Main page Compare countries Index countries Index fields

Query:
##ciekawa_strona##

Compare Guinea-Bissau (2001) - British Virgin Islands (2002)

Compare Guinea-Bissau (2001) z British Virgin Islands (2002)

 Guinea-Bissau (2001)British Virgin Islands (2002)
 Guinea-BissauBritish Virgin Islands
Administrative divisions 9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos none (overseas territory of the UK)
Age structure 0-14 years:
42.09% (male 276,312; female 277,536)

15-64 years:
55.05% (male 344,493; female 379,889)

65 years and over:
2.86% (male 16,850; female 20,742) (2001 est.)
0-14 years: 22.4% (male 2,401; female 2,351)


15-64 years: 72.7% (male 7,962; female 7,509)


65 years and over: 4.9% (male 565; female 484) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports 29 (2000 est.) 3 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways total:
3

over 3,047 m:
1

1,524 to 2,437 m:
1

914 to 1,523 m:
1 (2000 est.)
total: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 1


under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways total:
26

1,524 to 2,437 m:
1

914 to 1,523 m:
4

under 914 m:
21 (2000 est.)
total: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002)
Area total:
36,120 sq km

land:
28,000 sq km

water:
8,120 sq km
total: 153 sq km


land: 153 sq km


water: 0 sq km


note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada
Area - comparative slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
Background In 1994, 20 years after independence from Portugal, the country's first multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held. An army uprising that triggered a bloody civil war in 1998, created hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The president was ousted by a military junta in May 1999. An interim government turned over power in February 2000 when opposition leader Koumba YALLA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy will be complicated by a crippled economy devastated by civil war and the military's predilection for governmental meddling. First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate 39.29 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) 15.09 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget revenues:
$NA

expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
revenues: $121.5 million


expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997)
Capital Bissau Road Town
Climate tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline 350 km 80 km
Constitution 16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996 1 June 1977
Country name conventional long form:
Republic of Guinea-Bissau

conventional short form:
Guinea-Bissau

local long form:
Republica da Guine-Bissau

local short form:
Guine-Bissau

former:
Portuguese Guinea
conventional long form: none


conventional short form: British Virgin Islands


abbreviation: BVI
Currency Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States; previously the Guinea-Bissau peso (GWP) was used US dollar (USD)
Death rate 15.33 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external $964 million (1998 est.) $36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status - overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
Diplomatic representation from the US the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission:
Ambassador Mario LOPES DA ROSA

chancery:
Suite 519, 1511 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

telephone:
[1] (202) 347-3950

FAX:
[1] (202) 347-3954
none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international none none
Economic aid - recipient $115.4 million (1995) NA
Economy - overview One of the 20 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2000. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption 51.2 million kWh (1999) 39.1 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (1999) 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (1999) 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - production 55 million kWh (1999) 42 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel:
100%

hydro:
0%

nuclear:
0%

other:
0% (1999)
fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (1999)
Elevation extremes lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point:
unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m


highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
Environment - current issues deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
Environment - international agreements party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
-
Ethnic groups African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1% black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed
Exchange rates Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); Guinea-Bissauan pesos per US dollar - 26,373 (1996)

note:
as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc as the national currency; since 1 January 1999, the CFA franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro
the US dollar is used
Executive branch chief of state:
President Koumba YALLA (since 18 February 2000)

head of government:
Prime Minister Faustino IMBALI (since 20 March 2001)

cabinet:
NA

elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 28 November 1999 and 16 January 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature

election results:
Koumba YALLA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Koumba YALLA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28%
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002)


head of government: Chief Minister Ralph T. O'NEAL (since 15 May 1995)


cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council


elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor
Exports $80 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) $6.2 million
Exports - commodities cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber (1996) rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners India 59%, Singapore 12%, Italy 10% (1998) Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Fiscal year calendar year 1 April - 31 March
Flag description two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $311 million (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture:
54%

