 | This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Portuguese. (December 2010)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| History of Guinea-Bissau |
|---|
  |
| Colonial history |
| Independence struggle |
This is a list of European colonial administrators responsible for the territory of Portuguese Guinea, an area equivalent to modern-day Guinea-Bissau. In 1941 the capital moved from Bolama to Bissau.
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| Tenure | Incumbent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Portuguese suzerainty | ||
| 20 April 1879 to 16 December 1881 | Agostinho Coelho , Governor | |
| 16 December 1881 to 17 March 1885 | Pedro Inácio de Gouveia , Governor | 1st time |
| 17 March 1885 to 24 September 1886 | Francisco de Paula Gomes Barbosa , Governor | |
| 24 September 1886 to November 1886 | José Eduardo de Brito , Governor | |
| November 1886 to April 1887 | Cesar Augusto Moura Cabral , acting Governor | 1st time |
| 5 April 1887 to 30 May 1888 | Eusébio Castela do Valle , Governor | |
| 30 May 1888 to 4 September 1888 | Francisco Teixeira da Silva , Governor | |
| 4 September 1888 to 22 February 1890 | Joaquim da Graça Correia e Lança , Governor | |
| 22 February 1890 to 26 June 1891 | Augusto Rodrigues Gonçalves dos Santos , Governor | |
| 26 June 1891 to 1895 | Luís Augusto de Vasconcelos e Sá , Governor | |
| 24 April 1893 to 23 October 1893 | Cesar Gomes Barbosa , acting Governor | Acting for Sá |
| 1895 to 4 April 1895 | Cesar Augusto Moura Cabral , acting Governor | 2nd time |
| 4 April 1895 to 24 January 1896 | Eduardo João da Costa Oliveira , Governor | |
| 24 January 1896 to 25 August 1897 | Pedro Inácio de Gouveia , Governor | 2nd time |
| 25 August 1897 to 22 December 1897 | Cesar Augusto Moura Cabral , acting Governor | 3rd time |
| 22 December 1897 to 14 March 1900 | Álvaro Herculano da Cunha , acting Governor | 1st time |
| 1898 to 17 January 1899 | Albano Mendes de Magalhães Ramalho , acting Governor | Acting for Cunha |
| 2 November 1899 to 7 February 1900 | Fernando Augusto Liso de Santana , acting Governor | Acting for Cunha |
| 14 March 1900 to 12 July 1900 | Joaquim José Duarte Guimarães , acting Governor | |
| 12 July 1900 to 20 May 1903 | Joaquim Pedro Vieira Júdice Biker , Governor | |
| 5 May 1901 to 1901 | António Alves de Oliveira , acting Governor | Acting for Biker |
| 1901 | Joaquim Corte Real Pires , acting Governor | Acting for Biker |
| 1901 to 6 December 1901 | Amadeu Gonçalves Guimarães , acting Governor | Acting for Biker |
| 20 May 1903 to 23 July 1903 | José Mateus Lapa Valente , acting Governor | 1st time |
| 23 July 1903 to 9 August 1904 | Alfredo Cardoso de Soveral Martins , Governor | |
| 23 April 1904 to 1904 | Joaquim Corte Real Pires , acting Governor | Acting for Martins |
| 1904 | António Marques Perdigão , acting Governor | Acting for Martins |
| 9 August 1904 to 2 February 1905 | José Mateus Lapa Valente , acting Governor | 2nd time |
| 2 February 1905 to 13 August 1906 | Carlos de Almeida Pessanha , Governor | |
| June 1905 to 13 February 1906 | José Mateus Lapa Valente , acting Governor | Acting for Pessanha |
| 13 August 1906 to 29 June 1909 | João Augusto de Oliveira Muzanty , Governor | |
| 19 July 1907 to 18 November 1907 | Joaquim Corte Real Pires , acting Governor | Acting for Muzanty |
| 1908 | Joaquim José Duarte Guimarães , acting Governor | Acting for Muzanty |
| 29 June 1909 to 16 August 1910 | Francelino Pimentel , Governor | |
| 12 October 1909 to 1910 | António Marques Perdigão , acting Governor | Acting for Pimentel |
| 23 October 1910 to 16 August 1913 | Carlos de Almeida Pereira , Governor | |
| 17 March 1912 to 23 October 1912 | Sebastião José Pereira , acting Governor | Acting for Almeida Pereira |
