Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau
local short form: Guine-Bissau
local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau
former: Portuguese Guinea
Government type:
republic, multiparty since mid-1991
Capital:
Bissau
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 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10
September 1974 (recognized by 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 1996
Legal system:
NA
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Henrique ROSA (interim; since 28
September 2003); note - a September 2003 coup overthrough the
elected government of Kumba YALA; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA
served as interim president from 14 to 28 September 2003
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election last held 28 November 1999 and 16 January 2000 (next to be
held NA 2004); prime minister appointed by the president after
consultation with party leaders in the legislature
note: a bloodless coup led to the dissolution of the elected
government of Kumba YALA in September 2003; General Verissimo
Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 September 2003
until stepping aside on 28 September 2003 with the establishment of
a caretaker government
election results: Kumba YALA elected president; percent of vote,
second ballot - Kumba YALA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28%
cabinet: NA
head of government: Prime Minister Artur SANHA (since 28 September
2003)
Legislative branch:
unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional
Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve a
maximum of four years); note - President YALA dissolved the National
People's Assembly in November 2002, elections for a new legislature
were scheduled to fall in February 2003 but were then postponed to
April, then July, and were last scheduled to occur in September 2003
elections: last held 28 November 1999 (next to be held NA September
2003)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
PRS 37, RGB 27, PAIGC 25, 11 remaining seats went to 5 of the
remaining 10 parties that fielded candidates
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine
justices who are 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 over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not
necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and
misdemeanor criminal cases)
Political parties and leaders:
African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde
or PAIGC [Francisco BENANTE]; Front for the Liberation and
Independence of Guinea or FLING [Francois MENDY]; Guinea-Bissau
Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Helder Vaz LOPES]; Guinean
Civic Forum or FCG [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; International League for
Ecological Protection or LIPE [Alhaje Bubacar DJALO, president];
National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Abubacer BALDE,
secretary general]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor
MANDINGA]; Social Renovation Party or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Union for
Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary
general]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Victor Sau'de
MARIA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt
(signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique
Adriano DA SILVA
chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 519, Washington, DC 20005
FAX: [1] (202) 347-3954
telephone: [1] (202) 347-3950
Diplomatic representation from the US:
the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of
violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and
military-led junta; for the time being, US embassy Dakar is
responsible for covering Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4296;
FAX - [221] 822-5903
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a
vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed
star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors
of Ethiopia