Guinea-Bissau
 

Overview
Country, western Africa.

Its territory includes the Bijagós Archipelago, off the Atlantic coast to the southwest. Area: 13,948 sq mi (36,125 sq km). Population (2007 est.): 1,472,000. Capital: Bissau. The four major ethnic groups are the Balante, Fulani, Malinke, and Mandyako. Languages: Portuguese (official), Crioulo, Balante, Fula, Malinke, Mandyako. Religions: traditional beliefs, Islam, Christianity. Currency: CFA franc. Most of the country consists of low, marshy terrain and flat plateau. The climate is generally hot and tropical. Much of the wildlife is aquatic; crocodiles, snakes, and birds such as pelicans and flamingos abound. Guinea-Bissau has a developing, primarily agricultural economy; cashews are by far the most important cash crop. It is a multiparty republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president assisted by the prime minister. More than 1,000 years ago the coast of Guinea-Bissau was occupied by agriculturists using iron implements. They grew irrigated and dry rice and were also the major suppliers of marine salt to the western Sudan. At about the same time, the area came under the influence of the Mali empire and became a tributary kingdom known as Kaabu. After 1546 Kaabu was virtually autonomous; vestiges of it lasted until 1867. The earliest overseas contacts came in the 15th century with the Portuguese, who imported slaves from the Guinea area to the offshore Cape Verde Islands. Portuguese control of Guinea-Bissau was marginal despite their claims to sovereignty there. The end of the slave trade forced the Portuguese inland in search of new profits. Their subjugation of the interior was slow and sometimes violent; it was not effectively achieved until 1915, though sporadic resistance continued until 1936. Guerrilla warfare in the 1960s led to the country’s independence in 1974, but political turmoil continued, and the government was overthrown by a military coup in 1980. A new constitution was adopted in 1984, and the first multiparty elections were held in 1994. A destructive civil war in 1998 was followed by a military coup in 1999, but the coup was followed by elections. A bloodless coup in 2003 was also followed by elections.

Profile
Official name Républica da Guiné-Bissau (Republic of Guinea-Bissau)
Form of government republic1 with one legislative house (National People’s Assembly [102])
Head of state and government President assisted by the Prime Minister
Capital Bissau
Official language Portuguese
Official religion none
Monetary unit CFA franc (CFAF)
Population estimate (2008) 1,503,000
Total area (sq mi) 13,948
Total area (sq km) 36,125
1Legal ambiguity persists in September 2008. A constitution adopted by the National Assembly in 2001 has been neither promulgated nor vetoed by the President.

Main

country of western Africa. Situated on the Atlantic coast, the predominantly low-lying country is slightly hilly farther inland. The name Guinea remains a source of debate; it is perhaps a corruption of an Amazigh (Berber) word meaning “land of the blacks.” The country also uses the name of its capital, Bissau, to distinguish it from Guinea, its neighbour to the east and south.

In the 15th and early 16th centuries the Portuguese commanded the entire western coast of Africa. Gradually their monopoly gave way to incursions by French, Dutch, English, and other European powers. The French pressured both the northern and southern borders of what is now Guinea-Bissau and placed the Casamance region of southern Senegal fully under French rule after the late 19th century. The English rivaled Portuguese authority on the coast, particularly at Bolama; a long-running dispute between the two powers resulted with Guinea-Bissau under Portuguese rule. Although Bissau is the country’s present capital and largest city, the towns of Bolama and Cacheu were important during the slave trade and in the colonial era.

Richard Andrew Lobban

Land
Guinea-Bissau is bounded by Senegal to the north, Guinea to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It includes the Bijagós (Bissagos) archipelago and other islands that lie off the coast.

Relief
Almost all of Guinea-Bissau is low-lying and bathed daily by tidal waters that reach as far as 62 miles (100 km) inland. In the southeastern part of the country, the Fouta Djallon plateau rises approximately 600 feet (180 metres). The Boé Hills extend from the western slopes of the Fouta Djallon to the Corubal basin and the Gabú Plain.

