1995 Edition

Area

total area: 36,120 sq km land area: 28,000 sq km comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

Climate

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

Coastline

350 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

total 724 km, Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km

Land use

arable land: 11% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 43% forest and woodland: 38% other: 7%

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

unexploited deposits of petroleum, bauxite, phosphates, fish, timber

Terrain

mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east

Age structure

0-14 years: 43% (female 242,518; male 243,093) 15-64 years: 54% (female 320,987; male 286,308) 65 years and over: 3% (female 16,129; male 15,502) (July 1995 est.)

Birth rate

40.24 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate

16.62 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions

African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%

Infant mortality rate

117.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Labor force

403,000 (est.) by occupation: agriculture 90%, industry, services, and commerce 5%, government 5%

Languages

Portuguese (official), Criolo, African languages

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 47.87 years male: 46.21 years female: 49.57 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 36% male: 50% female: 24%

Nationality

noun: Guinea-Bissauan(s) adjective: Guinea-Bissauan

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Population

1,124,537 (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate

2.36% (1995 est.)

Religions

indigenous beliefs 65%, Muslim 30%, Christian 5%

Total fertility rate

5.43 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Administrative divisions

9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali

Capital

Bissau

Constitution

16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991 (currently undergoing revision to liberalize popular participation in the government)

Digraph

PU

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Alfredo Lopes CABRAL chancery: 918 16th Street NW, Mezzanine Suite, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 872-4222

Executive branch

chief of state: President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Joao Bernardo VIEIRA (assumed power 14 November 1980); election last held August 1994 (next to be held 1999); results - Joao Bernardo VIEIRA 52%, Kumba YALLA 48% head of government: Prime Minister Manuel SATURNINO, since 5 November 1994 cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president

FAX

[1] (202) 872-4226

[245] 252282

Flag

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; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Cape Verde, which has the black star raised above the center of the red band and is framed by two corn stalks and a yellow clam shell

Independence

10 September 1974 (from Portugal)

Judicial branch

none; there is a Ministry of Justice in the Council of Ministers

Legal system

NA

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIL, UNOMOZ, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau local long form: Republica de Guine-Bissau local short form: Guine-Bissau former: Portuguese Guinea

National holiday

Independence Day, 10 September (1974)

National People's Assembly

(Assembleia Nacional Popular) elections last held 3 July and 7 August 1994 (next to be held 1999); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (100 total) PAIGC 62, RGB 19, PRS 12, Union for Change Coalition 6, FLING 1

Political parties and leaders

African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), President Joao Bernardo VIEIRA, leader; Guinea-Bissau Resistance (RGB); Democratic Front (FD), Aristides MENEZES, leader; Social Renovation Party (PRS); Union for Change Coalition; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea (FLING); Democratic Social Front (FDS), Rafael BARBOSA, leader; Bafata Movement, Domingos Fernandes GARNER, leader; Guinea-Bissau Resistance (RGB); Union for Change Coalition; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea (FLING)

Suffrage

15 years of age; universal

Type

republic, formerly highly centralized, multiparty since mid-1991

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Roger A. McGUIRE embassy: Bairro de Penha, Bissau mailing address: C.P. 297, 1067 Bissau Codex, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau telephone: [245] 252273, 252274, 252275, 252276

Agriculture

accounts for 40% of GDP (includes fishing and forestry); mostly subsistence farming; principal products - rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava, bananas, sweet potatoes, timber; livestock - cattle, sheep and goats; not self-sufficient in food grains

Budget

revenues: $449 million expenditures: $708 million, including capital expenditures of $361 million (1990 est.)

Currency

1 Guinean franc (FG) = 100 centimes

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $227 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.465 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $120 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $446 million

Electricity

capacity: 180,000 kW production: 520 million kWh consumption per capita: 77 kWh (1993)

Exchange rates

Guinean francs (FG) per US$1 - 810.94 (1 July 1993), 922.9 (30 September 1992), 675 (1990), 618 (1989), 515 (1988), 440 (1987), 383 (1986)

Exports

$622 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: bauxite, alumina, diamonds, gold, coffee, pineapples, bananas, palm kernels partners: US 23%, Belgium 12%, Ireland 12%, Spain 12%

External debt

2.5 billion (1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$768 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, and other grain partners: France 26%, Cote d'Ivoire 12%, Hong Kong 6%, Germany 6%

Industrial production

growth rate NA%; accounts for 27% of GDP

Industries

mining - bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

16.6% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $6.3 billion (1994 est.)

National product per capita

$980 (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate

0.8% (1994 est.)

Overview

Although possessing major mineral and hydropower resources and considerable potential for agricultural development, Guinea remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The agricultural sector contributes about 40% to GDP and employs 80% of the work force, while industry accounts for 27% of GDP. Guinea possesses over 25% of the world's bauxite reserves. The mining sector accounted for 85% of exports in 1991. Long-run improvements in literacy, financial institutions, and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. Except in the bauxite industry, foreign investment remains minimal.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Radio

broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 radios: NA

Telephone system

3,000 telephones; poor system; telephone density - 2.7 telephones/1,000 persons local: NA intercity: combination of microwave radio relay, open wire lines and radiocommunications international: NA

Television

broadcast stations: 1 televisions: NA

Airports

total: 32 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1 with paved runways under 914 m: 22 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 6

Highways

total: 3,218 km paved: bituminous 2,698 km unpaved: earth 520 km

Inland waterways

scattered stretches are important to coastal commerce

Merchant marine

none

Ports

Bissau

Railroads

0 km

Branches

People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $9 million, 4.5% of GDP (1994) ________________________________________________________________________ GUYANA

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 251,636; males fit for military service 143,694 (1995 est.)