Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau’s population was 1,515,000 in 2010, up from 518,000 in 1950, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2010 edition. In 2010, 41.3 percent of the population was under the age of 15, 55.4 percent was between the ages of 15 and 65, and 3.3 percent of the population was 65 years or older.

Guinea-Bissau’s population’s is ethnically varied, with many different languages, traditions, and social systems.

Animism was practiced by the majority of Bissau-Guineans during the twentieth century. Many people have converted to Islam in the early twenty-first century, with Islam currently being embraced by 50% of the country’s population. The majority of Muslims in Guinea-Bissau are Sunni, with Ahmadiyya Muslims accounting for around 2% of the population.

Approximately 10% of the country’s population is Christian, while 40% of the population still adheres to Indigenous beliefs. However, since many people follow syncretic versions of Islamic and Christian religions, mixing their rituals with indigenous African beliefs, these figures may be deceptive.

The majority of Christians belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

Guinea-Bissau is bounded to the north by Senegal, to the south and east by Guinea, and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean. It is mostly located between latitudes 11° and 13°N (with a tiny region south of 11°) and longitudes 13° and 17°W.

The nation is bigger than Taiwan or Belgium at 36,125 square kilometers (13,948 square miles). It is located at a low elevation; its highest point is 300 meters (984 ft). The landscape consists mostly of low coastal plains with wetlands of Guinean mangroves rising to a Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the east. Its wet season is monsoon-like, with intervals of scorching, dry harmattan winds coming from the Sahara. The Bijagos Archipelago is located off the coast of the mainland.

Guinea-Bissau is warm all year and has minimal temperature variation; the average temperature is 26.3 °C (79.3 °F). Bissau’s average rainfall is 2,024 millimetres (79.7 in), although this is nearly completely accounted for during the rainy season, which lasts from June to September/October. Drought affects the nation from December to April.

During centuries of colonial control, 14 percent of the population speaks Portuguese, the official language of administration and national communication. Kriol, a Portuguese-based creole language that functions as a national language of communication among groups, is spoken by 44 percent of the population. The others speak a range of native African languages that are exclusive to ethnic groups.

The majority of Portuguese and Mestiços speakers also speak one or more African languages, as well as Kriol. Because Guinea-Bissau is surrounded by French-speaking countries, French is also taught in schools. Guinea-Bissau is a full Francophonie member.

Guinea-Bissau has one of the lowest GDP per capita rates in the world, as well as one of the lowest Human Development Indexes. More than two-thirds of the population lives in poverty. The economy is mostly based on agriculture; its primary exports are fish, cashew nuts, and ground nuts.

A lengthy period of political insecurity has resulted in low economic activity, worsening social circumstances, and increasing macroeconomic imbalances. Except for Suriname, it takes longer on average in Guinea-Bissau (233 days or about 33 weeks) to register a new company.

Guinea-Bissau has begun to show signs of economic progress after the signing of a stability agreement by the country’s major political parties, which resulted in an IMF-backed structural reform program. The country’s main tasks in the next years will be to establish budgetary discipline, restore public administration, enhance the economic environment for private investment, and encourage economic diversification. The rapid exodus of Portuguese civilian, military, and political authorities following the country’s independence from Portugal in 1974 as a result of the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution caused significant damage to the country’s economic infrastructure, social order, and standard of living.

Following many years of economic decline and political turmoil, Guinea-Bissau joined the CFA franc monetary system in 1997, providing some internal monetary stability. The civil conflict in 1998 and 1999, as well as a military coup in September 2003, interrupted economic activity once again, destroying a significant portion of the economic and social infrastructure and exacerbating the already widespread poverty. Despite a still-fragile political environment, the nation is attempting to emerge from a lengthy period of insecurity after parliamentary elections in March 2004 and presidential elections in July 2005.

Beginning about 2005, Latin American drug criminals started to utilize Guinea-Bissau, along with other bordering West African countries, as a transshipment site for cocaine to Europe. A United Nations official characterized the country as being on the verge of becoming a “narco-state.” The government and military have done little to combat drug trafficking, which has risen after the 2012 coup.

Guinea-Bissau is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of African Commercial Law (OHADA).

There are a lot of internet cafés in Bissau’s downtown area, but if you ask around, you’ll find that many of them are hard to find from the outside. Lenox or going WiFi at Restaurant Phoenicia or the Hotel Bissau Palace are more possibilities.

In Guinea Bissau, there are three mobile phone providers, all of which offer prepaid mobile cards that may be purchased anywhere. It’s simple to phone overseas or to other mobiles within the same business, however calling from one company to another (for example, MTN->Guinétel) may be difficult.

