Guinea-Bissau

• tropical;
• generally hot and humid;
• monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds;
• dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds

• mostly low-lying coastal plain with a deeply indented estuarine coastline rising to savanna in east;
• numerous off-shore islands including the Arquipelago Dos Bijagos consisting of 18 main islands and many small islets

lowest point:

Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point:

unnamed elevation in the eastern part of the country 300 m

total:

0.18 cu km/yr (18%/6%/76%)

per capita:

135.7 cu m/yr (2005)

• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• overgrazing;
• overfishing

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Bissau-Guinean(s)

adjective:

Bissau-Guinean

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2013)

total number:

226,316

percentage:

57 % (2010 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Guinea-Bissau

conventional short form:

Guinea-Bissau

local long form:

Republica da Guine-Bissau

local short form:

Guine-Bissau

former:

Portuguese Guinea

name:

Bissau

geographic coordinates:

11 51 N, 15 35 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao);
• Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali;
• note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama-Bijagos

• promulgated 16 May 1984;
• amended several times, last in 1996;
• note - constitution suspended following military coup in April 2012 (2013)

chief of state:

President Josse Mario VAZ (since 17 June 2014)

head of government:

transitional Prime Minister Rui Duarte BARROS (since 16 May 2012)

cabinet:

NA; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president elected by absolute majority vote in two rounds for a 5-year term (no term limits);
• election - first round held on 13 April 2014;
• prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the National People's Assembly

election results:

• 13 April 2014 first round results - Jose Mario VAZ 41%, Nuno Gomez NABIAM 25.1%, other 33.9%;
• Jose Mario VAZ elected in second round on 18 May 2014 with 61.9%, Nuno Gomez NABIAM 38.1%

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of Justice (consists of 9 judges and organized into Civil, Criminal, and Social and Administrative Disputes Chambers); note - the Supreme Court has both appellate and constitutional jurisdiction

judge selection and term of office:

• judges nominated by the Higher Council of the Magistrate, a major government organ responsible for judge appointments, dismissals, and discipline of the judiciary;
• judges appointed by the president with tenure for life

subordinate courts:

• Appeal Court;
• regional (first instance) courts;
• military court

• African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde or PAIGC [Domingos Simoes PEREIRA]
• Democratic Convergence Party or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]
• New Democracy Party or PND [Iaia DJALO]
• Party for Social Renewal or PRS [vacant]
• Republican Party for Independence and Development or PRID [Aristides GOMES]
• Union for Change or UM [Agnelo REGALA]

• the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta;
• the US Ambassador to Senegal, currently Ambassador Lewis LUKENS, is accredited to Guinea-Bissau

• two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side;
• there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band;
• yellow symbolizes the sun;
• green denotes hope;
• red represents blood shed during the struggle for independence;
• the black star stands for African unity

note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; the flag design was heavily influenced by the Ghanaian flag

• rice, corn, beans, cassava (manioc, tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton;
• timber;
• fish

agriculture:

82%

industry and services:

18% (2000 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.9%

highest 10%:

28% (2002)

general assessment:

small system including a combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and mobile-cellular communications

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 50 per 100 persons

international:

country code - 245 (2011)

• 1 state-owned TV station and a second station, Radio e Televisao de Portugal (RTP) Africa, is operated by Portuguese public broadcaster (RTP);
• 1 state-owned radio station, several private radio stations, and some community radio stations;
• multiple international broadcasters are available (2007)

total:

3,455 km

country comparison to the world: 161

paved:

965 km

unpaved:

2,490 km (2002)

• 18-25 years of age for selective compulsory military service (Air Force service is voluntary);
• 16 years of age or younger, with parental consent, for voluntary service (2013)

males age 16-49:

370,790

females age 16-49:

372,171 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

205,460

females age 16-49:

212,277 (2010 est.)

male:

17,639

female:

17,865 (2010 est.)

current situation:

• Guinea-Bissau is a country of origin and destination for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• the scope of the problem of trafficking women or men for forced labor or forced prostitution is unknown;
• boys reportedly are transported to southern Senegal for forced manual and agricultural labor;
• girls may be subjected to forced domestic service and child prostitution in Senegal and Guinea;
• both boys and girls are forced to work as street vendors in cities in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - the government of Guinea-Bissau does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• despite enacting an anti-trafficking law and finalizing and adopting a national action plan in 2011, authorities have not conducted any investigations or prosecutions of trafficking offenses;
• the government has not provided adequate protection to identified trafficking victims, conducted any tangible prevention activities in 2012, or made progress on the implementation of its national action plan (2013)

• increasingly important transit country for South American cocaine en route to Europe;
• enabling environment for trafficker operations thanks to pervasive corruption;
• archipelago-like geography around the capital facilitates drug smuggling