Capital: Bissau
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal (slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut)
Registration Embassy and Consulate:
The U.S. Embassy in Guinea-Bissau remains closed. U.S. citizens who plan to enter Guinea-Bissau despite the Travel Warning are encouraged to register with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy at Avenue Jean XXIII, Dakar, Senegal. The mailing address is B.P. 49, Dakar, Senegal. The telephone number is (221)823-4296 and fax (221)822-5903. The e-mail address is consulardakar@state.gov.
Background:
In 1994, 20 years after independence from Portugal, the country's first multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held. An army uprising that triggered a bloody civil war in 1998, created hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The president was ousted by a military junta in May 1999. An interim government turned over power in February 2000 when opposition leader Koumba YALLA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy will be complicated by a crippled economy devastated by civil war and the military's predilection for governmental meddling.
Ethnic Groups:
African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%
Language:
Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
Currency:
XOF; GWP
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States; previously the Guinea-Bissau peso (GWP) was used
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.4 (March 2007), 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); Guinea-Bissauan pesos per US dollar - 26,373 (1996)
note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc as the national currency; since 1 January 1999, the CFA franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro
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
Population:
1,315,822 (July 2001 est.)
Religion:
Indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5%
