Abstract
Portugal was the major power in the area throughout the colonial period. In 1974, after the Portuguese revolution, Portugal abandoned the struggle to keep Guinea-Bissau and independence was formally recognized on 10 Sept. 1974. In 1975 Cape Verde also became independent but the two countries remained separate sovereign states. On 14 Nov. 1980 a coup d’état was in part inspired by resentment in Guinea-Bissau over the privileges enjoyed by Cape Verdians. Guineans obtained a more prominent role under the new government. In May 1984 a new constitution was approved based on Marxist principles but after 1986 there was a return to private enterprise in an attempt to solve critical economic problems and to lift the country out of poverty. A yearlong civil war broke out in 1998 between army rebels and the country’s long-time ruler. Neighbouring Senegal and Guinea sent troops in to aid the government. In May 1999 President Joäo Bernardo Vieira was ousted in a military coup led by former chief of staff Gen. Ansumane Mané, whom the president had dismissed in 1998. Following the coup Mane briefly headed a military junta before National Assembly speaker Malam Bacai Sanhá took power as acting president.
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Further Reading
Barry, Boubacar-Sid, Creppy, Edward G. E., Gacitua-Mario, Estanislao and Wodon, Quentin, Conflict, Livelihoods, and Poverty in Guinea-Bissau. 2007
Forrest, J. B., Lineages of State Fragility: Rural Civil Society in Guinea-Bissau. 2003
National Statistical Office: Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Censos (INEC), CP 06 Bissau.
Website (Portuguese only): http://www.stat-guinebissau.com
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Palgrave Macmillan. (2016). Guinea-Bissau. In: The Statesman’s Yearbook. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-68398-7_237
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-68398-7_237
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-44008-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-68398-7
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