If your stay in this nation is deemed transitory, Muslims are generally tolerant of others. Because there are a few extremist mosques in the nation, it is recommended that you avoid going there. The Christian minority is permitted, but activists and government officials in Guinea-Bissau keep a close eye on them.

Check your local government’s or state department’s Guinea-Bissau warnings.

Some individuals (particularly youngsters) may want you to snap their picture, while others will be offended if you do so; always ask ahead of time if you’re going to take close-ups. Avoid photographing military sites without permission, but you may be permitted to do so on rare occasions.

• Bissau – capital
• Bafatá – Bafata, on the Rio Gêba, is a charming town with an attractive colonial center. Amilcar Cabral, a Bissau-Guinean patriot, was born in this town. To see his home, ask around near the old market.
• Bolama – The country’s capital until 1941, it contains several stunning examples of colonial architecture and has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Bijagos Islands – a tropical archipelago with twenty lovely islands Hippos may be seen on the island of Orango, and there are many additional ecotourism opportunities on the “unspoiled islands.” There are even turtle breeding sites on certain islands. Fishing lodges operated by the French may be found on several islands.
• Varela – Just south of Cap Skirring, on the Guinea-Bissau side of the border, getting to Varela on a 50-kilometer bumpy dirt road from Sao Domingos is a challenge, but it’s all worth it when you arrive at this little paradise, complete with a superb Italian-owned hotel, beautiful beaches and pine forests, and a very relaxed atmosphere with almost no other tourists.

There are no websites for Guinea-Bissau embassies where you may get admission information. To make things even more complicated, neither the United States nor the United Kingdom have embassies in Guinea-Bissau. For visa information, visitors can contact the British embassies in Dakar, Senegal; Lisbon, Portugal; or Paris, France (tel: +33 1 48 74 36 39).

For citizens of most non-ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) nations, visas are needed. You have two choices if you are traveling from a nation where Guinea-Bissau does not have diplomatic representation. The first option is to get a visa from the Guinean embassy in Lisbon. Tourist visas are processed the same day, within 2-3 hours. Before making travel arrangements to Portugal or Bissau, call ahead to check this.

The second alternative is to acquire a letter of invitation and apply for a visa in Bissau when you arrive. You will need to make these arrangements with whomever or whatever group is hosting you, and there is no clear, well-defined protocol in place. This method is also more costly than obtaining a visa in Lisbon. If you’re traveling by land, the Guinea-Bissau Consulate in Ziguinchor, Senegal, is an excellent location to obtain a visa.

Every Wednesday and Friday, EuroAtlantic airlines  offers direct flights from Portugal, returning the same day.

The daily Air Senegal trip is no longer available, however TACV Carbo Verde Airlines operates daily flights from Dakar, Senegal to Bissau. The flight is 75 minutes long.

• Depending on border bureaucracy, the trip from Ziguinchor, Senegal to Bissau should take 3-4 hours via sept-places (seven-seat Peugeot) or your own vehicle. The roads are in excellent condition, with the exception of a few potholes after So Domingos. The border with Senegal is closed after sundown.
• Count on 7-8 hours from Gambia (Serrekunda) if everything goes well. You’ll have to transfer in Ziguinchor if you’re traveling via sept-place.
• With a little luck, you may go from Dakar to Bissau in one day using public transportation, but you must leave Dakar early and change vehicles at Ziguinchor.

Pirada (dirtroad from there to Gab) to Senegal, and Buruntuma to Guinea-Conakry (also through Gab) are two more major border crossings.

Between Dakar to Bissau, there is a maritime route. There are also boats that go to and from the Bijagos islands.

Toca-toca minibuses are used for city transportation in Bissau. Regular cabs are also available. There are sept-places (seven-seat Peugeots) and candongas (large commercial vehicles seating ten to twenty people) for intercity transport. Prefer sept-place or, at the very least, front-row seats. Taxis may also be rented to go to other towns and cities.

The major bus terminal “paragem” of Bissau is located on the Airport Road, behind the BCEAO (Banco Central dos Estados de frica Ocidental). If you’re going to Biombo or Prabis, you’ll need to change buses at Estrada de Bor. There are no set departure times; vehicles leave when they are full. Cars fill up faster in the morning since most residents commute early (7 a.m.-ish). It may be difficult to get transportation in the late afternoon and evening.

