Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau

BissauVote Situation Room Data Team Training at the Casa Di Diretos

BissauVote Situation Room Data Team Training at the Casa Di Diretos

Guinea-Bissau (English: /ˌɡɪni_bᵻˈs/ ; Portuguese: Guiné-Bissau; Fula: ???? ???????;Mandinka: Gine-Bisawo), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese: República da Guiné-Bissau Portuguese: [ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ ðɐ ɣiˈnɛ βiˈsaw]), is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast. Guinea-Bissau is the only Portuguese-speaking country in which Islam is the predominant religion.

Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Kaabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire. Parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were under some rule by the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. In the 19th century, it was colonised as Portuguese Guinea. Portuguese control was restricted and weak until the early 20th century with the pacification campaigns, these campaigns solidified Portuguese sovereignty in the area. The final Portuguese victory over the remaining bastion of mainland resistance, the Papel ruled Kingdom of Bissau in 1915 by the Portuguese military office Teixeira Pinto, and recruited Wolof mercenary Abdul Injai was the event to solidify mainland control. The Bissagos, islands off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, were officially conquered in 1936, ensuring Portuguese control of both the mainland and islands of the region. Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with Guinea (formerly French Guinea). Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since independence, and only one elected president (José Mário Vaz) has successfully served a full five-year term. The current president is Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who was elected on 29 December 2019.

Only about 2% of the population speaks Portuguese, the official language, as a first language, and 33% speak it as a second language. However, Guinea-Bissau Creole, a Portuguese-based creole, is the national language and also considered the language of unity. According to a 2012 study, 54% of the population speak Creole as a first language and about 40% speak it as a second language. The remainder speak a variety of native African languages. The nation is home to numerous followers of Islam, Christianity and traditional faiths, though no single religious group represents a majority of the population. The country's per-capita gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world.

Guinea-Bissau is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Community of Portuguese Language Countries, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, and was a member of the now-defunct Latin Union.

History

Pre-European contact

People and society

Archaeology has insufficiently explained the Guinea-Bissau pre-history. In 1000 AD, there were hunter-gatherers in the area, hundreds of thousands of years after they traversed the rest of Africa. This was shortly followed, in the archaeological record, by agriculturists using iron tools.

Guinea Bissau has always been connected to the interior, trade routes connected Guinea Bissau to the Sudanese states (p. 18). Megaliths discovered in Guinea Bissau sharing similarity with rock paintings in the Sahara detailed with horses and camels, and ancient gold workings (p. 19).

The population originated from the interior, pushed coastal by the Sudanese states (p.19, 25). The oldest inhabitants of were the Jolas, Papels, Manjaks, Balantas, Biafadas, and Bijagos later on the Mandinka and Fulani migrated into the region (p. 20). The Mandinka migrated in mass around the 13th century, result of the invasion and incorporation of Senegambia into the Mali Empire by General Tiramakhan Troare, also responsible for the establishment of Kaabu as a province of Mali. A small number of Mandinka were present in the region as early as the 11th century with hunters, fishermen, and traders migrating into the Senegambia. Accepted by the locals and beginning a process of 'Mandinkization' (p. 6). The Fulani arrived as early as the 12th century as semi-nomadic herders, in the 15th century their population increased.

The Papels inhabited the Biombo region, Balanta the Oio region, Manjaks the Cacheu region, Mandinka overlap in north east Oio but are mainly in the Bafata region, Biafada the Quinara region, Bijagos the Bijagos, and Fulani in Gabu, though Mandinka and Fulani overlap with each other. (p. 23). The Manjaks and Papels are intelligible resulting in European sources labelling Manjaks as Buramos/Papels (p. 6).

