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Guinea-Bissau
built 606 days ago
Guinea-Bissau is one of the world's poorest nations. Farming and fishing are the leading occupations; cashew nuts are the main cash crop, and rice, corn, beans, cassava, and cotton are grown for domestic use. The country's mineral resources, including phosphates, bauxite, granite, and limestone, are largely unexploited; ... prospecting for offshore petroleum deposits has begun. Industrial activity is mostly limited to the processing of agricultural products. Cashew nuts are by far the largest export; fish, seafood, peanuts, palm kernels, and timber are also exported. Imports include foodstuffs, machinery, transportation equipment, and petroleum products.
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The national radio broadcasting station in Guinea-Bissau is Radio Nacional. Private radio stations are few in number but include Radio Mavegro, a commercial station that ... broadcasts some programs produced by the British Broadcasting Company's World Service, Radio Bombolom FM, and Radio Pidjiquiti. In October 2001 Attorney General N'Tchama accused the latter two private and very popular radio stations of irregularly handling "their administrative and legal situation" and threatened to close them down. However, the two stations were allowed to continue to operate—because of their usefulness to the government in broadcasting news and also because of their great popularity, according to some local journalists.
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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.
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Guinea-Bissau, on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, has a swampy coast, with forests changing to grasslands in the east. Guerrilla warfare liberated a mix of ethnic groups from Portuguese rule in 1974. In 1994 the country's first multiparty elections were held. An army uprising four years later led to a bloody 1998-99 civil war, which caused severe damage to the nation's infrastructure. Political instability continued with a military coup in 2003. Guinea-Bissau is among the world's least developed countries, with most people engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing—cashew nuts are the main export crop.
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Guinea-Bissau was once the kingdom of Gab�, part of the Mali Empire; parts of the kingdom subsisted until the 18th century. Though the rivers and coast of this area were among the first places colonized by the Portuguese, and they began the slave trade in the 17th century, they did not explore the interior until the 19th century. A rebellion beginning in 1956 by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) consolidated its hold on the country by 1973. Independence came with the Portuguese revolution of 1974. The country was controlled by a revolutionary council until 1984. The first multi-party elections were held in 1994, but an army uprising in 1998 led to the president's ouster and a bloody civil war.
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Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable upheaval. The founding government consisted of a single party system and command economy. In 1980, a military coup established Joao VIEIRA as president and a path to a market economy and multiparty system was implemented. A number of coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him and in 1994 he was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military coup attempt and civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIERA's ouster in 1999. In February 2000, an interim government turned over power when opposition leader Kumba YALA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections.
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Guinea-Bissau