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

mean elevation:

70 m

elevation extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point:

unnamed elevation in the eastern part of the country 300 m

agricultural land:

44.8%;

• arable land 8.2%;
• permanent crops 6.9%;
• permanent pasture 29.7%

forest:

55.2%

other:

0% (2011 est.)

• approximately one-fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast;
• the remainder is distributed among the eight other, mainly rural, regions

• 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

• approximately one-fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast;
• the remainder is distributed among the eight other, mainly rural, regions

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.62 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.6 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2016 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 (2016)

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

etymology:

• the country is named after the Guinea region of West Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea and stretches north to the Sahel;
• "Bissau," the name of the capital city, distinguishes the country from neighboring Guinea

name:

Bissau

geographic coordinates:

11 51 N, 15 35 W

time difference:

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

history:

promulgated 16 May 1984; note - constitution suspended following military coup in April 2012 and restored in 2014

amendments:

• proposed by the National People’s Assembly if supported by at least one-third of its members, by the Council of State (a presidential consultant body), or by the government;
• passage requires approval by at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly;
• constitutional articles on the republican and secular form of government and national sovereignty cannot be amended;
• amended 1991, 1993, 1996 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Jose Mario VAZ (since 17 June 2014)

head of government:

Prime Minister Umaro SISSOCO Embalo (since 18 November 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet nominated by the prime minister, appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 13 April 2014 with a runoff on 18 May 2014 (next to be held in 2019);
• prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the National People's Assembly

election results:

• percent of vote in first round - Jose Mario VAZ (PAIGC) 41%, Nuno Gomez NABIAM (independent) 25.1%, other 33.9%;
• Jose Mario VAZ elected president in second round - Jose Mario VAZ 61.9%, Nuno Gomez NABIAM 38.1%

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court or Suprema da Tribunal Justica (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 judiciary discipline;
• judges appointed by the president 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 [Vicente FERNANDES]
• New Democracy Party or PND [Mamadu Iaia DJALO]
• Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Alberto NAMBEIA]
• 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 a military-led junta;
• the US Ambassador to Senegal 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 70 per 100 persons

international:

country code - 245 (2015)

• 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

paved:

965 km

unpaved:

2,490 km (2002)

country comparison to the world: 161

• 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)

current situation:

• Guinea-Bissau is a source country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• the extent to which adults are trafficked for forced labor or forced prostitution is unclear;
• boys are forced into street vending in Guinea-Bissau and manual labor, agriculture, and mining in Senegal, while girls may be forced into street vending, domestic service, and, to a lesser extent, prostitution in Guinea and Senegal;
• some Bissau-Guinean boys at Koranic schools are forced into begging by religious teachers

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - 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 adopting a national action plan in 2011, the country failed to demonstrate any notable anti-trafficking efforts for the third consecutive year;
• existing laws prohibiting all forms of trafficking were not used to prosecute any trafficking offenders in 2014, and only one case of potential child labor trafficking was under investigation;
• authorities continued to rely entirely on NGOs and international organizations to provide victims with protective services;
• no trafficking prevention activities were conducted (2015)

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