Guinea-Bissau is a small West African country with a history of tribal groups, Portuguese colonization, and slave trade. It gained independence in 1961, but experienced political instability and civil war. Despite this, it is safe for travelers and has a developing tourist industry, with historic sites and beautiful beaches.
Guinea-Bissau is a small country in West Africa. It covers 13,900 square miles (36,100 square km), making it slightly larger than the state of Maryland. It borders Guinea and Senegal and has coastlines along the Atlantic Ocean.
The region that is now Guinea-Bissau has been inhabited for millennia by various tribal groups. In the 14th century, Guinea-Bissau was assimilated into the large empire of Mali, which ruled over much of West Africa.
European contact with Guinea-Bissau began when the Portuguese began trading along the West African coast in the 15th century. The Portuguese claimed the region in the late 15th century, but for the next century they would do little to try to control the area. In the early 17th century Portugal began to take a more active interest in Portuguese Guinea, administering the area more directly. The Mali Empire had largely dissolved by this time, so resistance to the Portuguese was minimal.
Guinea-Bissau was an important region in the slave trade during the 18th century, and huge numbers of slaves were sent from ports along the territory’s coast. As the slave trade began to decline in the early 19th century, Guinea-Bissau began to decline economically. The Portuguese began pushing inland in the late 19th century, eventually consolidating much of the region, although heavy fighting would continue well into the 20th century, with the final regions subdued only in the 1818s.
In the mid-1950s, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde was formed, with the intention of driving out the Portuguese. An armed rebellion began in 1950 and heavy fighting continued for more than a decade, with the rebellion eventually gaining control of most of the country. Independence was formally declared in 1961 and was recognized following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1973.
In 1980 the elected government was overthrown in a bloodless coup, and for the next 14 years Guinea-Bissau would remain under one-party rule. Multiparty elections were held in 1994 and Guinea-Bissau returned to a relatively open democracy. Civil war broke out in 1998, and in 1999 a military junta forced the president-elect to resign. Although open elections continued, the intervention of a military coup in 2003 to oust the president complicated public perceptions of democracy.
Despite a rocky past, Guinea-Bissau is relatively safe for travelers and is developing a modest tourist infrastructure. The city of Bissau contains a number of historic 17th-century slave trade sites, for those interested in the region’s darker history. The islands off the coast offer some of the best holiday spots, with the Arquipélago Dos Bijagós containing some beautiful sandy beaches and an amazing array of wildlife.
Flights occasionally arrive in Bissau from major hubs in the region. Overland crossing from Senegal is not recommended due to current separatist action, but crossing from Guinea is relatively easy.
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