To get to the islands, there are two options: inexpensive but risky canoas (pirogues) departing from Porto Pidjiguiti or Porto de Bandim, or costly contemporary boats owned by French fishing lodges on the Bijagos islands. In 2007, a ferry service between Bissau and Bubaque began, departing on Friday and returning on Sunday. Schedules are subject to tides, so double-check ahead of time.

Guinea Bissau is an excellent nation for cycling since it is extremely flat and there is hardly little traffic on the roads outside of Bissau. Bikes may be purchased in the nation, and they are most likely (like in the rest of the globe) Chinese-made. As always, excellent value for money.

Because Guinea is abundant in fish and rice (homegrown or imported from Thailand) is relatively inexpensive, most Guineans eat rice with fish. Meals with beef, goat, chicken, or pork are more expensive. Palm oil and peanut sauces, as well as a variety of vegetables, are used in the preparation of meals. Guineans also consume wild/game meat (deer, monkey, beaver, and so on), but since these species are endangered, it is not advised to support them. Because Guineans are renowned for their generosity, you will always be invited to share a meal with a number of people (it is customary to eat from a big bowl)…”bin kume, no kume.”

Mangos, papayas, oranges, grapefruits, bananas, cashews, and peanuts are plentiful, depending on the season. Try the sour “fole” fruits and baobab fruit juice as well (sumo de cabaceira). Imported fruit (apples, pears, pineapples, watermelons, etc.) may be purchased at Bissau’s “fera de prasa,” although it is more costly than in Europe.

Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, parsley, okra, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, chile, and sweet potatoes are among the vegetables offered at marketplaces.

Sandwiches with hardboiled eggs, omelets, salmon, or meat are common street snacks, as are doughnuts, cake, or hardboiled eggs. Locals like frozen juice packaged in tiny plastic bags.

Non-Muslims like drinking cashew wine or palm wine, whereas the inhabitants of Guinea-Bissau enjoy drinking a sweet green tea known as “warga.” Portuguese beer, wine, and soft beverages are also available for purchase, although they are more costly. Foreigners are advised to consume only bottled, filtered, or boiling water.

Guinea-Bissau uses the West African CFA franc (XOF). Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo all use it. While technically distinct from the Central African CFA franc (XAF), the two currencies are used interchangeably at par in all nations that utilize the CFA franc (XAF & XOF).

The French Treasury backs both CFA francs, which are linked to the euro at 1 euro = 655.957 CFA francs.

The first ATMs came in Guinea-Bissau in December 2007, at the BAO (Banco da Africa Occidental) branches in Bissau and Gabon. In Bissau, an ATM is also being installed at the Hotel Malaika. These ATMs will only work if you have a local bank account with them. It’s probably still safer to carry enough euros or FCFA to cover your stay. Bissau (eight sites), Bafatá, Gab, Buba, Canchungo, and Mansoa are all served by Western Union. (They’re going to scam you off by taking 10%.)

Bandim Market, located on the main route into town, is the country’s biggest market. There are numerous items to purchase there, and the environment is pleasant. Small sellers may be found on most of the capital’s roadways. Small merchants selling essentials may also be found in the villages (Tabankas). Larger marketplaces known as “Lumo” may be found in the countryside’s major towns, where farmers and merchants can sell and trade their wares. Remember that Guinea-Bissau is a poor nation, thus shopping opportunities are limited compared to Gambia or Senegal.

Shopping phrases in Creole: Ke ku bu misti? (Can you tell me what you’re looking for?) N ka mistil (I don’t want it) N mistil (I want it)

Bissau’s music is most often linked with the polyrhythmic gumbe genre, which is the country’s main musical export. Civil instability and other reasons, however, have kept gumbe and other genres out of popular audiences throughout the years, even in typically syncretist African nations.

The calabash is-main Bissau’s musical instrument, and it is used to create very fast and rhythmically complicated dancing music. The lyrics are nearly always in Bissau Creole, a Portuguese-based creole language, and are often amusing and topical, centered on current events and issues.

Gube is a unique style that combines approximately ten of the nation’s folk music traditions. It is often used generally to refer to any music of the country, but it most specifically refers to a unique style that fuses about ten of the country’s folk music traditions. Other prominent genres include tina and tinga, as well as ceremonial music used in funerals, initiations, and other ceremonies, as well as Balantabrosca and kussundé, Mandinga djambadon, and the Bissagos Islands’ kundere sound.

Residents living along the shore eat rice, whereas those living in the inland eat millet. Fruits and vegetables are often consumed in conjunction with cereal grains. The Portuguese promoted the cultivation of peanuts. Macrotyloma geocarpum (Hausa groundnut) and Vigna subterranea (Bambara groundnut) are also cultivated. The diet also includes black-eyed peas. The palm oil is being harvested.

