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Compare Guinea-Bissau (2002) - Eritrea (2005)

Compare Guinea-Bissau (2002) z Eritrea (2005)

 Guinea-Bissau (2002)Eritrea (2005)
 Guinea-BissauEritrea
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 regions (zobatat, singular - zoba); Anseba, Debub (Southern), Debubawi K'eyih Bahri (Southern Red Sea), Gash Barka, Ma'akel (Central), Semenawi Keyih Bahri (Northern Red Sea)
Age structure 0-14 years: 41.9% (male 281,394; female 282,641)


15-64 years: 55.2% (male 353,755; female 388,968)


65 years and over: 2.9% (male 17,130; female 21,591) (2002 est.)
0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,023,898/female 1,019,389)


15-64 years: 51.9% (male 1,170,823/female 1,194,741)


65 years and over: 3.3% (male 74,312/female 78,436) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish
Airports 28 (2001) 17 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways total: 3


over 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002)
total: 4


over 3,047 m: 2


2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 25


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 20 (2002)
total: 13


over 3,047 m: 1


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 5


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Area total: 36,120 sq km


land: 28,000 sq km


water: 8,120 sq km
total: 121,320 sq km


land: 121,320 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut slightly larger than Pennsylvania
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 Kumba YALA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy will be complicated by its crippled economy devastated in the civil war. Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices on 12 December 2000. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that is monitoring a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone on the border with Ethiopia. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002 but final demarcation is on hold due to Ethiopian objections.
Birth rate 38.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) 38.62 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget revenues: $NA


expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
revenues: $235.2 million


expenditures: $373.2 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Capital Bissau Asmara
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 hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually); semiarid in western hills and lowlands; rainfall heaviest during June-September except in coastal desert
Coastline 350 km 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km
Constitution 16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996 a transitional constitution, decreed on 19 May 1993, was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997, but not yet implemented
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: State of Eritrea


conventional short form: Eritrea


local long form: Hagere Ertra


local short form: Ertra


former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia
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 15.05 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) 13.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external $931 million (1999 est.) $311 million (2000 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; for the time being, US embassy Dakar is responsible for covering Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4296; FAX - [221] 822-5903 chief of mission: Ambassador Scott H. DELISI


embassy: Franklin D. Roosevelt Street, Asmara


mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara


telephone: [291] (1) 120004


FAX: [291] (1) 127584
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique Adriano DA SILVA


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


telephone: [1] (202) 347-3950


FAX: [1] (202) 347-3954
chief of mission: Ambassador GIRMA Asmerom


chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009


telephone: [1] (202) 319-1991


FAX: [1] (202) 319-1304


consulate(s) general: Oakland (California)
Disputes - international Senegalese separatists disrupt legal border trade with smuggling, cattle rustling, and other illegal activities Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations and armed posturing prevail, preventing demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to withdraw to the delimited boundary until technical errors made by the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications; since 2000, the UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) monitors the 25km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea until the demarcation; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999
Economic aid - recipient $115.4 million (1995) (1995) $77 million (1999)
Economy - overview One of the 10 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 1999-2001. 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 inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development. Since independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993, Eritrea has faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor country. Like the economies of many African nations, the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The Ethiopian-Eritrea war in 1998-2000 severely hurt Eritrea's economy. GDP growth fell to zero in 1999 and to -12.1% in 2000. The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into northern Eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss, including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%. Even during the war, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war damaged roads and bridges. Since the war ended, the government has maintained a firm grip on the economy, expanding the use of the military and party-owned businesses to complete Eritrea's development agenda. Erratic rainfall and the delayed demobilization of agriculturalists from the military kept cereal production well below normal, holding down growth in 2002-04. Eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master social problems such as illiteracy, unemployment, and low skills, and to open its economy to private enterprise so the diaspora's money and expertise can foster economic growth.
Electricity - consumption 55.8 million kWh (2000) 229.4 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000) 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2000) 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production 60 million kWh (2000) 246.6 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2000)
-
Elevation extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m


highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m


highest point: Soira 3,018 m
Environment - current issues deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
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, Desertification, Endangered Species


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% ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3%
Exchange rates Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997)


note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the XOF franc as the national currency; since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
nakfa (ERN) per US dollar - 13.788 (2004), 13.878 (2003), 13.958 (2002), 11.31 (2001), 9.625 (2000)
Executive branch chief of state: President Kumba YALA (since 18 February 2000)


head of government: Prime Minister Mario PIRES (since 17 November 2002)


