ACOG - Guinea-Bissau  - IBM

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guineaand Senegal

Area:
total area: 36,120 sq km
land area: 28,000 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries: total 724 km, Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km

Coastline: 350 km


People

Population: 1,124,537 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (female 242,518; male 243,093)
15-64 years: 54% (female 320,987; male 286,308)
65 years and over: 3% (female 16,129; male 15,502)

Population growth rate: 2.36% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 40.24 births/1,000 population

Death rate: 16.62 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate: 117.9 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 47.87 years
male: 46.21 years
female: 49.57 years

Total fertility rate: 5.43 children born/woman

Ethnic divisions: African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel7%), European and mulatto less than 1%

Religions: indigenous beliefs 65%, Muslim 30%, Christian 5%

Languages: Portuguese (official), Criolo, African languages

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 36%
male: 50%
female: 24%


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau

Type: republic, formerly highly centralized, multiparty since mid-1991

Capital: Bissau

Independence: 10 September 1974 (from Portugal)

Constitution: 16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991 (currently undergoing revision to liberalize popular participation in the government)


Economy

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $900 million

National product real growth rate: 2.9%

National product per capita: $840

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 55%

Unemployment rate:

Electricity:
capacity: 22,000 kW
production: 40 million kWh
consumption per capita: 37 kWh



Olympic Factoid
Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park.