Guinea Bissau
The main ethnic groups are the Balante(32%), Fula(22%), Mandika(13%), Mandjak(14%) and Pepel(7%).Portuguese is the Official working language.But crioulo is the main spoken language, there are also African languages of the Atlantico and of the Mande groups.Most people follow African beliefs but there are also some Muslims(30%) and a few christians.
Guinea Bissau has a population of 1.05 million people. The capital is Bissau and the head of the state since 1980 is Jolo Bernardo Vieira.A multi-party government was introduced in 1991 and the first multi-party elections happened in 1994. AT the time of decline of the Ghana empire in the 13th century the Naulu and Landurna people sought refuge in later the area was part of the Mali empire from the 12th century to the 14th century. The people grew irrigated rice and traded marine salt. The earliest contact with the Portuguese began in the 1440s when trading and raiding parties arrived in search of slaves. In the 16th century wars with the Mande people from Upper Guinea provided an even greater supply of slaves. French and British trading stations were established in the 17th and 18th centuries.The Portuguese declared Guinea Bissau their colony in 1879, but its right to the territory was only recognised by Britain and France in the Congress in Berlin in 1884 and in the Luso-French convention in 1886.Even then, Portugal did not gain control of the interior until after a long series of wars with the local people. Effective control of the present geographical area was gained by about 1915, though some parts resisted until 1936.
The nationalist movements in the Portuguese colonies reached the advanced stage they did partly as a result of the backward nature of Portuguese colonialism.The nationalist movements in the Portuguese colonies which emerged relatively slowly by comparision with other territories were obliged to conduct a protracted armed struggle in order to overthrow colonial rule. This experience meant that thse movements developed a much wider popular base, greater political sophistication and a more radical orientation than other African organisations. Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, although tiny and poorer than Angola and Mozambique earned international recognition because of the sucesses of the political and the guerrilla war waged by PAIGC( the African Party for independence in Guinea and Cape Verde). They were the first to liberate the majority of its mainland territory from the Portuguese rule. It was also the PAIGC that produced one of Africa's most outstanding revolutionary leaders and theoreticians, Amilcar Cabral. His charismatic personality made Guinea Bissau became a historical example of a people's war.From its inception in 1956, the PAIGC was commited to the joint liberation of the mainland and the Islands.The Cape Verdeans because of their higher levels of education and of political sophistication provided many of the members of the party.Aristides Pereira a Cape Verdean, was a co-founder of the party with Cabral whose parents also came from the islands. The party enjoyed popular support in both areas, but it was on the mainland that the mass movement became most developed.A feature of the liberation struggle in the Portuguese colonies was the close co-ordination that developed between the movements in the three areas. The PAIGC, Frelimo and MPLA formed a common party under the umbrella of the Conference of Nationalist Organisations of the Portuguese Colonies (CONCP) and where often jointly represented at international gatherings.By 1973, after ten years of guerrilla war, the PAIGC had liberated.Since the independence this country's actualities such as its history and politics changed significantly.