highest 10%: 41% (2006)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
38.1 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
22.9% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
11.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $375 million
expenditures: $802.3 million (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:
rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber
Industries:
bauxite, gold, diamonds, iron; alumina refining; light manufacturing, and agricultural processing
Industrial production growth rate:
7.6% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
840 million kWh
note: excludes electricity generated at interior mining sites (2006)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 45.5%
hydro: 54.5%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
832.9 million kWh (2006)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2006)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2006)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - consumption:
9,650 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:
8,481 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance:
-$433 million (2007 est.)
Exports:
$894 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products
Exports - partners:
Russia 11.6%, Ukraine 9.6%, Spain 9%, South Korea 8.8%, France 7.7%, US 7.7%, Germany 5.4%, Ireland 5.1% (2006)
Imports:
$936 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
China 8.6%, France 8%, Netherlands 4.8%, Belgium 4.4% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$182.1 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$122 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$3.307 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA
Currency (code):
Guinean franc (GNF)
Currency code:
GNF
Exchange rates:
Guinean francs per US dollar - 4,122.8 (2007), 5,350 (2006), 3,644.3 (2005), 2,225 (2004), 1,984.9 (2003)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Guinea
Telephones - main lines in use:
26,300 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
189,000 (2005)
Telephone system:
general assessment: inadequate system of open-wire lines, small radiotelephone communication stations, and new microwave radio relay system
domestic: Conakry reasonably well served; coverage elsewhere remains inadequate and large companies tend to rely on their own systems for nationwide links; combined fixed and mobile-cellular teledensity is about 2 per 100 persons
international: country code - 224; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 0, FM 5, shortwave 3 (2006)
Radios:
357,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
6 (2001)
Televisions:
85,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.gn
Internet hosts:
173 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
4 (2001)
Internet users:
50,000 (2006)
Transportation Guinea
Airports:
16 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 2 (2007)
Railways:
total: 837 km
standard gauge: 175 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 662 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 44,348 km
paved: 4,342 km
unpaved: 40,006 km (2003)
Waterways:
1,300 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) (2005)
Ports and terminals:
Conakry, Kamsar
Military Guinea
Military branches:
Armed Forces: Army, Navy (Marine Guineenne, includes Marines), Air Force, Presidential Guard (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 2,230,049
females age 16-49: 2,193,236 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 1,268,193
females age 16-49: 1,259,913 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.7% (2006)
Transnational Issues Guinea
Disputes - international:
conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in neighboring states have spilled over into Guinea, resulting in domestic instability; Sierra Leone considers Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers excessive and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands, including the hamlet of Yenga, occupied since 1998
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 21,856 (Liberia); 5,259 (Sierra Leone); 3,900 (Cote d'Ivoire)
IDPs: 19,000 (cross-border incursions from Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Guinea is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the majority of victims are children, and internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking; within the country, girls are trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, while boys are trafficked for forced agricultural labor, and as forced beggars, street vendors, shoe shiners, and laborers in gold and diamond mines; some Guinean men are also trafficked for agricultural labor within Guinea; transnationally, girls are trafficked into Guinea for domestic servitude and likely also for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Guinea is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking over 2006; Guinea demonstrated minimal law enforcement efforts for a second year in a row, while protection efforts diminished over efforts in 2006; the government did not report any trafficking convictions in 2007; due to a lack of resources, the government does not provide shelter services for trafficking victims; the government took no measures to reduce the demand for commercial sexual exploitation (2008)
This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008
The World Factbook
Guinea-Bissau
Introduction Guinea-Bissau
Background:
Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA, after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim president. In 2005, former President VIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation.
Geography Guinea-Bissau
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Geographic coordinates:
12 00 N, 15 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 36,120 sq km
land: 28,000 sq km
water: 8,120 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries:
total: 724 km
border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km
Coastline:
350 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
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 m
highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
Natural resources:
fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum
Land use:
arable land: 8.31%
permanent crops: 6.92%
other: 84.77% (2005)
Irrigated land:
250 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
31 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic / industrial / agricultural):
total: 0.18 cu km/yr (13%/5%/82%)
per capita: 113 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying inland
People Guinea-Bissau
Population:
1,503,182 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41% (male 307,353/female 308,726)
15-64 years: 55.9% (male 404,747/female 436,245)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 18,819/female 27,292) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 19.2 years
male: 18.6 years
female: 19.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.035% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
36.4 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
16.05 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 101.64 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 111.74 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 91.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 47.52 years
male: 45.71 years
female: 49.39 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.72 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
10% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
17,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,200 (2001 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Guinean(s)
adjective: Guinean
Ethnic groups:
African 99% (includes Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5%
Languages:
Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42.4%
male: 58.1%
female: 27.4% (2003 est.)
Government Guinea-Bissau
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau
local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau
local short form: Guine-Bissau
former: Portuguese Guinea
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Bissau
geographic coordinates: 11 51 N, 15 35 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos
Independence:
24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (from Portugal)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 24 September (1973)
Constitution:
16 May 1984; amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and in 1996
Legal system:
based on French civil law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA (since 1 October 2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Martinho N'Dafa CABI (since 9 April 2007)
cabinet: NA
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 24 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature
election results: Joao Bernardo VIEIRA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Joao Bernardo VIEIRA 52.4%, Malam Bacai SANHA 47.6%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held 16 November 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2%; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at more than $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases valued at less than $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)