Guinea-Bissau (2001) | Madagascar (2007) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos | 6 provinces (faritany); Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toamasina, Toliara |
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: 43.9% (male 4,297,985/female 4,243,369)
15-64 years: 53% (male 5,117,874/female 5,190,032) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 270,411/female 329,144) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish | coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts; livestock products |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 104 (2007) |
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: 27
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
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: 77
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 41 under 914 m: 34 (2007) |
Area | total:
36,120 sq km land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km |
total: 587,040 sq km
land: 581,540 sq km water: 5,500 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut | slightly less than twice the size of Arizona |
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. | Formerly an independent kingdom, Madagascar became a French colony in 1896, but regained its independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held, ending 17 years of single-party rule. In 1997, in the second presidential race, Didier RATSIRAKA, the leader during the 1970s and 1980s, was returned to the presidency. The 2001 presidential election was contested between the followers of Didier RATSIRAKA and Marc RAVALOMANANA, nearly causing secession of half of the country. In April 2002, the High Constitutional Court announced RAVALOMANANA the winner. |
Birth rate | 39.29 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 38.6 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $863.3 million
expenditures: $1.132 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | Bissau | name: Antananarivo
geographic coordinates: 18 55 S, 47 31 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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 | tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south |
Coastline | 350 km | 4,828 km |
Constitution | 16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996 | 19 August 1992 by national referendum |
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: Republic of Madagascar
conventional short form: Madagascar local long form: Republique de Madagascar/Repoblikan'i Madagasikara local short form: Madagascar/Madagasikara former: Malagasy Republic |
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 | - |
Death rate | 15.33 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $964 million (1998 est.) | $4.6 billion (2002) |
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 | chief of mission: Ambassador James D. McGEE
embassy: 14-16 Rue Rainitovo, Antsahavola, Antananarivo 101 mailing address: B. P. 620, Antsahavola, Antananarivo telephone: [261] (20) 22-212-57, 22-212-73, 22-209-56 FAX: [261] (20) 22-345-39 |
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jocelyn Bertin RADIFERA
chancery: 2374 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-5525, 5526 FAX: [1] (202) 265-3034 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | none | claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island (all administered by France) |
Economic aid - recipient | $115.4 million (1995) | $929.2 million (2005) |
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. | Having discarded past socialist economic policies, Madagascar has since the mid 1990s followed a World Bank- and IMF-led policy of privatization and liberalization. This strategy placed the country on a slow and steady growth path from an extremely low level. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing 80% of the population. Exports of apparel have boomed in recent years primarily due to duty-free access to the US. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel, are serious concerns. President RAVALOMANANA has worked aggressively to revive the economy following the 2002 political crisis, which triggered a 12% drop in GDP that year. Poverty reduction and combating corruption will be the centerpieces of economic policy for the next few years. |
Electricity - consumption | 51.2 million kWh (1999) | 973.2 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 55 million kWh (1999) | 1.046 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | 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: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Maromokotro 2,876 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing | soil erosion results from deforestation and overgrazing; desertification; surface water contaminated with raw sewage and other organic wastes; several endangered species of flora and fauna unique to the island |
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 |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, 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% | Malayo-Indonesian (Merina and related Betsileo), Cotiers (mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry - Betsimisaraka, Tsimihety, Antaisaka, Sakalava), French, Indian, Creole, Comoran |
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 |
Malagasy ariary per US dollar - 2,161.4 (2006), 2,003 (2005), 1,868.9 (2004), 1,238.3 (2003), 1,366.4 (2002) |
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: President Marc RAVALOMANANA (since 6 May 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Charles RABEMANANJARA (25 January 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 3 December 2006 (next to be held in December 2011); prime minister appointed by the president election results: percent of vote - Marc RAVALOMANANA 54.8%, Jean LAHINIRIKO 11.7%, Roland RATSIRAKA 10.1%, Herizo RAZAFIMAHALEO 9.1%, Norbert RATSIRAHONANA 4.2%, Ny Hasina ANDRIAMANJATO 4.2%, Elia RAVELOMANANTSOA 2.6%, Pety RAKOTONIAINA 1.7%, other 1.6% |
Exports | $80 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber (1996) | coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar, cotton cloth, chromite, petroleum products |
Exports - partners | India 59%, Singapore 12%, Italy 10% (1998) | France 32.1%, US 25.3%, Germany 6.1%, Italy 5.1%, UK 4.1% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
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 | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a vertical white band of the same width on hoist side |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