industry:
15%

services:
31% (1997 est.)
agriculture: 2%


industry: 6%


services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 7.6% (2000 est.) 4.4% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates 12 00 N, 15 00 W 18 30 N, 64 30 W
Geography - note - strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Highways total:
4,400 km

paved:
453 km

unpaved:
3,947 km (1996)
total: 177 km


paved: 177 km


unpaved: 0 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%:
0.5%

highest 10%:
42.4% (1991)
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs - transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center
Imports $55.2 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) $230 million (2000 est.)
Imports - commodities foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products (1996) building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners Portugal 26%, France 8%, Senegal 8%, Netherlands 7% (1998) Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Independence 24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal) none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate 2.6% (1997 est.) 4% (1985)
Industries agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
Infant mortality rate 110.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) 19.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 3% (2000 est.) 3.3% (2000)
International organization participation ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Caricom (associate), CDB, ECLAC (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 1 (2000) 16 (2000)
Irrigated land 17 sq km (1993 est.) NA sq km
Judicial branch Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices who are appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases) Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force 480,000 4,911 (1980)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 78% agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries total:
724 km

border countries:
Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km
0 km
Land use arable land:
11%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
38%

forests and woodland:
38%

other:
12% (1993 est.)
arable land: 20%


permanent crops: 6.67%


other: 73.33% (1998 est.)
Languages Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages English (official)
Legal system NA English law
Legislative branch unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve a maximum of four years)

elections:
last held 28 November 1999 (next to be held by NA 2003)

election results:
percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRS 37, RGB 27, PAIGC 25, 11 remaining seats went to 5 of the remaining 10 parties that fielded candidates
unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 17 May 1999 (next to be held NA 2003)


election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - VIP 7, CCM 1, NDP 5
Life expectancy at birth total population:
49.42 years

male:
47.12 years

female:
51.78 years (2001 est.)
total population: 75.85 years


male: 74.9 years


female: 76.84 years (2002 est.)
Literacy definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
53.9%

male:
67.1%

female:
40.7% (1997 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 97.8% (1991 est.)


male: NA%


female: NA%
Location Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Map references Africa Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

territorial sea:
12 NM
exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM


territorial sea: 3 NM
Merchant marine none (2000 est.) total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 70,285 GRT/6,946 DWT


ships by type: passenger 1 (2002 est.)
Military - note - defense is the responsibility of the UK
Military branches People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $8 million (FY96) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 2.8% (FY96) -
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49:
305,071 (2001 est.)
-
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49:
173,703 (2001 est.)
-
National holiday Independence Day, 24 September (1973) Territory Day, 1 July
Nationality noun:
Guinean (s)

adjective:
Guinean
noun: British Virgin Islander(s)


adjective: British Virgin Islander
Natural hazards hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum NEGL
Net migration rate -1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) 10.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Political parties and leaders African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Francisco BENANTE]; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea or FLING [Francois MENDY]; Guinea-Bissau Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Helder Vaz LOPES]; Guinean Civic Forum or FCG [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; International League for Ecological Protection or LIPE [Alhaje Bubacar DJALO, president]; National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Abubacer BALDE, secretary general]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Social Renovation Party or PRS [Koumba YALLA]; Union for Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary general]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Victor Sau'de MARIA] Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders NA NA
Population 1,315,822 (July 2001 est.) 21,272 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line 50% (1991 est.) NA%
Population growth rate 2.23% (2001 est.) 2.16% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim Road Town
Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios 49,000 (1997) 9,000 (1997)
Railways 0 km 0 km
Religions indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5% Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 2%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)
Sex ratio at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
0.91 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.81 male(s)/female

total population:
0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 1.17 male(s)/female


total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment:
small system

domestic:
combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications

international:
NA
general assessment: worldwide telephone service


domestic: NA


international: submarine cable to Bermuda
Telephones - main lines in use 8,000 (1997) 10,000 (1996)
Telephones - mobile cellular NA NA
Television broadcast stations 2 (1997) 1 (plus one cable company) (1997)
Terrain mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate 5.2 children born/woman (2001 est.) 1.72 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate NA% 3% (1995)
Waterways several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping none
Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.