Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim president. In 2005, former President VIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation; he was assassinated in March 2009. Malam Bacai SANHA was elected in an emergency election held in June 2009, but he passed away abruptly in January 2012. A military coup on 12 April 2012 prevented Guinea-Bissau's second-round presidential election - to determine SANHA's successor - from taking place.

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

slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

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 coastal plain rising to savanna in east

fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum

hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires

deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing

this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying inland

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

Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages

Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 10%

1,628,603 (July 2012 est.)

34.72 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

15.01 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

BISSAU (capital) 302,000 (2009)

790 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

4.44 children born/woman (2012 est.)

0.045 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

0.96 beds/1,000 population (2009)

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

24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (from Portugal)

Independence Day, 24 September (1973)

16 May 1984; amended several times

mixed legal system of civil law (influenced by the early French Civil Code) and customary law

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at more than $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases valued at less than $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)

African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Democratic Alliance or AD [Victor MANDINGA]; Democratic Social Front or FDS [Rafael BARBOSA]; Electoral Union or UE [Joaquim BALDE]; Guinea-Bissau Civic Forum/Social Democracy or FCGSD [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; Guinea-Bissau Democratic Party or PDG; Guinea-Bissau Socialist Democratic Party or PDSG [Serifo BALDE]; Labor and Solidarity Party or PST [Lancuba INDJAI]; New Democracy Party or PND; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Party for Renewal and Progress or PRP; Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Sory DJALO]; Progress Party or PP; Republican Party for Independence and Development or PRID [Aristides GOMES]; Union of Guinean Patriots or UPG [Francisca VAZ]; Union for Change or UM [Amine SAAD]; United Platform or UP (coalition formed by PCD, FDS, FLING, and RGB-MB); United Popular Alliance or APU; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Francisco FADUL]

ACP, AfDB, AOSIS, AU (suspended), CPLP, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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 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

One of the poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau's legal economy depends mainly on farming and fishing, but trafficking in narcotics is probably the most lucrative trade. The combination of limited economic prospects, a weak and faction-ridden government, and favorable geography have made this West African country a way station for drugs bound for Europe. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years; low rainfall hindered cereals and other crops in 2011. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. The government is successfully implementing a three-year $33 million extended credit arrangement with the IMF that runs through 2012. In December 2010 the World Bank and IMF announced support for $1.2 billion worth of debt relief. Guinea-Bissau made progress with debt relief in 2011 when members of the Paris Club opted to write-off much of the country's obligations.

$1.95 billion (2011 est.)

$1.852 billion (2010 est.)

$1.789 billion (2009 est.)

$969 million (2011 est.)

18.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

-2% of GDP (2011 est.)

4.25% (31 December 2009)

4.75% (31 December 2008)

15.3% (31 December 2011 est.)

15% (31 December 2010 est.)

$308.7 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$213.6 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$364.5 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$241.4 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$115.9 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$95.33 million (31 December 2010 est.)

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

agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks

-$60.5 million (2011 est.)

-$89.6 million (2010 est.)

$244.6 million (2011 est.)

$126 million (2010 est.)

fish, shrimp; cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber

India 41.5%, Nigeria 33.9%, Brazil 8.7%, Togo 7.9% (2011)

$327.6 million (2011 est.)

$206.1 million (2010 est.)

foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products

Portugal 28.3%, Senegal 15.6%, China 4.7% (2011)

$1.095 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$941.5 million (31 December 2000 est.)

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar -

65 million kWh (2009 est.)

60.45 million kWh (2009 est.)

21,000 kW (2009 est.)

100% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

2,922 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

2,578 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

461,700 Mt (2010 est.)

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)

(rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior) (2012)

Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim

People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP): Army, Navy, National Air Force (Forca Aerea Nacional); Presidential Guard (2011)

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 (2010)

3.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

in 2006, political instability within Senegal's Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese refugees, cross-border raids, and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau

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