| Republic of Guinea-Bissau National name: Républica da
Guiné-Bissau President:
João Bernardo Vieira (2005) Prime
Minister: Martinho Ndafa Kabi (2007)
Current government officials
Land area: 10,811 sq mi (28,000 sq km);
total area: 13,946 sq mi (36,120 sq km) Population (2008 est.): 1,503,182 (growth
rate: 2.0%); birth rate: 36.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 101.6/1000;
life expectancy: 47.5; density per sq mi: 53
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Bissau, 296,900 Monetary unit: CFA Franc
Languages:
Portuguese (official), Criolo, African
languages
Ethnicity/race:
African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%,
Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 50%, Islam 45%, Christian
5%
National Holiday:
Independence Day, September 24 Literacy rate: 42.4% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$808 million; per capita $500. Real growth rate: 2.5%.
Inflation: 3.8%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land:
8%. Agriculture: rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew
nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish. Labor force:
480,000 (1999); agriculture 82%, industry and services 18% (2000
est.). Industries: agricultural products processing, beer, soft
drinks. Natural resources: fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite,
clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum.
Exports: $133 million f.o.b. (2006): cashew nuts, shrimp,
peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber. Imports: $200 million
f.o.b. (2006): foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment,
petroleum products. Major trading partners: Pakistan, Nigeria,
Italy, Senegal, Portugal (2006). Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 10,200 (2005); mobile cellular: 95,000 (2005). Radio broadcast
stations: AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0
(2002). Television broadcast stations: n.a. (2005). Internet
hosts: 0 (2007). Internet users: 37,000 (2006). Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: 3,455 km; paved: 965 km; unpaved: 2,490 km
(2002). Waterways: rivers are navigable for some distance; many
inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior
(2007). Ports and harbors: Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim.
Airports: 27 (2007). International
disputes:attempts to stem refugees and cross-border raids, arms
smuggling, and political instability from a separatist movement in
Senegal's Casamance region.
Major sources and definitions
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