Drainage and soils
The coastal area is demarcated by a dense network of drowned valleys called rias. The Bafatá Plateau is drained by the Geba and Corubal rivers. The Gabú Plain occupies the northeastern portion of the country and is drained by the Cacheu and Geba rivers and their tributaries. The interior plains are part of the southern edge of the Sénégal River basin. The uniform elevation of the mature floodplain allows rivers to meander and renders the area susceptible to flooding during the rainy season. Some eastern portions of Guinea-Bissau form a part of the upper basin of the Gambia River system.

Tidal penetration into the interior, facilitated by Guinea-Bissau’s flat coastal topography, carries some agricultural advantage: the surge of brackish water can be used to irrigate the extensive drowned rice paddies called bolanhas. Anticolonial warfare had a devastating effect on Guinea-Bissau’s soils. Arable land that fell out of use was subject to soil erosion, and, with the destruction of protective riverine dikes, the arability of some soils was compromised by excessive salination.

René Pélissier
Richard Andrew Lobban

Climate
Guinea-Bissau has a generally tropical climate influenced by the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), a belt of converging trade winds that circles the Earth near the Equator. There are two pronounced seasons: the hot, rainy season, which usually lasts from June to November, and the hot, dry season. April and May are the hottest months, and temperatures can reach the high 90s F (mid-30s C). Precipitation does not vary greatly by elevation in Guinea-Bissau, although it does vary between coastal and inland areas; the coast receives some 60 to 120 inches (1,500 to 3,000 mm) of precipitation, whereas the interior is influenced by the tropical savanna climate, with greater variation in precipitation and temperature.

Plant and animal life
Guinea-Bissau’s three ecological zones—the tidal estuaries, the heavily forested interior plain, and the savanna—are home to remarkably diverse flora and fauna. Aquatic and riverine birds such as flamingos and pelicans are especially numerous in the coastal swamps, which are also inhabited by a variety of reptiles such as snakes, crocodiles, and sea turtles, the latter of which are endangered. In the plains and forests, lizards, gazelles, antelopes, monkeys and apes, parrots, hyenas, and leopards abound. Although there was once a substantial elephant population, it has since been virtually eliminated. Many wild animals are hunted for their meat and hides.

People
Ethnic and linguistic groups
Guinea-Bissau’s population is dominated by more than 20 African ethnicities, including the Balante, one of the largest ethnic groups in the country, the numerous Fulani and their many subgroups, the Diola, the Nalu, the Bijagó, the Landuma, the Papel (Pepel), and the Malinke. There is also a small Cape Verdean minority with mixed African, European, Lebanese, and Jewish origins. During the colonial period the European population consisted mainly of Portuguese but also included some Lebanese, Italian, French, and English groups, as well as members of other nationalities. Notably, there was never a substantial settler population in Guinea-Bissau, as there was in other Portuguese colonies.

Among the African languages spoken in Guinea-Bissau, some 20 languages and dialects classified in the Atlantic and Mande branches of Niger-Congo languages predominate. Although Portuguese is the country’s official and formal language, it is Crioulo—a creole that emerged during the slave trade—that is spoken as the lingua franca and exerts a unifying influence in the rural areas.

Religion
About half the population practice traditional beliefs, which include ancestor worship, possession, and animism and are especially prevalent along the coast and in the central regions. About two-fifths of the population are Muslim; among Christians, who make up almost one-tenth of the population, Roman Catholicism predominates. Christianity and Islam are enriched with African traditional beliefs, which results in a unique religious syncretism; saints’ days, for example, may be celebrated with drumming, processionals, masks, and traditional dance.

Settlement patterns
Most of the population of Guinea-Bissau live in small villages and the country’s several main towns. The population is sparse on the low-lying lands of the coast and in the savanna regions. The majority of Guinea-Bissau’s population traditionally lived in rural villages and individual households. From 1963 to 1974, during the armed struggle for independence, about one-third of the rural population fled to neighbouring countries for refuge. Those who remained tried to restructure their lives in liberated zones, while the colonial military imposed a system of aldeamentos, concentrated settlements designed to isolate the population from the nationalist forces. Although migration to urban centres such as Bissau, Cacheu, and Bolama had generally been increasing since independence, much of the urban population fled during the fighting that erupted in the late 1990s.

