The Republic of Guinea-Bissau lies on the coast of West Africa, bordering Senegal in the north and Guinea on the east and south, though it also includes the Bijagós (Bissagos) archipelago and other islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The country has a population just over 1.3 million (2002), and its capital is the city of Bissau. Guinea-Bissau is divided into 9 administrative regions: Bafatá, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabú, Oio, Quinara, and Tombali.

Guineans generally belong to five major ethnic groups: Balante, Fulani, Mandjack, Mandinka, and Papel, plus a small European minority. About half of Guinea-Bissau's population adheres to indigenous beliefs, 45% are Muslim, and the remaining 5% or so are Christian. Portuguese is the country's official language, but Crioulo, a Portuguese criole, and other West African languages are widely spoken.

Early History

Iron-using agriculturists occupied the coast of Guinea-Bissau for more than a thousand years and were especially skilled in the production of rice and sea salt, which they supplied to adjacent areas. Beginning in the 13th century, Guinean coastal farmers increasingly came into contact with other nations further inside the continent, with the earliest recorded external influences coming from the dissolution of the Ghanaian empire when refugees arrived en masse near the coast. The region was later loosely drawn into the sphere of the Mali empire, and regional governors (farims) were appointed to maintain allegiance to the Mande ruler.

Colonial History

The Portuguese arrived in 1446 and the area that was to become Guinea-Bissau became Portuguese Guinea. Guinea played a crucial role in the colonization of the Cape Verde Islands, and slave labour was used to establish cotton plantations and a weaving industry there. Most of the cloth produced by the slaves would be used on the African mainland to purchase even more slaves destined primarily for Brazil. By the 16th century, Portuguese Guinea became a major source of slaves, and wars with the Mande-speaking peoples of the north greatly increased the number of prisoners available for export. While the slave trade was the focus of the region's economy, Guineans had little difficulty in preventing or restricting the territorial claims of foreign powers: two additional Portuguese trading posts established in 1588 and 1687 failed to survive, and the British lost a briefly-held settlement in Bolama in 1792. Eventually, the Portuguese managed to reestablish a base at Bissau and came to regard the region as its sovereign territory during the 19th century.

The British and the French disputed Portugal's territorial claim to the coast of Guinea, which led to long negotiations throughout the remainder of the 19th century. Once the boundaries were settled by 1905, the Portuguese began to impose stronger colonial rule through "pacification" campaigns led by João Teixeira Pinto between 1913 and 1915. These wars were followed by decades of relatively peaceful Portuguese administration, but with the rise of African nationalism following World War II and the independence of neighbouring territories, Guineans began to challenge their Portuguese rulers. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), led by Amílcar Cabral, was formed in 1956, and guerilla attacks on Portuguese administrative and military posts were mounted in July 1961. Although the guerillas were unable to occupy the coastal towns or river ports, they firmly established themselves in the interior by 1971, especially in the areas adjacent to Senegal and Guinea. Amílcar Cabral was assassinated in 1973, and a military stalemate led to negotiations with Portugal that would result in independence for the country on September 10, 1974.

Post-Colonial History

Cabral's brother, Luís de Almeida Cabral, became president of the newly-renamed and independent Republic of Guinea-Bissau, but the single-party regime was weak due to lingering support for the Portuguese. Tensions between the Creolized Cape Verdean middle class and the poorer indigenous population of the Guinean coast rose sharply and eventually led to the 1980 coup in which João Bernardo Vieira was brought to power. The new regime opposed unification with Cape Verde, but relations were normalized between the two countries in 1983. Throughout the 1980s, the new regime was characterized by purgings of political enemies and the suppression of dissent, but economic and health reforms were also introduced. Unfortunately, despite the government's efforts, Guinea-Bissau still had to rely on foreign aid to make up its enormous deficits.

In 1991, the national assembly instituted a multiparty system, ending the PAIGC's sole legal party status. Vieira was elected president in the country's first free elections in 1994, but an army mutiny that began in 1998 would eventually end his term in office. Despite the intervention of Senegal and Guinea on Viera's behalf, the military successfully ousted the president in May 1999 and installed Malam Bacai Sanhá as interim president. In December of the same year, two opposition parties won a parliamentary majority and opposition candidate Kumba Ialá (Kumba Yalla) was elected president in January 2000. Yet another military coup was attempted in November 2000, allegedly by Gen. Ansumane Mane, but it was crushed and Mane was killed.

2003.09.15 Catchpole says re Guinea-Bissau: the army has seized power today again - President Kumba Yala is under arrest according to BBC

More information here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3109648.stm