In terms of societal structures the Mandinka, Fula, Papel, Manjak, and Biafada possessed highly stratified structures. The Balanta had no institution of kingship based on property, authority, or power with instead an emphasis on heads of villages and families present. The Jola possessed kings but no clear institutions of kingship, of which mirrored the Balanta with emphasis on heads of families (p. 64). Those with societal stratification followed the design of provinces with chiefs, and chiefs in allegiance to kings. The Biafada had three kingdoms with multiple chieftains under the king, and Papels in Bissau the same structure (p. 65). Kingship varied in terms of customs, rites, coronation, and ceremonies (pp. 66, 67). The Portuguese observed these societies holding courts with officials, such as 'mayors', 'governors', 'ambassadors', and 'generals' (p. 68). The society was divided into the hierarchy of kings, chiefs, nobles, and commoners (p. 73). Law of the land was the kings law and administration of the law was done through the king and his judges, judges all coming from the nobility (p. 227). Those of the nobility were the only ones with the ability to make claim to the throne, or other high positions of power in the kingdoms (pp. 74–76). Additionally, the stratification was seen in the clothing and accessories of the people with the poor wearing grass skirts, the better off animal skin usually from goatskin, kings and nobles shirts and trousers made of cotton. An iron ring with bells to give commands was worn by kings and nobles, a drum called bombalon used for communication was in the hands of the kings and nobles due to the financing of these specially trained bombalon players. Differences were seen in the houses with better construction material available for kings and nobles. The few horses there were owned by kings and nobles, while common people used castrated oxen for transportation (pp. 77, 78). Private property was instituted amongst the Mandinka, Fula, Papel, Manjaks, and Biafadas in Guinea Bissau. However, the Balanta were distinct in that the Balantas owned parcels of land, labour was through the use of reciprocation through the reward of land they worked on. The others contrasted the Balanta, as land development was in the hands of those who could afford the necessary labour, and land was not administered to labourers as a form of payment (p. 75).

Inter-ethnic relations was mainly in trade, the Balantas possessed the best agricultural techniques, leading the Beafada and Papels to be reliant on Balanta produce. Balanta unwillingness to trade with Europeans meant goods reached Europeans through the Papel and Beafada and vice versa (p. 69). Items traded amongst the region were as such, Biafadas traded pepper and kola nuts from the southern forests, the Papel, Felupe, and Banhun traded kola nuts, iron, and iron utensils from the savannah-forest zone, coastal regions provided salt and dried fish, the Mandinka themselves produced cotton cloth (p. 4). The products were commonly sold on markets and fairs held weekly acting as both commercial and social functions, held usually in the lands of the Papel and Beafada open to the public on certain days of the week or every eight days (p. 69). Markets typically opened up on the morning of the day, and finished in the evening to be repeated the week after, weapons were prohibited in the market place and soldiers were positioned around the area to keep order throughout the day (p. 70). Markets and fairs could be attended by up to several thousand buyers and sellers from as far as 60 miles away, the organisation went as such, sections of the market would be allocated for specific products except for wine which could be sold anywhere, the exception for wine vendors highlighted the markets social function (p.70).

A culture of naval navigation was integral due the river systems of Guinea Bissau, canoes were routinely used to navigate riverways. The canoes importance were highlighted in a local proverb used in the region: "the blood of kings and the tears of the canoe-maker are sacred things which must not touch the ground" (pp. 42–44). Canoes varied in size with the smallest fit for one man, to those that could carry 60 men, in the region only Bijago canoes were deemed sea-worthy (pp. 42, 43). The Jolas used one man canoes to travel their flooded rice fields, and the Bijagos preferred large canoes to carry their troops to the mainland in coastal raids (p. 42). The construction of canoes varied in the region, in the forest regions canoes tended to be imported from other ethnical groups who had specialties in its construction, the Jola would employ Mandinka boatbuilders for theirs (p. 43).Description of the canoes used in this region was made by British explorer John Hawkins:

"Fashioned from a single trunk the final proportions were 24 x 3 feet, with a prow in the form of a beak, a proportionately raised stem, and an exterior artistically carved and painted blue. Each held about twenty to thirty men, but the active crew comprised a helmsman and four rowers, using very long oars with relatively small blades," (p. 42).

The construction and design of these canoes was diverse, the Bijagos being the best canoes were described as:

"hewn from the giant silk cotton tree, …

Text taken from Wikipedia - Guinea-Bissau under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 on April 14, 2023

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