Demographic trends
Population growth in Guinea-Bissau is lower than that of the rest of the African continent. Life expectancy for both men and women is well below the African average and substantially lower than the world average, and infant mortality is high. The population of Guinea-Bissau is, on the whole, very young: more than two-fifths of the population are under age 15, and more than two-thirds are under 30. The majority of the population are rural; only about one-third are urban.

Guinea-Bissau does not have a significant expatriate population living outside the country, except those in the neighbouring countries of Guinea and Senegal. Historically, the only traditional pattern of emigration was due to human trafficking; during the 15th through 19th centuries, thousands of Guineans were exported to Cape Verde and the New World, especially to Cuba and the northern Brazilian states of Grão Pará and Maranhão, as slaves or indentured servants.

René Pélissier
Rosemary Elizabeth Galli

Economy
The economy of Guinea-Bissau includes a mixture of state-owned and private companies. Plans for industrial development have been reduced, and those supporting agriculture have been increased. The number of state-owned businesses declined significantly after the government adopted a liberal free-market economy in 1987, as endorsed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Guinea-Bissau is easily self-sufficient in food production, and the majority of labour is devoted to agriculture at the subsistence level; some crops are raised for export. Various small-scale industries and services also generate a part of the gross national product. Because of a variety of damaging factors—including an exploitative colonial inheritance, war damage, inflation, debt service, corruption, subsidization, poor planning, civil disorder, and mismanagement—the economy has fallen far short of its promise, resulting in a protracted negative balance of trade and Guinea-Bissau’s status as one of the world’s poorest countries. Various foreign aid and loan programs have been sought to address this deficit.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
The economy is largely agricultural, with good prospects for forestry and fishery development. Foods produced for local consumption include rice, vegetables, beans, cassava (manioc), potatoes, palm oil, and peanuts (groundnuts). Livestock includes pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, and poultry. Fish and shrimp, raised for both domestic consumption and export, are also important. Guinea-Bissau is heavily forested, with forest cover on about three-fifths of its land. Most wood harvests are used for domestic fuel, but the country exports small amounts of sawn wood. The export of commercial items such as cashews, palm products, rice, peanuts, timber, and cotton has long played an important role in the country’s economy.

Large portions of land are not cultivated, because of both the traditional crop rotation practice of slash-and-burn agriculture as well as a lack of agricultural credit and investment due to the political and military conditions.

Resources and power
There has not been a comprehensive survey of mineral resources, but large deposits of bauxite in the east along the Guinean border and phosphates in the centre and northwest have been found. Offshore petroleum and gold are additional assets that could be developed more fully with improved infrastructure.

As a low-lying country with a pronounced rainy season, Guinea-Bissau has plenty of water for subsistence and commercial agriculture and human consumption, although water quality and water delivery systems still need improvement. The Corubal River has immense hydroelectric potential, particularly at the Saltinho Rapids.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing in Guinea-Bissau is founded chiefly upon artisanal industries such as basketry, blacksmithing, tanning, and tailoring. Only a few small-scale industries exist; these include food processing, brewing, and the processing of cotton, timber, and other goods. Much of Guinea-Bissau’s industrial capacity was damaged during the conflict of the late 1990s.

Finance and trade
A major restructure of Guinea-Bissau’s banking system that began in 1989 replaced the National Bank of Guinea-Bissau with separate institutions including a central bank, a commercial bank, and a national credit bank. Guinea-Bissau joined the West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Franc Zone in 1997, and the Guinean peso was eventually replaced by the CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) franc after the two currencies coexisted for several months. The role of the central bank was taken over by the Central Bank of West African States, which is based in Dakar, Seneg. Participation in the banking system among Guineans is very low, and only a fraction maintain bank accounts.

