Guinea-Bissau (2001) | Uruguay (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos | 19 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Artigas, Canelones, Cerro Largo, Colonia, Durazno, Flores, Florida, Lavalleja, Maldonado, Montevideo, Paysandu, Rio Negro, Rivera, Rocha, Salto, San Jose, Soriano, Tacuarembo, Treinta y Tres |
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: 24.4% (male 422,826; female 402,324)
15-64 years: 62.6% (male 1,047,740; female 1,072,032) 65 years and over: 13% (male 181,522; female 260,131) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish | rice, wheat, corn, barley; livestock; fish |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 64 (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: 15
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (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: 49
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m: 31 (2002) |
Area | total:
36,120 sq km land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km |
total: 176,220 sq km
land: 173,620 sq km water: 2,600 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut | slightly smaller than the state of Washington |
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. | A violent Marxist urban guerrilla movement, the Tupamaros, launched in the late 1960s, led Uruguay's president to agree to military control of his administration in 1973. By the end of the year the rebels had been crushed, but the military continued to expand its hold throughout the government. Civilian rule was not restored until 1985. Uruguay's political and labor conditions are among the freest on the continent. |
Birth rate | 39.29 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 17.28 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $3.7 billion
expenditures: $4.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $500 million (2000) (2000) |
Capital | Bissau | Montevideo |
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 | warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown |
Coastline | 350 km | 660 km |
Constitution | 16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996 | 27 November 1966, effective February 1967, suspended 27 June 1973, new constitution rejected by referendum 30 November 1980; two constitutional reforms approved by plebiscite 26 November 1989 and 7 January 1997 |
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: Oriental Republic of Uruguay
conventional short form: Uruguay local long form: Republica Oriental del Uruguay local short form: Uruguay former: Banda Oriental, Cisplatine Province |
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 | Uruguayan peso (UYU) |
Death rate | 15.33 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $964 million (1998 est.) | $7.7 billion (2001 est.) |
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 Martin J. SILVERSTEIN
embassy: Lauro Muller 1776, Montevideo 11200 mailing address: APO AA 34035 telephone: [598] (2) 418-7777 FAX: [598] (2) 418-8611 |
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 Hugo FERNANDEZ-FAINGOLD
chancery: 1913 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 331-1313 through 1316 FAX: [1] (202) 331-8142 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York |
Disputes - international | none | uncontested dispute with Brazil over islands in the Rio Quarai (Rio Cuareim) and the Arroio Invernada (Arroyo de la Invernada) |
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. | Uruguay's economy is characterized by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated workforce, and high levels of social spending. After averaging growth of 5% annually in 1996-98, in 1999-2001 the economy suffered from lower demand in Argentina and Brazil, which together account for nearly half of Uruguay's exports. Despite the severity of the trade shocks, Uruguay's financial indicators remained more stable than those of its neighbors, a reflection of its solid reputation among investors and its investment-grade sovereign bond rating - one of only two in South America. Challenges for the government of President Jorge BATLLE include reducing the budget deficit, expanding Uruguay's trade ties beyond its Mercosur trade partners, and reducing the costs of public services. GDP fell by 1.3% in 2000 and by 1.5% in 2001. |
Electricity - consumption | 51.2 million kWh (1999) | 7.35 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 950 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 1.3 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 55 million kWh (1999) | 7.527 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 7%
hydro: 93% nuclear: 0% other: 1% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Catedral 514 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing | water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; inadequate solid/hazardous waste disposal |
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: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1% | white 88%, mestizo 8%, black 4%, Amerindian, practically nonexistent |
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 |
Uruguayan pesos per US dollar - 14.3325 (January 2002), 13.3191 (2001), 12.0996 (2000), 11.3393 (1999), 10.4719 (1998), 9.4418 (1997) |
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 Jorge BATLLE Ibanez (since 1 March 2000) and Vice President Luis HIERRO (since 1 March 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Jorge BATLLE Ibanez (since 1 March 2000) and Vice President Luis HIERRO (since 1 March 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president with parliamentary approval elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 31 October 1999, with runoff election on 28 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Jorge BATLLE Ibanez elected president; percent of vote - Jorge BATLLE Ibanez 52% in a runoff against Tabare VAZQUEZ 44% |
Exports | $80 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $2.24 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber (1996) | meat, rice, leather products, wool, vehicles, dairy products |
Exports - partners | India 59%, Singapore 12%, Italy 10% (1998) | Mercosur partners 40%, EU 20%, US 8% (2001 est.) |
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 | nine equal horizontal stripes of white (top and bottom) alternating with blue; there is a white square in the upper hoist-side corner with a yellow sun bearing a human face known as the Sun of May and 16 rays alternately triangular and wavy |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $31 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
54% industry: 15% services: 31% (1997 est.) |
agriculture: 6%
industry: 29% services: 65% (2001) (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $9,200 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.6% (2000 est.) | -1.5% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 00 N, 15 00 W | 33 00 S, 56 00 W |
Geography - note | - | second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland, ideal for cattle and sheep raising |
