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. Portuguese control of the area was limited to several forts along the coast during most of this period. Portugal gained complete control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–1915. The offshore Bijagos Islands were not colonized until 1936. After gaining 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 in 1998 and lasted until 1999.
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.
Carlos Domingos Gomes Júnior is a Bissau-Guinean politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 10 May 2004 to 2 November 2005, and again from 25 December 2008 to 10 February 2012. He has been the President of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) since 2002 and is widely known as "Cadogo". He resigned as prime minister on 10 February 2012 to run in the presidential election triggered by President Malam Bacai Sanhá's death on 9 January.
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 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.
Rui Duarte de Barros is a Bissau-Guinean economist and politician who has served as the prime minister of Guinea-Bissau since 20 December 2023. His previous positions include being the Minister of Economy and Finance, as well as being the Transitional Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 16 May 2012 to 3 July 2014 following a military coup.
José Mário Vaz is a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as president of Guinea-Bissau from 23 June 2014 to 27 February 2020.
Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló is a Bissau-Guinean politician serving as the president of Guinea-Bissau since February 2020. He is a political scientist and military officer who previously served as prime minister between November 2016 and January 2018.
Madem-G15, officially the Movement for Democratic Alternation, Group of 15, is a political party in Guinea-Bissau founded by former members of PAIGC in 2018, named for the 15 members who left the PAIGC. Notably, it won 27, the second most seats, of 102 seats in the 2019 legislative election of Guinea-Bissau in its first election showing. On 28 February 2020, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, a member of Madem-G15, took office as President of Guinea-Bissau in a contested election. The party supports former President José Mário Vaz in his dispute with reformist Domingos Simões Pereira.
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, becoming the first president to be elected without the backing of the PAIGC.
Events in the year 2020 in Guinea-Bissau.
A coup d'état was attempted in Guinea-Bissau on 1 February 2022. A few hours later, president Umaro Sissoco Embaló declared the coup over, he said that "many" members of the security forces had been killed in a "failed attack against democracy".
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 4 June 2023. Incumbent president Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the parliament on 16 May 2022, accusing deputies of corruption and "unresolvable" differences between the National People's Assembly and other government branches.
Events in the year 2023 in Guinea-Bissau.
The Inclusive Alliance Platform – Terra Ranka is a Bissau-Guinean political coalition formed for the 2023 legislative election and mainly led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAICG).
On 30 November–1 December 2023, clashes broke out in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, between government forces and units of the National Guard who had released two ministers accused of corruption from detention. The clashes led to the arrest of National Guard commander Colonel Victor Tchongo. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló described the events as an attempted coup. Following the clashes, Embaló ordered the dissolution of the country's legislature.
Snap parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Guinea-Bissau on 24 November 2024. Incumbent president Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the opposition controlled parliament on 4 December 2023, saying an "attempted coup" had prevented him from returning home from COP28 climate conference.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Guinea-Bissau in November or December 2024. Incumbent president Umaro Sissoco Embaló is eligible for a second term.