During the colonial period Portugal was by far Guinea-Bissau’s most important trading partner. Although Portugal retained a significant role after independence, Guinea-Bissau maintains important trade relationships with Senegal and Italy, from which Guinea-Bissau receives the majority of its imports, as well as with India and Nigeria, which are recipients of most of its exports.

Labour and taxation
Some three-fourths of the labour force is engaged in agricultural production. Workers are permitted to join labour unions; of those who are union members, the vast majority are government or parastatal (government-owned enterprise) employees. The majority of the country’s tax revenue is earned through tax levied on international trade transactions, income taxes, and general sales taxes.

Transportation and telecommunications
The transportation system in Guinea-Bissau is generally poor because of inadequacies with bridges, connecting services, and maintenance. Some roads in Guinea-Bissau are paved for all-weather use, but most of the country is served by unpaved roadways. Many households and hamlets are accessible only by footpaths and canoes. There are no railways.

The airport at Bissau handles international air traffic, while several smaller airports and landing strips serve the inner portions of the country. Shipping and ferry services connect the sea and river ports along the coast with the interior. The country’s main port is located at Bissau.

Government and society
Constitutional framework
Guinea-Bissau’s constitution, promulgated in 1984, has been amended several times. Under the constitution, Guinea-Bissau is a republic. Executive power is vested in the president, who serves as the chief of state; the prime minister, who serves as the head of government; and the Council of Ministers. The president is popularly elected to serve a five-year term and governs with the assistance of the prime minister, whom he appoints. The legislative branch of government consists of the unicameral National People’s Assembly; members are popularly elected to four-year terms.

Local government
Guinea-Bissau is divided administratively into regiões (regions) and setores (sectors), including the autonomous sector of Bissau. The most basic unit of government is the tabanca (village) or, in towns, the neighbourhood committee. During and after the liberation struggle the neighbourhood committee was the basic organizational unit of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde; PAIGC), initially the sole legal party for Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.

Justice
The judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court, Regional Courts, and Sectoral Courts. The Supreme Court, which consists of nine judges, is the final court of appeal. The Regional Courts hear major cases and serve as the final court of appeal for the Sectoral Courts, which hear minor civil cases. The continued need for personnel, equipment, and facilities resources—such as judges and prisons—has challenged the efficacity of the justice sector and has made the country susceptible to organized crime activities including the trafficking of humans, drugs, and weapons.

Political process
Guinea-Bissau became a multiparty state in 1991. It had previously been a single-party state, led since independence by the PAIGC. In addition to the PAIGC, other political parties active in the country include the Social Renewal Party (Partido para a Renovação Social; PRS), the United Social Democratic Party (Partido Unido Social Democrata; PUSD), the Electoral Union (União Eleitoral; UE), and the United Popular Alliance (Aliança Popular Unida; APU). The constitution guarantees the equality of men and women in all aspects of political, economic, social, and cultural life, and a number of women have served as members of the National People’s Assembly, as government ministers, and as state secretaries.

Security
The country’s military capability consists of an army, a navy, an air force, and a paramilitary force, of which the army and the paramilitary are the most substantial. Military service is determined by selective conscription, and individuals are eligible for service from 18 years of age.

Health and welfare
The health care delivery system during the colonial period was grossly inadequate. Health care facilities were concentrated in the cities and towns, and the average expenditure per person was extremely low. Most never saw a doctor or dentist. Health care services have improved since independence, but the situation is still very poor. Infant mortality rates remain high, in large part because of diarrhea, malnutrition, and upper respiratory infections. Improper sanitation and waste treatment remain significant public health challenges, and much of the population remains undernourished. Tropical diseases, especially malaria, are widespread and entail high rates of mortality. Other health concerns include cholera, schistosomiasis, filariasis, and leprosy; mortalities resulting from automobile accidents, HIV/AIDS, and substance abuse are increasing.

Under favourable circumstances, clinics and dressing stations (first-aid centres) operate at the local level with the small hospitals that operate in the larger towns. The main hospital in Bissau routinely faces critical shortages of necessities such as drugs, bandages, anesthetics, antibiotics, and plasma. Family planning, maternal and infant health care, power and water supply, and refrigeration are all rudimentary. Although the number of hospital beds has greatly increased since independence, availability is still vastly short of need. Furthermore, since the number of nurses has not kept pace with the increase in hospital beds, nursing service has actually declined.

