Simple directory > Regional > Guinea-Bissau

Country :Guinea-Bissau Official name: República da Guiné-Bissau (Republic of Guinea-Bissau) Head of State: President João Bernardo Vieira (sworn in 1 Oct 2005) Head of government: Prime Minister Aristides Gomes (sworn in 2 November 2005) Ruling party: Coalition government from May 2004: the Partido Africano da Independência de Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) (African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde) (45 seats) and the Partido para a Renovaçao Social (PRS) (Party for Social Renewal) (35 seats) Area: 36,125 square km Population: 1.38 million (2004) Capital: Bissau Official language: Portuguese Currency: CFA franc (CFAf) = 100 centimes (Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) franc). New notes have been issued; old notes cease to be legal tender from Jan 2005. Exchange rate: CFAf507.21 per US$ (Nov 2004); CFAf655.95 per euro (pegged from Jan 1999) GDP per capita: US$183 (2003) GDP real growth: -1.20% (2003) Labour force: 480,000 (2003) Inflation: 3.00% (2003) Balance of trade: US$12.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$941.50 million (2003) Visitor numbers: 1,000 (annually)* * estimated figure

Historical profile

1400s Until Portuguese traders first came to Guinea-Bissau, the country was part of the Mali empire.

1915 The Portuguese finally gained control of the interior, although unlike its other colonies, Portugal made little attempt to develop the then Portuguese Guinea.

1960–1974 Portugal refused to relinquish power, which resulted in Africa's longest war of independence. The Partido Africano da Independéncia da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) fought throughout the late 1960s and into the 1970s.

1973 Independence was unilaterally declared, by which point nearly all the necessary preparations for government had been made by the rebels.

1974 Portugal finally withdrew following the fall of the dictatorship in Lisbon. Luis Cabral, leader of the PAIGC, became president.

1980 The PAIGC was committed to the unification of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, but this aim was dropped when President Cabral was removed by his prime minister, João Bernardo Vieira.

1994 Vieira was elected president and the PAIGC won the parliamentary elections.

1997 The CFA franc replaced the peso as national currency.

1998 Civil war started. An agreement was signed at Abuja, Nigeria, under which President Vieira would remain in office. Francisco Fadul was appointed prime minister.

1999 Ecowas forces arrived to keep the peace, but fighting broke out again and President Vieira was ousted. Malam Bacai Sanha became interim president. The Partido para a Renovaçao Social (PRS) (Party for Social Renewal) won the parliamentary elections.

2000 Kumba Ialá, leader of the PRS, was elected president.

2001 Faustino Imbali was appointed prime minister, but served only 10 months in the post. He was dismissed by the president and the interior minister, Alamara Ntchia Nhassé, took over.

2002 Mário Pires was sworn in as prime minister after Alamara Nhassé's government had been dismissed.

2003 Following payment of four of the outstanding seven months' salary, the teachers ended their strike and the school year opened in January. In April, the government nearly collapsed after the army complained against the dismissal and arrest of Defence Minister Marcelino Lopes Cabral. On 1 July, President Kumba Ialá dismissed Foreign Minister Joãozinho Vieira Có and named Francisca Vaz Turpin to replace him. She refused the appointment and on 4 July, Fatumata Djau Baldé took up the post. On 14 September, President Kumba Ialá was deposed in a military coup. General Veríssimo Correia Seabra declared himself interim president, heading a Military Committee for the Restitution of Constitutional and Democratic Order. On 28 September, Henrique Rosa was sworn in as interim president and Antonio Artur Sanhá as interim prime minister. A caretaker government was sworn in on 3 October.

2004 The opposition, PAIGC, won the 28 March parliamentary elections. On 10 May, Carlos Gomes Júnior (PAIGC) was sworn in as prime minister.

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