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

lowest point:

Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point:

unnamed elevation in the eastern part of the country 300 m

• 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 as shown in this population distribution map

• deforestation (rampant felling of trees for timber and agricultural purposes);
• 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 as shown in this population distribution map

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.74 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

degree of risk:

very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever

water contact diseases:

schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases:

rabies

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)

etymology:

the meaning of Bissau is uncertain, it might be an alternative name for the Papel people who live in the area of the city of Bissau

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

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

• President Umaro Cissoko EMBALO (since 27 February 2020);
• note - President EMBALO was declared winner of the 29 December 2019 runoff presidential election by the electoral commission;
• however, on 28 February 2020, Cipriano CASSAMA was appointed as interim president by the parliament until the Supreme Court rules on the legitimacy of the elections due to alleged irregularities in voting;
• CASSAMA resigned the following day stating he had received death threats

head of government:

Prime Minister Nuno NABIAM (since 27 February 2020)

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;
• election last held on 24 November 2019 with a runoff on 29 December 2019 (next to be held in 2024);
• prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the National People's Assembly;
• note - the president cannot apply for a third consecutive term, nor during the 5 years following the end of the second term

election results:

• Umaro Sissoco EMBALO elected president in second round;
• percent of vote in first round - Domingos Simoes PEREIRA (PAIGC) 40.1%, Umaro Sissoco EMBALO (Madem G15) 27.7%, Nuno Gomez NABIAM (APU-PDGB) 13.2%, Jose Mario VAZ (independent) 12.4%, other 6.6%;
• percent of vote in second round - Umaro Sissoco EMBALO 53.6%, Domingos Simoes PEREIRA 46.5%

description:

unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (102 seats; 100 members directly elected in 27 multi-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote and 2 elected in single-seat constituencies for citizens living abroad (1 for Africa, 1 for Europe); all members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 10 March 2019 (next to be held in March 2023)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - PAIGC 35.2%, Madem G-15 21.1%, PRS 21.1%, other 22.6%;
• seats by party - PAIGC 47, Madem G-15 27, PRS 21, other 7;
• composition - men 88, women 14, percent of women 13.7%

highest courts:

• Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de 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:

• Appeals 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]
• Movement for Democratic Alternation Group of 15 or MADEM-G15 [Braima CAMARA]
• National People’s Assembly – Democratic Party of Guinea Bissau or APU-PDGB [Nuno Gomes NABIAM]
• 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]

• 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)

• 1 state-owned TV station, Televisao da Guine-Bissau (TGB) 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 (2019)

total:

4,400 km (2018)

paved:

453 km (2018)

unpaved:

3,947 km (2018)

total:

8

by type:

general cargo 5, other 3 (2019)

• the inventory of the FARP consists of Soviet-era equipment;
• the only reported deliveries of military equipment to Guinea Bissau since 2015 were patrol boats from Spain in 2017 and non-lethal equipment from China in 2015 (2019 est.)

• 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