Education
Officially, six years of primary education is compulsory for children age 7 to 14. For those children who show scholastic promise, there are five years of secondary education. Amílcar Cabral University and the University of Colinas de Boe, both founded in 2003 and based in Bissau, provide opportunities for higher education. There are also schools for teacher training, nursing, and vocational training.

Education during the colonial period was very poor. In the 1970s only a minute proportion of the population was enrolled in primary school, and illiteracy was almost universal. During the war of national liberation (1963–74), the PAIGC attempted to address this severe problem by establishing its own school system in the liberated zones and in external bases. Nevertheless, education in the context of the war was predictably difficult, and enrollment was inconsistent.

Guinea-Bissau’s educational system continues to face serious challenges. Only some two-fifths of school-age children attend school, and adult illiteracy remains high, particularly among women. The civil warfare of 1998–99 greatly disturbed a number of services, the educational system among them; progress in its reestablishment has been slow. There is also a shortage of teaching staff in rural areas in particular, where teachers themselves are frequently not well educated and where the ratio of students to teachers is very high.

René Pélissier
Rosemary Elizabeth Galli
Richard Andrew Lobban

Cultural life
Cultural milieu
Five centuries of the “civilizing mission” of Portuguese colonialism did not penetrate deeply in Guinea-Bissau, and African culture and traditions are very much in place. These include the intact African languages with their associated folklore, sayings, dances, and music. Cape Verdean music—such as funana, a fast-paced genre that features the gaita, an accordion-like instrument, and finaçon, performed by female vocalists—has become increasingly popular in cities and towns.

Daily life and social customs
Christian holidays, including Christmas, and Muslim holidays, including Tabaski (also known as ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā, marking the culmination of the hajj rites near Mecca) and Korité (also known as ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, marking the end of Ramadan), are observed in Guinea-Bissau. In addition to these, the death of Amílcar Cabral is observed on January 20, Labour Day on May 1, and the Anniversary of the Movement of Readjustment on November 14.

The arts
The government organizes formal expressions of national culture through the national arts institute, which maintains a school of music and dance and conducts periodic concerts and folkloric programs. A wide array of traditional music, dance, dress, and handicrafts remain deeply rooted in village and ethnic life.

Cultural institutions
The Museum of Guinea-Bissau and the national library are located in Bissau. The National Institute of Studies and Research, also located in Bissau, was among the institutions badly damaged during the fighting of 1998–99. With international support, a restoration program began in 2000.

Sports and recreation
There are many traditional African sports in Guinea-Bissau, but wrestling is among the oldest and most popular. A means of martial arts training and a rite of passage, it is common in villages. The African board game of ouri, a forerunner of backgammon, is played throughout the country. Football (soccer) is the most popular Western sport in Guinea-Bissau. The country features several clubs, and since 1986 its football federation has been a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Basketball has also developed a following, and the national federation is affiliated with the International Basketball Federation. Diving and swimming are popular on the country’s islands, and excellent fishing conditions can be found in the rivers and coastal areas.

Guinea-Bissau’s national Olympic committee, which was established in 1992, was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1995. The country made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where it competed in wrestling events.

Media and publishing
A number of radio stations operate in Guinea-Bissau. There are a limited number of television stations, including one run by the state. A number of newspapers and periodicals are circulated in the country, including the government newspaper, Nô Pintcha, and Correio-Bissau, which is distributed weekly. After the overthrow of Pres. Kumba Ialá in 2003, media conditions, which had grown repressive, were improved. Lack of financing and power supply are two significant challenges that continue to hinder the growth of Guinea-Bissau’s media capabilities.