| 16 August 1913 to 22 November 1913 | Sebastião José Pereira , acting Governor | 1st time |
| 22 November 1913 to April 1914 | José António de Andrade Sequeira , Governor | 1st time |
| April 1914 to 7 May 1915 | Sebastião José Pereira , acting Governor | 2nd time |
| 7 May 1915 to 24 August 1915 | Josué de Oliveira Duque , Governor | 1st time |
| 24 August 1915 to 25 August 1915 | Sebastião José Pereira , acting Governor | 3rd time |
| 25 August 1915 to June 1916 | José António de Andrade Sequeira , Governor | 2nd time |
| June 1916 to 10 January 1917 | Sebastião José Pereira , acting Governor | 4th time |
| 10 January 1917 to 13 July 1917 | Manuel Maria Coelho , Governor | |
| 13 July 1917 to 9 August 1918 | Carlos Ivo de Sá Ferreira , Governor | |
| 9 August 1918 to 21 April 1919 | Josué de Oliveira Duque , Governor | 2nd time |
| 21 April 1919 to 31 May 1919 | José Luis Teixeira Marinho , Governor | |
| 31 May 1919 to 16 June 1920 | Henrique Alberto de Sousa Guerra , Governor | |
| 16 June 1920 to 21 June 1921 | Sebastião José Pereira , acting Governor | 5th time |
| 21 June 1921 to 20 December 1926 | Jorge Frederico Vélez Caroço , Governor | |
| 1 June 1923 to 5 April 1924 | Alfredo Vieira , acting Governor | Acting for Caroço |
| 20 December 1926 to 10 April 1927 | António José Pereira Saldanha , acting Governor | |
| 10 April 1927 to 17 April 1931 | António Leite de Magalhães , Governor | |
| 1 September 1928 to December 1928 | José Manuel de Oliveira de Castro , acting Governor | Acting for Magalhães |
| October 1929 to December 1929 | José Alves Ferreira , acting Governor | Acting for Magalhães |
| 17 April 1931 to 8 May 1931 | José Alves Ferreira , acting Governor | |
| 8 May 1931 to 30 May 1932 | João José Soares Zilhão , Governor | |
| 30 May 1932 to 10 March 1933 | José de Ascenção Valdez , acting Governor | |
| 10 March 1933 to 1940 | Luís António de Carvalho Viegas , Governor | |
| 10 May 1933 to September 1933 | José Peixoto Ponces de Carvalho , acting Governor | Acting for Viegas |
| August 1936 to 1936 | José Salvação Barreto , acting Governor | Acting for Viegas |
| 1938 | Augusto Pereira Brandão , acting Governor | Acting for Viegas |
| 1940 to 1941 | Armando Augusto Gonçalves de Morais e Castro , acting Governor | |
| 8 May 1941 to 1945 | Ricardo Vaz Monteiro , Governor | |
| 25 April 1945 to 20 January 1949 | Manuel Maria Sarmento Rodrigues , Governor | |
| 1948 | Mario Ribeiro da Costa Zanatti , acting Governor | Acting for Rodrigues |
| 1948 to 1949 | Pedro Joaquim da Cunha e Meneses Pinto Cardoso , acting Governor | Acting for Rodrigues |
| 21 June 1949 to 1953 | Raimundo António Rodrigues Serrão , Governor | |
| 1953 to 1954 | Fernando Pimentel , Governor | |
| 1954 to 1956 | Diogo António José Leite Pereira de Melo e Alvim , Governor | |
| 1956 to 1957 | Álvaro Rodrigues da Silva Tavares , Governor | |
| 1957 to 1958 | Abel de Castro Roque , acting Governor | |
| 1958 to 1962 | António Augusto Peixoto Correia , Governor | |
| 1962 to 1964 | Vasco António Martins Rodrigues , Governor | |
| 20 May 1964 to 1968 | Arnaldo Schulz , Governor | |
| 20 May 1968 to 6 August 1973 | António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola , Governor | Following the Carnation Revolution, served as President of the National Salvation Junta and President of the Republic (April–September 1974) |
| 21 September 1973 to 24 September 1973 | José Manuel Bettencourt Rodrigues , Governor | |
| 24 September 1973 | Independence unilaterally declared (State of Guinea-Bissau) | |
| 24 September 1973 to 26 April 1974 | José Manuel Bettencourt Rodrigues , Governor | |
| 27 April 1974 to 2 May 1974 | António Eduardo Mateus da Silva , Governor | |
| 2 May 1974 to 7 May 1974 | São Gouveia , Governor | |
| 7 May 1974 to 10 October 1974 | Carlos Alberto Idães Soares Fabião , Government Delegate of the National Salvation Junta | |