54% industry: 15% services: 31% (1997 est.) |
agriculture: 28.2%
industry: 16.3% services: 55.5% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.6% (2000 est.) | 4.7% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 00 N, 15 00 W | 20 00 S, 47 00 E |
Geography - note | - | world's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique Channel |
Highways | total:
4,400 km paved: 453 km unpaved: 3,947 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991) |
lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 36.6% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption; transshipment point for heroin |
Imports | $55.2 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products (1996) | capital goods, petroleum, consumer goods, food |
Imports - partners | Portugal 26%, France 8%, Senegal 8%, Netherlands 7% (1998) | France 13.9%, China 12%, Iran 9.3%, Mauritius 5.6%, Hong Kong 4.8% (2006) |
Independence | 24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal) | 26 June 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2.6% (1997 est.) | 3% (2000 est.) |
Industries | agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks | meat processing, seafood, soap, breweries, tanneries, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 110.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 57.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 62.09 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3% (2000 est.) | 10.8% (2006 est.) |
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 | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 17 sq km (1993 est.) | 10,860 sq km (2003) |
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) | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Constitutional Court or Haute Cour Constitutionnelle |
Labor force | 480,000 | 7.3 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 78% | - |
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: 5.03%
permanent crops: 1.02% other: 93.95% (2005) |
Languages | Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages | English (official), French (official), Malagasy (official) |
Legal system | NA | based on French civil law system and traditional Malagasy law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
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 |
bicameral legislature consists of a National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (127 seats - reduced from 160 seats by an April 2007 national referendum; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and a Senate or Senat (100 seats; two-thirds of the seats filled by regional assemblies; the remaining one-third of seats appointed by the president; to serve four-year terms)
elections: National Assembly - last held 23 September 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - TIM 106, LEADER/Fanilo 1, independents 20 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
49.42 years male: 47.12 years female: 51.78 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 62.14 years
male: 60.23 years female: 64.1 years (2007 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: 68.9% male: 75.5% female: 62.5% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Mozambique |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or 100 nm from the 2,500-m deep isobath |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total: 9 ships (1000 GRT or over) 13,896 GRT/18,466 DWT
by type: cargo 5, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 2 (2007) |
Military branches | People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force | People's Armed Forces: Intervention Force, Development Force, and Aeronaval Force (navy and air); National Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $8 million (FY96) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.8% (FY96) | 1% (2006) |
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) | Independence Day, 26 June (1960) |
Nationality | noun:
Guinean (s) adjective: Guinean |
noun: Malagasy (singular and plural)
adjective: Malagasy |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires | periodic cyclones, drought, and locust infestation |
Natural resources | fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum | graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 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] | Association for the Rebirth of Madagascar or AREMA [Pierrot RAJAONARIVELO]; Democratic Party for Union in Madagascar or PSDUM [Jean LAHINIRIKO]; Economic Liberalism and Democratic Action for National Recovery or LEADER/Fanilo [Herizo RAZAFIMAHALEO]; Fihaonana Party or FP [Guy-Willy RAZANAMASY]; I Love Madagascar or TIM [Marc RAVALOMANANA]; Renewal of the Social Democratic Party or RPSD [Evariste MARSON] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Committee for the Defense of Truth and Justice or KMMR; Committee for National Reconciliation or CRN [Albert Zafy]; National Council of Christian Churches or FFKM |
Population | 1,315,822 (July 2001 est.) | 19,448,815 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (1991 est.) | 50% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.23% (2001 est.) | 3.008% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2 (plus a number of repeater stations), FM 9, shortwave 6 (2001) |
Radios | 49,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 854 km
narrow gauge: 854 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5% | indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian 41%, Muslim 7% |
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: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.013 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.986 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.822 male(s)/female total population: 0.992 male(s)/female (2007 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: system is above average for the region
domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links connect regions international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 8,000 (1997) | 129,800 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 1.046 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 1 (plus 36 repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east | narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center |
Total fertility rate | 5.2 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 5.24 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | - |
Waterways | several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping | 600 km (2006) |