History
Early history
The precolonial history of Guinea-Bissau has not been fully documented in the archaeological record. The area has been occupied for at least a millennium, first by hunters and gatherers and later by decentralized animist agriculturalists who used iron implements for their rice farming. Ethnogenesis and interethnic dynamics in the 13th century began to push some of these agriculturists closer to the coast, while others intermixed with the intrusive Mande as the Mali empire expanded into the area. Gold, slaves, and marine salt were exported from Guinea toward the interior of the empire. As Mali strengthened, it maintained local, centralized control through its secondary kingdoms and their farims (local kings), whose task was to maintain local law and order and the flow of tributary goods and soldiers as needed. In the case of what is now Guinea-Bissau, this state was known as Kaabu, and the agriculturists often suffered in their subordinate relationship to its economic and military needs. The Fulani entered the region as semi-nomadic herders as early as the 12th century, although it was not until the 15th century that they began to arrive in large numbers. Initially they were also subordinate to the kingdom of Kaabu, although there was something of a symbiotic relationship between the Mande farmers and traders and the Fulani herdsmen, both of whom followed a version of Africanized Islam.

Contacts with the European world began with the Portuguese explorers and traders who arrived in the first half of the 15th century. Notable among these was Nuño Tristão, a Portuguese navigator who set out in the early 1440s in search of slaves and was killed in 1446 or 1447 by coastal inhabitants who were opposed to his intrusion. The Portuguese monopolized the exploration and trade along the Upper Guinea coast from the later 15th and early 16th centuries until the French, Spanish, and English began to compete for the wealth of Africa.

Tens of thousands of Guineans were taken as slaves to Cape Verde to develop its plantation economy of cotton, indigo, orchil and urzella dyes, rum, hides, and livestock. Weaving and dyeing slave-grown cotton made it possible to make panos, unique textiles woven on a narrow loom and usually constructed of six strips stitched together, which became standard currency for regional trade in the 16th century. Lançados (freelance Cape Verdean traders) participated in the trade of goods and slaves and were economic rivals of the Portuguese. At times the lançados were so far beyond Portuguese control that severe penalties were imposed to restrict them. Often these measures either dried up the trade to the crown or caused even more brash smuggling.

In Guinea-Bissau and neighbouring territories, slaves were captured among the coastal peoples or among interior groups at war. While Kaabu was ascendant, the Fulani were common victims. In 1867 the kingdom of Kaabu was overthrown by the Fulani, after which the numbers of Mande increased on the slave ships’ rosters. Groups of slaves were bound together in coffles and driven to the coastal barracoons (temporary enclosures) at Cacheu, Bissau, and Bolama by grumetes (mercenaries). There the prices were negotiated by tangomãos (who functioned as both translators and mediators), and slaves were sold to the lançados and senhoras (slave-trading women of mixed parentage).

Cape Verde was used as a secure offshore post for the trade of goods from Africa, which included slaves, ivory, dyewoods, kola nuts, beeswax, hides, and gold, as well as goods destined for Africa, such as cheap manufactured items, firearms, cloth, and rum. From the islands of Cape Verde, the Portuguese maintained their coastal presence in Guinea-Bissau. Tens of thousands of slaves were exported from the coast to the islands and on to the New World, destined for major markets such as the plantations in Cuba and northeastern Brazil.

European rivalries on the Guinea coast long threatened the Portuguese position in the islands, where irregular commerce, corruption, and smuggling became routine. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries there was an English initiative to abolish or slow the slave trade, and the United States mounted a halfhearted parallel effort. From 1843 to 1859 the U.S. Navy stationed the Africa Squadron, a fleet of largely ineffective sailing vessels meant to intercept American slavers, at Cape Verde and along the Guinea coast. However, political indifference, legal loopholes, and flags of convenience undermined this program. After four centuries of slaving, the Portuguese gradually abandoned the practice by the late 1870s, although it was replaced by oppressive forced labour and meagre wages to pay colonial taxes.

Colonial period
Despite the five centuries of contact between Guineans and the Portuguese, one cannot truly speak of a deeply rooted colonial presence until the close of the 19th century. The long-lasting joint administration of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau was terminated in 1879 when both became separate colonial territories; however, the European rivalries for control of Guinea only intensified. Long-term Anglo-Portuguese bickering over the ownership of Bolama was finally resolved when U.S. Pres. Ulysses S. Grant adjudicated the dispute in Portugal’s favour in 1870. The Franco-Portuguese conflict over the Casamance region, however, was resolved in France’s favour in May 1886.

