Country Facts - Guinea Bissau

The People

Nationality

Guinean (s)

Ethnic Composition

African	99%
Balanta	30%
Fula	20%
Manjaca	14%
Mandinga	13%
Papel	7%
Other	1%

Religious Composition

Indigenous beliefs	50%
Muslim	45%
Christian	5%

Languages Spoken

Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages.

Education and Literacy

Guinea-Bissau's overall adult literacy is around 53.9 percent. Among males it is 67.1 percent and females 40.7 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 480,000
By occupation:

Agriculture	82%
Other	18%

Geography

Land Mass Total

13,946 sq mi (36,120 sq km)

Land

10,810 sq mi (28,000 sq km)

Water

3,135 sq mi (8,120 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 449 mi (724 km)
Border countries: Guinea 239 mi (386 km), Senegal 210 mi (338 km)

Coastline

217 mi (350 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds.

Terrain

Mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east.

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country
984 ft (300 m)

Natural Resources

Fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum.

Land use

Arable land	11%
Permanent crops	2%
Other	87%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season. There is also a risk of brush fires.

Environment - current issues

Deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing.

Geography Note

This small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland.

Demographics

Population

1,345,479 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	41.9%	male 281,394	female 282,641
15-64 years:	55.2%	male 353,755	female 388,968
65 years and over:	2.9%	male 17,130	female 21,591

Growth Rate

2.23% (2002)

Life Expectancy

49.8 years (2002)
female: 52.2 years
male: 47.47 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$900 (2001)

Infant Mortality

108.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.79 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.94 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-1.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. 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-percent drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2001. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run.
The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development. A new four-month IMF program was put in place during April 2002, and the World Bank then decided to extend interim relief until the end of 2002. GDP growth figures for Guinea Bissau are notoriously unreliable, and any growth would appear to be dramatic since it would have to start from such a minimal point.

Unemployment

Current information not available.

Inflation Rate

5% (2001)

Industries

Agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks.

Exports

US$80 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports

US$55.2 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$1.2 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

India 51.4%, Italy 2.7%, South Korea 2.0%, Belgium 2.0% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Portugal 30%, Senegal 14.6%, Thailand 8.5%, China 5.7% (2000)

Top Exports

Cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber

Top Imports

Foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products

Debt - external

US$931 million (1999)

Economic aid

US$115.4 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year.

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	Friday 7:30a.m. to 2p.m.	Closed
Retail	7:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 2:30p.m. to 5:30p.m.	Closed
Banks	7:30a.m. to 2:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Death of Amilcar Cabral	January 20	January 20	January 20
International Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Assassination of Pidjiguiti	August 3	August 3	August 3
National Day	September 24	September 24	September 24
Movement of Readjustment Day	November 14	November 14	November 14
Christmas Day¹	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press