Soups and stews are popular dishes. Yams, sweet potato, cassava, onion, tomato, and plantain are all common components. Aframomum melegueta seeds, as well as spices, peppers, and chilis, are used in cooking (Guinea pepper).

Flora Gomes is a well-known film director whose most well-known work is Nha Fala (English: My Voice). Mortu Nega (Death Denied) (1988), directed by Gomes, was Guinea-first Bissau’s fiction film and second feature film. (N’tturudu, directed by Umban u’Kest in 1987, was the first feature film.) Mortu Nega was awarded the coveted Oumarou Ganda Prize at FESPACO 1989. Mortu Nega is a Creole film with subtitles in English. Gomes directed Udju Azul di Yonta in 1992, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. Gomes has also served on the boards of directors for a number of African-themed film festivals.

Guinea-Bissau was originally a component of the Mali Empire’s kingdom of Gabu; portions of this kingdom lasted into the 18th century. The Portuguese believed other portions of the present country’s area to be part of their empire. The Slave Coast was the name given to Portuguese Guinea because it was a significant hub for the transportation of African slaves to the Western Hemisphere by Europeans.

Early European voyages to this region include those of Venetian Alvise Cadamosto in 1455, Flemish-French merchant Eustache de la Fosse in 1479–1480, and Diogo Co in 1479–1480. This Portuguese explorer reached the Congo River and the Bakongo regions in the 1480s, laying the foundations for modern Angola, which is located 4200 kilometers along the African coast from Guinea-Bissau.

Although the Portuguese conquered the rivers and shoreline of this region in the 16th century, they did not explore the interior until the 19th century. The inland trade was controlled by local African lords in Guinea, some of whom made a fortune from the slave trade. Europeans were not allowed into the interior. They housed them in fortified coastal towns where trade was conducted. African tribes fighting slave merchants were equally suspicious of European explorers and would-be immigrants. In Guinea, the Portuguese were mostly confined to the ports of Bissau and Cacheu. Along Bissau’s interior waterways, a tiny number of European immigrants built isolated farms.

The British attempted to create a competing foothold on an outlying island, Bolama, for a short time in the 1790s. However, by the 19th century, the Portuguese in Bissau had gained enough control of the surrounding coastline to consider it as their own unique region, which included parts of what is now South Senegal.

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), led by Amlcar Cabral, began an armed revolt in 1956 and progressively cemented its control over then-Portuguese Guinea. Unlike guerrilla movements in other Portuguese colonies, the PAIGC quickly expanded its military control over large swaths of the country, aided by the jungle-like terrain, easily accessible borderlines with allies, and large shipments of arms from Cuba, China, the Soviet Union, and left-leaning African countries. Cuba also promised to provide specialists in artillery, medics, and technicians. In order to protect itself against aerial assault, the PAIGC was able to develop a substantial anti-aircraft capacity. By 1973, the PAIGC had taken control of most of Guinea, but Cabral’s assassination in January of that year dealt a blow to the cause.

On September 24, 1973, the country proclaimed its independence independently. Following the socialist-inspired military revolution in Portugal on April 25, 1974, which toppled the Estado Novo government in Lisbon, recognition became universal.

Lus Cabral, Amlcar’s brother and a co-founder of PAIGC, was named Guinea-first Bissau’s president. Thousands of native Guinean troops who had fought with the Portuguese Army against insurgents were murdered by the PAIGC after independence. Some others fled to Portugal or other African countries. The town of Bissor was the scene of one of the massacres. Many Gueinean troops were killed and buried in unmarked communal graves in the forests of Cumerá, Portogole, and Mansabá, according to the PAIGC’s publication Nó Pintcha (November 29, 1980).

Until 1984, the nation was ruled by a revolutionary council. In 1994, the first multi-party elections were conducted. The Guinea-Bissau Civil War broke out in May 1998 after an army revolt, and the president was deposed in June 1999. In 2000, new elections were conducted, and Kumba Ialá was elected president.

A military coup was carried out in September 2003. Ialá was detained by the military for being “unable to address the issues.” Legislative elections were conducted in March 2004 after being postponed numerous times. In October 2004, a military mutiny culminated in the death of the chief of the armed forces and significant turmoil.