| 10 October 1974 | Independence as State of Guinea-Bissau | |
For continuation after independence, see: List of presidents of Guinea-Bissau
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 1,726,000. It borders Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south-east.
Guinea-Bissau was dominated by Portugal from the 1450s to the 1970s; since independence in 1974, the country was controlled by a single-party system until 1991. Following the introduction of multi-party politics in 1991, the first multi-party elections were held in 1994.
The politics of Guinea-Bissau take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system, wherein the President is head of state and the Prime Minister is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National People's Assembly.
Bissau is the capital city of Guinea-Bissau. In 2015, Bissau 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, and its administrative and military centre.
Kumba Ialá Embaló, also spelled Yalá, was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was president from 17 February 2000 until he was deposed in a bloodless military coup on 14 September 2003. He belonged to the Balanta ethnic group and was President of the Social Renewal Party (PRS). In 2008 he converted to Islam and took the name Mohamed Ialá Embaló. He was the founder of the Party for Social Renewal. In 2014, Ialá died from a cardiopulmonary arrest.
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was one of the belligerents in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. Towards the end of the war, the party established a socialist one-party state, which remained intact until multi-party democracy was introduced in the early 1990s. Although the party won the first multi-party elections in 1994, it was removed from power in the 1999–2000 elections. However, it returned to office after winning parliamentary elections in 2004 and presidential elections in 2005, since which it has remained the largest party in the National People's Assembly.
João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1999, except for a three-day period in May 1984, and from 2005 to 2009.
The unicameral National People's Assembly is Guinea-Bissau's legislative body.
Honório Pereira Barreto was a governor of the Portuguese colony of Guinea.
Guinea-Bissau–United States relations are bilateral relations between Guinea-Bissau and the United States.
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.
José Mário Vaz is a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as president of Guinea-Bissau from 23 June 2014 to 27 February 2020.
Corruption in Guinea-Bissau is among the highest levels in the world. In Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014, it was ranked 161st out of 175 countries. The previous year, it was at 163rd out of 177 countries. This marked a decline from its 2012 ranking, 150th out of 174 countries. In 2013, Guinea-Bissau scored below the averages for both Africa and West Africa on the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Index of African Governance.
The 1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état was the bloodless military coup that took place in Guinea-Bissau on 14 November 1980, led by Prime Minister General João Bernardo Vieira. It led to the deposition of President Luís Cabral, who held the office since 1973, while the country's War of Independence was still ongoing.
Presidential elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 24 November 2019. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 29 December. Incumbent president José Mário Vaz finished fourth in the first round of voting, failing to progress to the runoff. Umaro Sissoco Embaló won the second round with 54% of the vote.
