BOLAMA

port town, on the northeast side of Bolama Island, Guinea-Bissau. Bolama Island and town lie between mainland Guinea and the Bijags Archipelago. The town served as the capital of Portuguese Guinea until 1941, when it was replaced by Bissau. In the late 1860s the island was claimed by Britain, but President Ulysses S. Grant of the United States, acting as arbitrator, awarded the island to Portugal. Since the 1940s the town has declined in importance and population. Pop. (1979) 3,332.