GUINEA-BISSAU

officially Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Portuguese Repblica da Guin-Bissau, formerly (until 1974) Portuguese Guinea, small country of western Africa. The capital is Bissau. The Bijags (Bissagos) Archipelago, lying off the Atlantic coast to the southwest, also forms part of the country. Its two neighbours are Senegal to the north and Guinea to the east and south. Area 13,948 square miles (36,125 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) 983,367; (1997 est.) 1,179,000. officially Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Portuguese Repblica da Guin-Bissau, formerly (until 1974) Portuguese Guinea country of western Africa. It is bounded by Senegal to the north, by Guinea to the east and south, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Including the Bijags (Bissagos) Archipelago and other islands lying off the coast, the total area is 13,948 square miles (36,125 square kilometres). The capital is Bissau. Additional reading For contemporary settlement and production patterns, Anne-Marie Hochet, Paysanneries en attente (1983), is unequaled. Economic and political studies include Rosemary E. Galli, The Political Economy of Guinea-Bissau, Africa, 59(3):371380 (1989); and Carlos Lopes, Guinea-Bissau (1987). Works on the war for national independence include Lus Cabral, Crnica da libertao (1984); Lars Rudebeck, Guinea-Bissau: A Study of Political Mobilization (1974); and Stephanie Urdang, Fighting Two Colonialisms: Women in Guinea-Bissau (1979). Richard Lobban and Joshua Forrest, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, 2nd ed. (1988), is a useful introduction. A comprehensive historical and contemporary survey through 1986 is Rosemary E. Galli and Jocelyn Jones, Guinea-Bissau (1987). A. Teixeira Da Mota, Guin Portuguesa, 2 vol. (1954), is the standard work on the colonial period, with English and French summaries at the end of both volumes. Other histories include Joo Barreto, Histria da Guin, 14181918 (1938); and Walter Rodney, A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 15451800 (1970, reprinted 1982). See also Rosemary E. Galli, Guinea-Bissau (1990), an annotated bibliography. Rosemary Elizabeth Galli David Birmingham Administration and social conditions Government Guinea-Bissau is divided administratively into eight regies (regions), 37 sectores (sectors), and the autonomous sector of Bissau. The most basic unit of government is the village or neighbourhood committee; it is also the basic unit of the party apparatus. These units are linked with committees at section, sector, and regional levels that respond to the national levels of government and the party. A new provincial level of government has been inserted between the regional and national levels. The highest authority of government is the 150-member National People's Assembly or, when not in session, the Council of State. The supreme authority of the party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), is its congress and, in the interim, the political bureau. Education The government has concerned itself with providing a compulsory universal basic education consisting of six years. For those children who show scholastic promise there are five years of secondary education. There are schools for teacher training, nursing, and vocational training. Only some two-fifths of school-age children attend school, however, and adult illiteracy remains high. Cultural life Cultural life in Guinea-Bissau is mainly organized by the government. A state radio station exists, and an experimental television program is run in conjunction with the Portuguese broadcasting system. The government publishes its own newspaper, N Pintcha. The National Institute of Studies and Research (INEP) sponsors social and scientific investigation and publishes Soronda, a journal of Guinean studies. The national arts institute maintains a school of music and dance and sponsors frequent concerts. There is a public library and museum. Rosemary Elizabeth Galli