Republic of Guinea-Bissau

Estimated population 1.6 million

Population density (people per square mile) 117

Population doubling rate 29 years

GDP per capita US$ 564

Population doubling time in years:

USA 79. Canada 81. Germany declining. UK 248. Russia declining. China 110. Philippines 41.

Population density (people per square mile)

USA 85. Canada 9. Germany 593. UK 660. Russia 21. China 368. Philippines 795.

GDP per capita in US$:

RECENT HISTORY

A former Portuguese colony until independence in 1974

The status of Guinea-Bissau was changed from colony to overseas province in 1952; soon afterward an African nationalist movement arose, led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). After sporadic violence, the party launched a war of independence in the early 1960s. By September 1973 the rebels proclaimed an independent republic and sought international recognition. On September 10, 1974, Portugal formally granted Guinea-Bissau independence.

Guinea-Bissau’s new government, under the presidency of PAIGC leader Luis de Almeida Cabral, established a monopoly over foreign trade and moved toward a socialist state by authorizing nationalization of all landholdings. In 1980 President Cabral was overthrown in a coup led by Prime Minister João Bernardo Vieira. Elected to a five-year term in 1984, President Vieira and his military-dominated government survived a coup attempt in 1985. Vieira was re-elected in 1989, 1994, and then again in 2005, following a military coup.

In mid-1998 an army rebellion erupted following Vieira’s dismissal of the army chief of staff, General Ansumane Mane. Fighting between rebel troops and soldiers loyal to the government raged off and on through May 1999, when rebel forces, led by Mane, successfully overthrew Vieira. Mane turned power over to PAIGC statesman Malan Bacai Sanha, the speaker of the National People’s Assembly, who was declared acting president. Kumba Yalá of the Party of Social Renovation defeated Sanha in presidential elections, held in two rounds, in November 1999 and January 2000. Yalá clashed with other government leaders, firing the prime minister in 2001 and dissolving the legislature in late 2002. He was overthrown in September 2003 by army officers who accused Yalá of violating the constitution.

Guinea-Bissau restored civilian rule in 2005, holding presidential elections in July of that year. Vieira defeated Sanha to win the presidency in an election that was declared free and fair by international monitors.

The country has an underdeveloped economy that is largely based on subsistence farming.

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. 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 enrolment was inconsistent.

Guinea-Bissau's educational system continues to face serious challenges. Only some two-fifths of school-age children attend school, and adult literacy remains low, 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.

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.

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