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: Kumba YALA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Kumba YALA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28%
chief of state: President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly


head of government: President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly


cabinet: State Council is the collective executive authority; members appointed by the president


elections: president elected by the National Assembly; election last held 8 June 1993 (next election date uncertain as the National Assembly did not hold a presidential election in December 2001 as anticipated)


election results: ISAIAS Afworki elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki 95%
Exports $80 million f.o.b. (2000 est.) NA
Exports - commodities cashew nuts 70%, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures (2000)
Exports - partners India 51.4%, Italy 2.7%, South Korea 2.0%, Belgium 2.0% (2000) Malaysia 26.6%, Italy 17.1%, Japan 8%, Germany 6.6%, China 5%, UK 4.9%, US 4.7%, France 4.4%, Poland 4.2% (2004)
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 red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle
GDP purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (2001 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 54%


industry: 15%


services: 31% (1997 est.)
agriculture: 12.4%


industry: 25.9%


services: 61.7% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $900 (2001 est.) purchasing power parity - $900 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 7.2% (2001 est.) 2.5% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates 12 00 N, 15 00 W 15 00 N, 39 00 E
Geography - note this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993
Highways total: 4,400 km


paved: 453 km


unpaved: 3,947 km (1996)
total: 4,010 km


paved: 874 km


unpaved: 3,136 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 1%


highest 10%: 42% (1991) (1991)
lowest 10%: NA


highest 10%: NA
Imports $55.2 million f.o.b. (2000 est.) NA
Imports - commodities foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods (2000)
Imports - partners Portugal 30%, Senegal 14.6%, Thailand 8.5%, China 5.7% (2000) Ireland 26.6%, US 18.6%, Italy 16.6%, Turkey 6.4% (2004)
Independence 24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal) 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia)
Industrial production growth rate 2.6% (1997 est.) NA
Industries agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, salt, cement, commercial ship repair
Infant mortality rate 108.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) total: 74.87 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 82.28 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 67.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5% (2001 est.) 10% (2004 est.)
International organization participation ACCT, ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO ACP, AfDB, AU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (observer), IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 2 (2002) -
Irrigated land 170 sq km (1998 est.) 220 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) High Court - regional, subregional, and village courts; also have military and special courts
Labor force 480,000 NA
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 82% (2000 est.) agriculture 80%, industry and services 20%
Land boundaries total: 724 km


border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km
total: 1,626 km


border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km
Land use arable land: 10.67%


permanent crops: 1.78%


other: 87.55% (1998 est.)
arable land: 4.95%


permanent crops: 0.03%


other: 95.02% (2001)
Languages Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Legal system NA primary basis is the Ethiopian legal code of 1957, with revisions; new civil, commercial, and penal codes have not yet been promulgated; also relies on customary and post-independence-enacted laws and, for civil cases involving Muslims, Sharia 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 20 April 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 National Assembly (150 seats; term limits not established)


elections: in May 1997, following the adoption of the new constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member Constituent Assembly, that had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to a National Assembly were held; although only 75 of 150 members of the Transitional National Assembly were elected, the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all members of the National Assembly will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely
Life expectancy at birth total population: 49.8 years


male: 47.47 years


female: 52.2 years (2002 est.)
total population: 58.47 years


male: 56.96 years


female: 60.02 years (2005 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 34%


male: 50%


female: 18% (2000 est.)
definition: NA


total population: 58.6%


male: 69.9%


female: 47.6% (2003 est.)
Location Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Map references Africa Africa
Maritime claims exclusive economic zone: 200 NM


territorial sea: 12 NM
territorial sea: 12 nm
Merchant marine none (2002 est.) total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 16,069 GRT/19,549 DWT


by type: cargo 3, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1


registered in other countries: 1 (2005)
Military branches People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force Army, Navy, Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure $5.6 million (FY01) $151 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 2.8% (FY01) 13.4% (2004)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 313,573 (2002 est.) -
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 178,404 (2002 est.) -
National holiday Independence Day, 24 September (1973) Independence Day, 24 May (1993)
Nationality noun: Guinean (s)


adjective: Guinean
noun: Eritrean(s)


adjective: Eritrean
Natural hazards hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires frequent droughts; locust swarms
Natural resources fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
Net migration rate -1.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population


note: UNHCR began repatriating about 150,000 Eritrean refugees from Sudan in 2001 following the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2000 (2005 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 [Kumba YALA]; Union for Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary general]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Victor Sau'de MARIA] People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS Afworki]; note - a National Assembly committee drafted a law on political parties in January 2001, but the full National Assembly has not yet debated or voted on it
Political pressure groups and leaders NA Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ [leader NA] (also including Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement or EIJM (also known as the Abu Sihel Movement) [leader NA]); Eritrean Islamic Salvation or EIS (also known as the Arafa Movement) [leader NA]; Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean National Alliance or ENA (a coalition including EIJ, EIS, ELF, and a number of ELF factions) [HERUY Tedla Biru]; Eritrean Public Forum or EPF [ARADOM Iyob]
Population 1,345,479 (July 2002 est.) 4,561,599 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% 50% (2004 est.)
Population growth rate 2.23% (2002 est.) 2.51% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim Assab, Massawa
Radio broadcast stations AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2002) AM 2, FM NA, shortwave 2 (2000)
Radios 49,000 (1997) -
Railways 0 km total: 306 km


narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge (2004)
Religions indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5% Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
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: 0.79 male(s)/female


total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female


total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 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: inadequate


domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system (2002)


international: country code - 291; note - international connections exist
Telephones - main lines in use 10,000 (2001) 38,100 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular 0 (2001) NA
Television broadcast stations NA (1997) 1 (2000)
Terrain mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains
Total fertility rate 5.13 children born/woman (2002 est.) 5.61 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate NA% NA (2003 est.)
Waterways several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping -
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