The struggle for dominance around Guinea-Bissau fell within the context of the greater scramble for Africa that characterized the 1884–85 Berlin Congress, which saw English demands for Guinean territories to the south and French demands along the north and east. The Guinean people were certainly not consulted about such matters, and they resisted, revolted, and mutinied by any available means whenever possible. The Berlin Congress had called for the demonstration of “effective occupation,” though, and, in an attempt to satisfy this condition, the brutal “pacification” campaign of Capt. João Teixeira Pinto—with the employed support of an African mercenary force—was conducted from 1913 to 1915. The killings and severe punitive measures exacted by the Portuguese and their mercenaries brought a widespread outcry. Nevertheless, the Portuguese continued their pacification efforts against the Guinean population, especially the coastal peoples, and launched three more major campaigns of pacification, the latest of which was undertaken in January 1936.

During World War II many Africans gained military and political experience while fighting with and for the colonial powers. In the wake of that war came the emergence of African nationalist movements, and, by the early 1960s, most western African countries had achieved independence through protest, petition, demonstration, and other largely peaceful means. To avoid criticism of its colonial policies in Africa, in 1951 the Portuguese had redefined their colonies’ status to that of overseas provinces. The African population of Guinea-Bissau did not perceive these changes as meaningful, however, and some members of the colonial population began agitation for complete independence from Portugal for both Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.

Liberation struggle
In 1956 a group of Cape Verdeans founded the national liberation party for Guinea and Cape Verde—the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde; PAIGC). Most notable of its leaders was Amílcar Cabral, a brilliant revolutionary theoretician. At first the PAIGC’s goal was to achieve independence through peaceful means of protest; however, in August 1959 the Portuguese responded to a dockworkers’ strike with violence, killing and wounding numerous demonstrators, which convinced the PAIGC that only a rurally based armed struggle would be sufficient to end the colonial and fascist regime. After a period of military training and political preparation, the PAIGC launched its armed campaign in January 1963 and showed steady military progress thereafter. The creation of the People’s Revolutionary Armed Force (Forças Armadas Revolucionarias do Povo) and the Local Armed Forces (Forças Armadas Locais) provided for both offensive and defensive military action.

Despite being confronted by large numbers of Portuguese soldiers and their accompanying military technology, the PAIGC gained control of some two-thirds of the country, with the Portuguese colonial army under Gen. António de Spínola surviving only in the major towns and heavily fortified bases. On Jan. 20, 1973, Cabral was assassinated; nevertheless, on Sept. 24, 1973, independence was declared. This event, compounded by the drawn-out wars in Portugal’s other overseas provinces, precipitated a crisis that led to a successful coup in Lisbon on April 25, 1974. Portugal’s new government soon began negotiating with African nationalist movements.

Independence
Full independence was achieved by Guinea-Bissau on Sept. 10, 1974; Cape Verde achieved independence the following year. The Cape Verdean revolutionary comrades Luís de Almeida Cabral (half brother of Amílcar Cabral) and Aristides Pereira became the first presidents of Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Cape Verde, respectively. João (“Nino”) Vieira became the commander in chief of the armed forces of Guinea-Bissau.

In August 1978 Vieira assumed the position of prime minister in Guinea-Bissau following the accidental death of his predecessor, Francisco Mendes, in July. On Nov. 14, 1980, Vieira led a military coup against Cabral, who was charged with abuse of power and sentenced to death; after negotiations, Cabral was released from that sentence and went into exile. The coup was deeply resented in Cape Verde and severed the military and political unity that had existed between the two countries. The Cape Verdean branch of the PAIGC was replaced by the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (Partido Africano para a Independência de Cabo Verde; PAICV), which eliminated reference to Guinea-Bissau.