For the first time since Ialá’s deposition, presidential elections were conducted in June 2005. Ialá ran for the PRS again, claiming to be the country’s rightful president, but former president Joo Bernardo Vieira, who was ousted in the 1999 coup, won the election. In a runoff election, Vieira defeated Malam Bacai Sanhá. Sanhá originally refused to accept, alleging that election manipulation and fraud had happened in two districts, including Bissau’s capital.

Despite rumors of weapons entering the nation before to the election and several “disturbances” throughout the campaign, including unidentified gunmen attacking government buildings, foreign election observers characterized the 2005 election as “peaceful and orderly.”

PAIGC gained a significant legislative majority with 67 of 100 seats in the November 2008 parliamentary election, three years later. In November 2008, members of the armed forces assaulted President Vieira’s official home, killing one guard but leaving the president unhurt.

However, on March 2, 2009, Vieira was murdered by a gang of troops who, according to early accounts, were seeking vengeance for the death of General Batista Tagme Na Wai, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tagme was assassinated and killed in an explosion on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Military commanders in the nation have promised to uphold the country’s constitutional succession system. Interim President Raimundo Pereira was chosen by the National Assembly Speaker pending a national election on June 28, 2009. Malam Bacai Sanhá was the winner.

Members of the country’s military attempted a coup d’état on April 12, 2012, arresting the interim president and a prominent presidential contender. General Mamadu Ture Kuruma, a former deputy chief of staff, took leadership of the nation during the transitional phase and began talks with opposition groups.

Guinea-Bissau has one of the highest rates of petty and violent crime on the continent, which should not be overlooked, as well as a dysfunctional administration and a lack of law enforcement. A significant amount of drugs travels via isolated islands and airstrips en route from South America to Europe, and the nation is home to many drug lords. Since independence in 1974, there have been dozens of coups and attempted coups, as well as many murders of politicians and military leaders, and the country has never had an elected president finish a full 5-year term in office. The most recent coup took place in April 2012, after a failed coup attempt in 2011, the military’s house detention (and threat of death) of the prime minister in 2010, and the murder of the president by soldiers in 2009. (a day after a top military leader & rival of the president was killed by a bomb).

Stay away from any political protests and any military presence on the streets. Because many western countries do not have diplomatic representation in Guinea-Bissau, you will have a considerably more difficult time if you are arrested, imprisoned, or need consular help in an emergency.

Guinea-Bissau is a dangerous nation that the UN considers to be a significant drug smuggling port into Europe. The military is notorious for corruption, leading the UN Secretary-General to refer to the Air Force Chief as a drug lord.

The nation also boasts the world’s lowest per capita production and income, as well as the associated violence and crime.

White Europeans are particularly susceptible, and locals wanting to commit racial crime will target them. If it is suspected that white Europeans are involved in overseas assistance or are far-left activists, they are often left alone. Guinea-Bissau has experienced a number of Marxist governments, offering a refuge for Marxist radicals all over the globe.

There are no US or UK embassies. The US and UK embassies in Dakar, Senegal, are both accredited to the United Kingdom. Edifcio SITEC, Rua José Carlos Schwarz 245, Bairro d’Ajuda (tel. (245) 325-6382) is the US liaison.

Avoid nightclubs that aren’t connected to big hotels and don’t trust hotel safes.

Be prepared to pay a bribe if you are arrested. Bribing authorities directly, on the other hand, is not advised. Simply inquire whether they can pay the fee on your behalf since you are unfamiliar with customs processes. Then get out of the nation as quickly as possible.

You must be cautious with wildlife since it may be hazardous, and you must always respect the creatures. Feeding or touching an animal is not a good idea. Always remember to take only pictures, leave only footprints, and kill only time. Your vacation will be the best it can be if you have fun and stay safe.

Make sure you are up to date on your yellow fever, hepatitis A, tetanus, and typhoid vaccines before going. Malaria prophylaxis is strongly advised; contact a doctor for guidance on which kind to use.

HIV is common, as are the majority of other sexually transmitted illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States identified Guinea-Bissau as a hotspot for new HIV infections.

Consider vaccines for typhoid fever, hepatitis B, rabies, meningitis, and TB depending on the duration and purpose of your visit.

If you are bitten by a dog, cat, monkey, or bat, get medical attention as soon as possible, regardless of whether you have been vaccinated. Everyone requires post-exposure rabies prophylaxis, but if you’ve been vaccinated, you’ll need fewer vaccinations. Rabies can be avoided with vaccinations and immunoglubulin, but once symptoms appear, there is no treatment and the majority of people die.

When having sexual intercourse with new partners, always use a condom.

Make sure you only drink bottled or filtered water.