Highways | total:
4,400 km paved: 453 km unpaved: 3,947 km (1996) |
total: 8,764 km
paved: 7,800 km unpaved: 964 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991) |
lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 26% (1997) |
Imports | $55.2 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $2.9 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products (1996) | machinery, chemicals, road vehicles, crude petroleum |
Imports - partners | Portugal 26%, France 8%, Senegal 8%, Netherlands 7% (1998) | Mercosur partners 44%, EU 18%, US 9% (2001 est.) |
Independence | 24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal) | 25 August 1825 (from Brazil) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2.6% (1997 est.) | -2.4% (2001 est.) |
Industries | agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks | food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, beverages |
Infant mortality rate | 110.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 14.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3% (2000 est.) | 3.6% (2001) (2001) |
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 | CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMOGIP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 14 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 17 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
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 (judges are nominated by the president and elected for 10-year terms by the General Assembly) |
Labor force | 480,000 | 1.2 million (2001) (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 78% | agriculture 14%, industry 16%, services 70% |
Land boundaries | total:
724 km border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km |
total: 1,564 km
border countries: Argentina 579 km, Brazil 985 km |
Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 38% forests and woodland: 38% other: 12% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 7.21%
permanent crops: 0.27% other: 92.52% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages | Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) |
Legal system | NA | based on Spanish civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 General Assembly or Asamblea General consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (30 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (99 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators - last held 31 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); Chamber of Representatives - last held 31 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Encuentro Progresista 12, Colorado Party 10, Blanco 7, New Sector/Space Coalition 1; Chamber of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Encuentro Progresista 40, Colorado Party 33, Blanco 22, New Sector/Space Coalition 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
49.42 years male: 47.12 years female: 51.78 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 75.66 years
male: 72.32 years female: 79.17 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: 97.3% male: 96.9% female: 97.7% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil |
Map references | Africa | South America |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,752 GRT/5,228 DWT
ships by type: petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 4, Greece 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force | Army, Navy (including Naval Air Arm, Coast Guard, Marines), Air Force, Police (Coracero Guard, Grenadier Guard) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $8 million (FY96) | $250 million (1999) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.8% (FY96) | 1.1% (2000) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
305,071 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 824,395 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
173,703 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 666,880 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 24 September (1973) | Independence Day, 25 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun:
Guinean (s) adjective: Guinean |
noun: Uruguayan(s)
adjective: Uruguayan |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires | seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional violent wind which blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts, floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts |
Natural resources | fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum | arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fisheries |
Net migration rate | -1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.41 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] | Colorado Party [Jorge BATLLE Ibanez]; National Party or Blanco [Luis Alberto LACALLE Herrera]; New Sector/Space Coalition or Nuevo Espacio [Rafael MICHELINI]; Progressive Encounter/Broad Front Coalition or Encuentro Progresista/Frente Amplio [Tabare VAZQUEZ] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 1,315,822 (July 2001 est.) | 3,386,575 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (1991 est.) | 6% (1997) |
Population growth rate | 2.23% (2001 est.) | 0.79% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim | Colonia, Fray Bentos, Juan La Caze, La Paloma, Montevideo, Nueva Palmira, Paysandu, Punta del Este, Piriapolis |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 91, FM 149, shortwave 7 (2001) |
Radios | 49,000 (1997) | 1.97 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | total: 2,993 km
standard gauge: 2,993 km 1.435-m gauge note: of the total route length, 461 km have been taken out of service and 460 km are in only partial use; moreover, not all lines offer passenger service (2001) |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5% | Roman Catholic 66% (less than half of the adult population attends church regularly), Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, nonprofessing or other 31% |
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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
small system domestic: combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications international: NA |
general assessment: fully digitalized
domestic: most modern facilities concentrated in Montevideo; new nationwide microwave radio relay network international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2002) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 8,000 (1997) | 929,141 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 350,000 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 20 (2001) |
Terrain | mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland |
Total fertility rate | 5.2 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.35 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 15.2% (2001) (2001) |
Waterways | several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping | 1,600 km (used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft) |