Capital of Guinea
The capital city of Guinea is Bissau (Republic of Guinea-Bissau). Country of West Africa, and one of the smallest of continental Africa. It borders Senegal to the North, Guinea to the South and East, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. During colonial times it was a Portuguese colony, forming part of the so-called Portuguese Guinea. On becoming independent, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the official name of the country to avoid confusion between the latter and the Republic of Guinea.
History
The capital city of Guinea is Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabo, part of the Malian Empire; Parts of this kingdom were maintained until the eighteenth century, while others were part of the Portuguese empire. Portuguese Guinea was also known because of its main economic activity, such as the Coast of the Slaves. Early reports of Europeans reaching this area are traveling to the Venetian Alvise Cadamosto of 1455 , the journey of 1479 – 1480 by Eustache de la Fosse Flemish-French trader, and Diego Cao in the 1480’s reached the river Congo and the lands of Bakongo, thus creating the bases of present-day Angola , about 1200 km off the African coast of Guinea-Bissau. Although the rivers and coast of this area are among the first places colonized by the Portuguese, since the 16th century, the interior was not explored until the 19th century. African local rulers in Guinea, some of whom prospered largely from the slave trade, had no interest in allowing Europeans to pass beyond the interior of the fortified settlements on the coast, where negotiation took place. African communities that fought against slave traders had even greater incentives to distrust European adventurers and would-be settlers. The Portuguese presence in Guinea, therefore is largely limited in the port of Bissau and Cache,
For a brief period in the 1790s the British tried to establish a rival base on an island off the coast of Bo lama. However, by the nineteenth century the Portuguese were safe enough in Bissau to consider the neighboring coast as their own special territory, also in the north, in part, in southern Senegal .An armed rebellion from 1956 by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), under the leadership of Railcar Cabral, consolidated its control over Portuguese Guinea. Unlike the guerrilla movements in other Portuguese colonies, the PAIGC quickly extended its military control over large portions of the territory, with the help of the jungle as its terrain, and the facility to reach the boundaries with neighboring allies and large quantities of weapons From Cuba, China, the Soviet Union, and left-wing African countries.
Cuba also agreed to supply the artillery experts, doctors and technicians. The PAIGC was even able to acquire an important anti-aircraft capability in order to defend itself against the air raid. In 1973, the PAIGC had control of many parts of Guinea. Independence was declared unilaterally on 24 September 1973. Recognition became universal following the military coup in Portugal on 25 of April of 1974, which overthrew the regime of State Novo Lisbon.
Interesting Facts about Bissau
Independence
Luis Cabral was named the first president of Guinea-Bissau. The country was controlled by a revolutionary council until 1984. The first multiparty elections were held in 1994, but an army uprising in 1998 led to the overthrow of the president and civil war in Guinea-Bissau. The elections were held again in 2000 and Kombi Iola was elected president.
In September 2003, a coup d’état took place in which Iola was arrested, accused of being “incapable of solving problems”. After being delayed several times, the legislative elections were held in March 2004. A mutiny of the military factions in October 2004 resulted in the death of the head of the armed forces, and caused widespread malaise.
In June 2005, presidential elections were held for the first time since the coup that deposed Iola. Iola returned as a candidate for the PRS, which claimed to be the country’s legitimate president, but the election was won by former president Jiao Bernardo Vieira, deposed in the 1998 coup. Vieira defeated Milam Bacau Sana in a runoff election, but Sana refused to accept, claiming that the manipulation occurred in two groups, including the capital, Bissau.
Despite reports that there had been an influx of guns in the weeks leading up to the election and some “riots during the campaign” – such as attacking government offices by unknown armed men, foreign election observers called them ” Quiet and organized “. The PAIGC gained a strong parliamentary majority, with 67 of the 100 seats in the parliamentary elections held in November 2008.
In November 2008, the official residence of President Vieira was attacked by members of the armed forces, killing a guard, but leaving the president safe and sound. The 2 of March of 2009, however, Vieira was asesinado.Los preliminary reports indicated that a group of soldiers trying to avenge the death of the head of the Joint Chiefs, General Batista Tagme Na the Wai. Tagme died in an explosion on March 1, 2009. Military leaders in the country have pledged to respect the constitutional order of succession. Raimundo Pereira, a spokesman for the National Assembly, was appointed interim president until the nationwide elections on June 28, 2009, which was won by Malam Bacai Sanha.
