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Guinea Bissau Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Guinea Bissau
Official Name: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Capital: Bissau
Area: 36,120 square kilometres (13,946 square miles)
Major cities (Population)
Bissau 71,000 (1990 estimate)
Population: 1,073,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 2.1 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Government
The 100 members of the legislative National People’s Assembly are chosen by and from the members of eight directly elected regional councils. The president, who is executive head of state, is also elected by members of the regional councils. The capital city is Bissau. The voting age is 15.
Recent History
In 1952 the area of Guinea-Bissau was incorporated into Portuguese Guinea, which was made a province of Portugal. In 1955 Amílcar Lopes Cabral and others formed the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and, in 1961, led most ethnic groups in a guerrilla war against the Portuguese. By 1972 the PAIGC controlled most of the country (including Cape Verde) and held national elections. Independence was declared in September 1973 and was recognized by Portugal the following September.
Luís de Almeida Cabral, the country’s first president, ruled until 1980, when he was overthrown in a coup led by João Bernardo Vieira. The formal union between Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, which had been agreed upon only a few days before, was discontinued as the Cape Verde government opposed the coup, although normal relations were restored several years later. In 1984 the prime minister was dismissed, and constitutional changes strengthening the power of the president were introduced. Vieira was re-elected in 1986 and 1989 under the existing one-party system. After pressure for change, Guinea-Bissau’s first multi-party elections were finally held in 1994. The PAIGC won a majority in the legislature, and, after an inconclusive first round, Vieira won the second round of the presidential election.
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