Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers 36,125 square kilometres (13,948 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.
People have inhabited the region now known as Guinea-Bissau for thousands of years. In the 13th century, it became a province of the Mali Empire that later became independent as the Empire of Kaabu. Portugal claimed the region beginning in the 1450s. During most of this period, Portuguese control of the region was limited to a number of forts along the coast. Portugal gained full control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–15. The offshore Bijago islands were not colonised until 1936. After independence in 1974, the country was controlled by a single-party system until 1991. The introduction of multi-party politics in 1991 brought the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out from 1998 to 1999.
Bissau is the capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. As of 2015, it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administrative and military center.
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia, including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance and the Upper Casamance. The largest city of Casamance is Ziguinchor.
The music of Guinea-Bissau is most widely associated with the polyrhythmic genre of gumbe, the country's primary musical export. Tina and tinga are other popular genres.
Portuguese Guinea, called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Guinea-Bissau.
João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira was a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1999, except for a three-day period in May 1984, and from 2005 until his assassination in 2009.
Articles related to Guinea-Bissau include:
Buba is the largest city in southern Guinea-Bissau and the capital of the Quinara region. Itlies on the extreme end of the Rio Grande de Buba, near the Contanhez National Park, and has a population 6,815.
Bolama is the main town of Bolama Island and the capital of the Bolama Region. Though once the capital of Portuguese Guinea, it has a population of just 4,819 and much of its colonial era architecture is in a state of severe decay. The town is almost surrounded by mangrove swamps and is now mostly known for its production of cashew nuts.
Quinara is a region in central Guinea-Bissau and its capital is Fulacunda. There has not been any local administration since the civil war of 1998-99 and all the social services are done by organs of civil society and other government agencies. It is a coastal region covered with Mangrove swamps, rain forest and tangled forest and receives an annual rainfall of more than 1,000 mm (39 in).
There are 39 sectors of Guinea-Bissau which subdivide the regions. The sectors are further subdivided into smaller groups called sections ; which are further subdivided into populated places. Here are the following listed below, by region:
Clube de Futebol Os Balantas is a Guinea-Bissauan football club based in Mansôa. They play in the top division in Guinean football, the Campeonato Nacional da Guiné-Bissau. The club is named after the Balanta people, the club location where the people inhabit. Mansoa is the main city of the Balantas in Guinea-Bissau. It is being the most popular club of the Oio Region.
The Balanta are an ethnic group found in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, Cape Verde and The Gambia. They are the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, representing more than one-quarter of the population. Despite their numbers, they have remained outside the colonial and postcolonial state because of their social organisation. The Balanta can be divided into six clans: Nhacra, Ganja (Mane), Naga, Patch, Sofa and Kentohe. The largest of which are the Balanta Kentohe.
The official language of Guinea-Bissau is Portuguese, which was spoken by 32.1% of the population according to the 2009 census. It is the language of instruction in schools, the language of literary production, the written press, legislation and administration.
On 12 April 2012, a coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau was staged by elements of the armed forces about two weeks before the second round of a presidential election between Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá. The coup started in the evening with military personnel and equipment making its way onto the streets, followed by the state-owned media being taken off-air.
Papels, also known as Moium, Oium, Papei, Pepel or Pelels, are an ethnic group primarily located in Guinea-Bissau, though are also found in Casamance (Senegal) and Guinea. Their population in Guinea-Bissau is about 183,000, with 9,000 living outside of the country. They traditionally engaged in hunting and agriculture.
Teodora Inácia Gomes is a politician, feminist and women's rights activist, who is a former fighter in the struggle for Independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portuguese rule, and is Deputy Leader of African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).
Patrícia Godinho Gomes is a historian and academic from Guinea-Bissau whose research studies the role of women in anticolonial resistance, African feminisms and gender in Lusophone countries with a particular focus on Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.
British Guinea or Colony of Bolama and Bolama River, was a colony of the United Kingdom in West Africa. Its capital was in the city of Bolama.
Source Fonte Frondosa, Empada, since 1946
Buba river near Empada, 2018