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Military revolt of 2010
Una revuelta militar ocurrió en Guinea-Bissau el 1 de abril de 2010. El primer ministro Carlos Gomes Junior fue puesto bajo arresto domiciliario por los soldados, que también detuvieron al jefe del Estado Mayor Zamora Induta. Los partidarios de Gomes y su partido, el PAIGC, reaccionaron a la medida mediante una demostración en la capital, Bissau;. Indjai Antonio, el subjefe Del Estado Mayor Advirtió que tendrían que matar a Gomes si las protestas continuaban.
Angola’s military mission in Guinea-Bissau (MISSANG)
On 10 September 2010, Angola and Guinea Bissau signed a protocol in which Angola will help the Guinea Armed Forces and police forces for two years. About 200 Angolan Armed Forces will support the military mission in Angola, Guinea-Bissau (MISSANG) formally launched the 21 of March of 2011. Angolan officials said the ultimate goal was to help Guinea-Bissau with the military coups and drug trafficking that have plagued the tiny West African state for decades.
Geography
Typical Guinea Bissau landscape
Guinea-Bissau lies between latitudes 11 ° and 13 ° N (a small area is south of 11 °), and longitudes 13 ° and 17 ° W. This small tropical country, of 36,125 square kilometers, is of little Height, its highest point is 300 meters. The interior is of savannah, and the coast is flat with the mangrove swamps of Guinea. Its torrential rainy season alternates with periods of hot and dry harmattan winds blowing from the Sahara. Also, in its maritime coast are a series of archipelagos pertaining to the country. Guinea-Bissau borders on the north with Senegal, on the south and on the east with Guinea and on the west with the Atlantic Ocean, where it’s Bijagós Islands are.
Demography
Caravan in Bissau
The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse and has diverse languages, customs and social structures. Guinea-Bissau can be divided into the following ethnic groups: Fila and Mandingo-speaking people, who comprise the majority of the population and are concentrated in the north and northeast, Balata and Paper people, living in the coastal regions of South and Monaco and Manama that occupy the coastal zones of the center and north. Most of the rest are of matzo origin between Portuguese and African; among them a minority of Cape Verde .Portuguese natives constitutes a very small percentage in Guinea-Bissau. This deficit was directly caused by the exodus of Portuguese settlers that took place after Guinea-Bissau gained its independence. The country also has a small population of Chinese origin, including those of Portuguese and Chinese mixed ancestry in Macao, a former Portuguese colony in Asia.
Only 14% of the population speaks the official language, Portuguese. 44% speak Creole, a Portuguese-based Creole language, and the rest speak native African languages. The majority of Portuguese and matzos speak one of the African and Creole languages as a second language. French is also taught in schools, as the country is surrounded by French-speaking countries and is a full member of the Francophone.
Economy
Guinea-Bissau’s GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world. Its human development index is also one of the lowest on earth. More than two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. The economy depends mainly on agriculture, nuts and fish: Cashew nuts and land are its main exports. A long period of political instability has resulted in depressed economic activity, deteriorating social conditions, and increased macroeconomic imbalances.
Guinea-Bissau has begun to show some economic progress after a stability pact signed by the country’s main political parties, leading to a program of structural reforms backed by the IMF. The key challenges for the country are the achievement of fiscal discipline, the reconstruction of public administration, the improvement of the economic climate for private investment and the promotion of economic diversification. After independence from Portugal in 1974 due to the Portuguese colonial war and the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, the exodus of Portuguese civil, military and political authorities brought tremendous damage to the country’s economic infrastructure, social order and quality of life.
After several years of economic recession and political instability, Guinea-Bissau entered the CFA franc monetary system in 1997, leading to some internal monetary stability. The civil war that took place in 1998 and 1999, and a military coup in September 2003 again disrupted economic activity, leaving a substantial part of the economic and social infrastructure in ruins and the intensification of widespread poverty. After the March 2004 parliamentary elections and the presidential elections in July 2005, the country is trying to recover from a long period of instability despite the political situation remains fragile.
Beginning around 2005, drug traffickers based in Latin America began using Guinea-Bissau, along with several neighboring West African countries, as a trans-shipment point for cocaine to Europe. The nation was described by a United Nations official as at risk of becoming a “narco-state”. The government and the army did almost nothing to stop this business. In 2009 almost all transports through Guinea Bissau have been arrested and moved to Mali.
Guinea-Bissau is a member of the Organization for Harmonization in Mercantile Law in Africa (OHADA).