With his ascent to power, Vieira faced difficult political and economic problems. Guinea-Bissau’s poverty required development aid from Portugal, which was in turn seeking to restore its economic relations with Guinea-Bissau. In addition, the poorly performing state-planned economic policy that had been adopted with independence was increasingly liberalized in subsequent years as attempts were made to improve the economy, but the shift toward a free-market economy was not universally embraced and became a source of political unrest.

Guinea-Bissau made the transition to a democratic, multiparty system in the early 1990s, and the country’s first free legislative and presidential elections were held in 1994. The PAIGC won a majority of legislative seats, while Vieira narrowly won his race.

In 1997 Guinea-Bissau joined the West African Economic Monetary Union and the Franc Zone. However, fiscal volatility caused in part by these actions contributed to political unrest that came to a head in 1998 when Vieira dismissed military chief of staff Brig. (later Gen.) Ansumane Mané. Almost immediately Mané initiated a revolt that was fueled by widespread frustration and opposition to Vieira. Most observers first thought that the mutineers would tire and Vieira would reemerge as the victor; instead, the conflict broadened. Various cease-fires were called and broken, and troops from Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and France intervened. After each round of fighting, Vieira became increasingly isolated in Bissau. In May 1999 he was forced to surrender and later went into exile in Portugal. Subsequent elections, deemed free and fair by international observers, brought to power the country’s first non-PAIGC government, led by Pres. Kumba Ialá.

Despite a democratic beginning, Ialá’s rule became increasingly repressive. Widespread discontent with the deteriorating economic and political climate led to his removal in a bloodless coup in September 2003. Soon after, Henrique Rosa, a businessman and virtual political newcomer, was sworn in as interim president. Under Rosa’s transitional government, legislative elections were held in 2004, moving Guinea-Bissau on course toward a stable, constitutional government. While forging political peace, Rosa was faced with the task of rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and improving the economy, both severely damaged from the civil war and years of political strife.

In March 2005 Ialá announced his intention to contest the elections scheduled for June of that year, although both he and Vieira—who had returned from exile in April—had been barred from politics in 2003. Both candidates were subsequently cleared to run for office in April. The following month, Ialá announced that he was in fact still president and staged a brief occupation of the presidential building. Defeated in the first round of polling, however, he eventually backed Vieira, who won a second round of elections held in July. Although supporters of the opposition raised allegations of fraud, the elections were declared by international observers to have been free and fair.

Ongoing political strife and economic challenges were compounded by drug smuggling, an increasing problem for Guinea-Bissau and other western African countries in the mid-2000s. With a geography favourable to smuggling and the inability to adequately protect its coastline and airspace, Guinea-Bissau was a particularly desirable target, and individuals in the upper echelons of the government, military, and other sectors were allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

Mounting conflict between the military elite and Vieira’s administration—fueled in part by ethnic tensions—generated increasing domestic instability, and in November 2008 Vieira survived an attack by mutinous soldiers that was described as an attempted coup. On March 2, 2009, Vieira was assassinated by soldiers who believed he was responsible for the death of the chief of the armed forces, Gen. Batista Tagme Na Waie, who had been killed in an explosion hours earlier. The military denied any intent to seize power, and, under the terms of the constitution, parliamentary leader Raimundo Pereira was sworn in to serve as interim president until elections could be held; they were eventually scheduled for June 28. On June 5, military authorities killed presidential candidate Baciro Dabo, former defense minister Helder Proenca, former prime minister Faustino Embali, and others, alleging that they were part of a group planning to overthrow the current government. Many senior PAIGC members were also detained as part of the operation to foil the alleged coup.

The tension and uncertainty surrounding the alleged coup and the military’s response to it did not interfere with the scheduled presidential election, which proceeded as planned on June 28. None of the 11 candidates were able to obtain a majority of votes, so election officials announced that the two front-runners—the PAIGC’s Malam Bacai Sanhá, who once briefly served as interim president, and former president Kumba Ialá—would face each other in a runoff election. In the second round of voting, held on July 26, 2009, Sanhá was victorious, receiving more than three-fifths of the vote.

Richard Andrew Lobban
Ed.