea-Bissau
|
Guine-Bissau is a nation in western-Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal. Guinea-Bissau is a relatively small country which is swampy along its western coast and low-lying inland.
Guinea-Bissau's major environmental issues include: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; and overfishing. It is susceptible to hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze which can reduce visibility during dry season; and, to brush fires.
Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' Veira as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, Viera's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 Viera was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to Viera's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba Yala, after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, Yala was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique Roas was sworn in as interim president. In 2005, former President Viera was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation. He was assassinated in March 2009; new elections are to take place in June 2009.
Geography
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Geographic Coordinates: 12 00 N, 15 00 W
Area: 36,120 km2 (28,000 km2 land and 8,120 km2 water)
arable land: 8.31%
permanent crops: 6.92%
other: 84.77% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 724 km. Border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km
Coastline: 350 km
Maritime Claims: Territorial sea to 12 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles
Natural Hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
Terrain: Mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east. Its lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean (0 metres) and its highest point is an unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country (300 metres)
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
Government
Government Type: Republic
Capital: Bissau
Independence Date: 24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (from Portugal)
Legal System: based on French civil law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
International Environmental Agreements
Guinea-Bissau is party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.
People and Society
Population: 1,503,182 (July 2008 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 41% (male 307,353/female 308,726)
15-64 years: 55.9% (male 404,747/female 436,245)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 18,819/female 27,292) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.035% (2008 est.)
Birth Rate: 36.4 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 16.05 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 47.52 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 4.72 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
Literacy (2003 est.): 42.4% (male: 58.1% - female: 27.4%)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 31 cu km (2003)
Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.18 cu km/yr (13% domestic, 5% industrial, 82% agricultural). Per capita: 113 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish
Irrigated Land: 250 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum.
Energy
| Energy in Guinea-Bissau | |||||
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 60 million kWh (2005) | 55.8 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 2,480 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 0 bbl/day (2004) | 2,463 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 10% (2003 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases: degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)
Conflict
International Disputes: in 2006, political instability within Senegal's Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese refugees, cross-border raids, and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 7,454 (Senegal) (2007)
Economy
One of the five 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 1999-2002. 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. Offshore oil prospecting is underway in several sectors but has not yet led to commercially viable crude deposits. 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 from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision, however, resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06. Higher raw material prices boosted growth to 3.7% in 2007.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $808 million (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $343 million (2007 est.)
GDP- real growth rate: 2.5% (2007 est.)
GDP- per capital (PPP): $500 (2007 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 62%
industry: 12%
services: 26% (1999 est.)
Industries: agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks
Exports: cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber
Export Partners: India 76.5%, Nigeria 19%, South Korea 0.9% (2006)
Imports: foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products
Import Partners: Portugal 21.9%, Senegal 17.2%, France 6.2%, Pakistan 4.8% (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: $79.12 million (2005)
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF)
Ports and Terminals: Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim