Guinea-Bissau Facts, Guinea-Bissau Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 1,586,000
Capital:: Bissau; 336,000
Area:: 36,125 square kilometers (13,948 square miles)
Language:: Portuguese, Crioulo, African languages
Religion:: Indigenous beliefs, Muslim, Christian
Currency:: CFA franc
Life Expectancy:: 45
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $700
Literacy Percent:: 42

Guinea-Bissau, on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, has a swampy coast, with forests changing to grasslands in the east. Guerrilla warfare liberated a mix of ethnic groups from Portuguese rule in 1974. In 1994 the country's first multiparty elections were held. An army uprising four years later led to a bloody 1998-99 civil war, which caused severe damage to the nation's infrastructure. Political instability continued with a military coup in 2003. Guinea-Bissau is among the world's least developed countries, with most people engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing—cashew nuts are the main export crop.

ECONOMY

Industry: Agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks
Agriculture: Rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca); timber; fish
Exports: Cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

Related Features

Fongoli Chimps

On the savannas of Senegal, chimpanzees are hunting bush babies with spearlike sticks, offering clues to our own evolution.
Misjudged Hyenas

Behind the snarl lies a cagey opportunist, proficient hunter, and dutiful parent.
Hip Hop Culture

Whether you trace it to New York's South Bronx or the villages of West Africa, hip-hop has become the voice of a generation.