History of Guinea-Bissau

The region now known as Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa, has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. During the 13th century CE, it was a province of the Mali Empire which later became independent as the empire of Kaabu. The Portuguese Empire claimed the region during the 1450s, but its control was limited to several forts along the coast during most of this period; it gained control of the mainland after a series of "pacification campaigns" from 1912 to 1915, which used military forces to violently crush local resistance. The offshore Bijagos Islands were not colonized until 1936. Guinea-Bissau gained independence from Portugal in 1974. The introduction of multi-party politics in 1991 led to the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out in 1998, which lasted until the following year.

Peoples

Although the region's history has not yet been extensively documented with archaeological records, it had a population of hunter-gatherers by 1000 CE. Agriculturists using iron tools soon followed.

The oldest inhabitants were the Jola, Papel, Manjak, Balanta, and Biafada peoples. The Mandinka and Fulani later migrated into the region, pushing the earlier inhabitants towards the coast. A small number of Mandinka had been present in the region as early as the 11th century, but they migrated en masse in the 13th century as Senegambia was incorporated into the Mali Empire by Kaabu founder Tiramakhan Traore. A process of "Mandinkization" followed. According to oral tradition, Tiramakhan Traore invaded the region to punish the Wolof king for insulting Sundiata and went south of the Gambia River into the Casamance. This began a migration of Mandinka into the region. By the 14th century, much of Guinea-Bissau was administered by Mali and ruled by a farim kaabu (commander of Kaabu).

The Empire of Mali began to decline during the 14th century. Formerly-secure possessions in present-day Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau were cut off by the expanding power of Koli Tenguella in the early 16th century. Kaabu became an independent federation of kingdoms, the era's most powerful western Mandinka state.

Society

Kaabu's ruling classes were composed of elite warriors known as the Nyancho, who traced their patrilineal lineage to Tiramakhan Traore. Malian imperial history was central to Kaabu culture, maintaining its significant institutions and the lingua franca of Mandinka. The Mansaba Dianke Walli, sensing defeat, ordered his troops to set the city's gunpowder on fire; this killed the Mandinka defenders and most of the invading army. Although the loss of Kansala marked the end of the Kaabu empire and the rise of the Fuladu kingdom, smaller Mandinka kingdoms survived until they were absorbed by the Portuguese.

Biafada kingdoms

The Biafada people inhabited the area around the Rio Grande de Buba in three kingdoms: Biguba, Guinala, and Bissege. Relations between the kingdom and the Portuguese were initially warm, but deteriorated over time.

The kingdom defended its sovereignty against the Portuguese "pacification campaigns," defeating them in 1891, 1894, and 1904. The Portuguese, under commanded by Teixeira Pinto and warlord Abdul Injai, absorbed Bissau in 1915.

Bijagos

The Bijagos Islands were inhabited by people with different ethnic origins, leading to cultural diversity in the archipelago. The region was known to the Portuguese as the Guinea of Cape Verde, and Santiago was the administrative capital and the source of most of its white settlers.

Slave trade

Guinea-Bissau was among the first regions touched by the Atlantic slave trade and, while it did not produce the same number of enslaved people as other regions, the impact was still significant. They were primarily sent to Cape Verde and the Iberian Peninsula at first, with the Madeira and the Canary Islands seeing smaller influxes.

To meet the Congress of Berlin standard for "effective occupation", the Portuguese colonial government began a series of largely-unsuccessful "pacification campaigns" until the arrival of Captain João Teixeira Pinto in 1912. Supported by a large mercenary army commanded by Senegalese fugitive Abdul Injai, he quickly and brutally crushed local resistance on the mainland. Three more bloody campaigns in 1917, 1925, and 1936 were required to "pacify" the Bissagos Islands. Portuguese Guinea remained a neglected backwater, with administrative expenses exceeding revenue. In 1951, responding to anti-colonial criticism in the United Nations, the Portuguese government rebranded their colonies (including Portuguese Guinea) as overseas provinces (Províncias Ultramarines).

Struggle for independence

thumb|alt=Troops in the field|The [[Portuguese Colonial War|colonial war in Portuguese Guinea, 1968]]

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded in 1956 and led by Amílcar Cabral. Initially committed to peaceful methods, the 1959 Pidjiguiti massacre pushed the party towards more militarism and relied on the political mobilization of the peasantry. After years of planning and preparing from their base in Conakry, the PAIGC began the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence on 23 January 1963.

Unlike guerrilla movements in other Portuguese colonies, the PAIGC rapidly extended control of large areas. Aided by the jungle terrain, it had easy access to borders with neighbouring allies and large quantities of arms from Cuba, China, the Soviet Union, and left-leaning African countries. Cuba also agreed to supply artillery experts, doctors, and technicians. The PAIGC developed significant anti-aircraft capability to defend against aerial attack. It controlled many parts of Guinea by 1973, although the movement experienced a setback in January of that year when Cabral was assassinated.

thumb|alt=Two maps: one of Guinea-Bissau and the other of most of Africa|Portuguese-held (green), disputed (yellow), and rebel-held areas (red) in Portuguese Guinea, Angola and Mozambique (1970)

After Cabral's death the party was led by Aristides Pereira, who later became the first president of the Republic of Cape Verde. The PAIGC National Assembly met at Boe, in the southeast, and declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau on 24 September 1973. This was recognized by a 93–7 UN General Assembly vote in November.

Independence

After the April 1974 Carnation Revolution, Portugal granted independence to Guinea-Bissau on 10 September 1974. Luís Cabral, Amílcar Cabral's half-brother, became president. The United States recognized Guinea-Bissau's independence that day.

In late 1980, the government was overthrown in a coup led by prime minister and former armed-forces commander João Bernardo Vieira.

In 1994, 20 years after independence, Guinea-Bissau's first multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held.

1998–1999 civil war

thumb|upright=0.9|alt=Exterior of a two-story, pink-and-white building|The presidential palace in [[Bissau (damaged during the 1998–99 civil war) in 2007]]

An army uprising which triggered the Guinea-Bissau Civil War in 1998 displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and the president was ousted by a military junta on 7 May 1999. An interim government turned over power in February 2000, when opposition leader Kumba Ialá took office after two rounds of transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's return to democracy has been complicated by an economy devastated by civil war and military interference in government.

Presidency of Kumba Ialá

In January 2000, the second round of the 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election took place. The presidential election resulted in victory for opposition leader Kumba Ialá of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), who defeated Malam Bacai Sanhá of the ruling PAIGC. The PRS were also victorious in the National People's Assembly election, winning 38 of 102 seats.

2003 coup

In September 2003, a military coup led by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Verissimo Correia Seabra took place. Sitting president Kumba Ialá and Prime Minister Mário Pires were placed under house arrest. After several delays, a legislative election was held in March 2004. A mutiny of military factions in October of that year resulted in Seabra's death, causing widespread unrest.

Second presidency of João Bernardo Vieira

The 2005 Guinea-Bissau presidential election was held in June for the first time since the 2003 coup. Deposed President Ialá returned as the PRS candidate, saying that he was the country's legitimate president. The election was won by former president João Bernardo Vieira, who was deposed in the 1999 coup and defeated Malam Bacai Sanhá in a run-off election. Sanhá initially refused to concede, saying that electoral fraud occurred in two constituencies (including the capital, Bissau). Despite reports of arms entering the country before the election and "disturbances during campaigning", including attacks on government offices by unidentified gunmen, foreign election monitors described the overall election as "calm and organized".

The PAIGC won a strong parliamentary majority (67 of 100 seats) in the November 2008 parliamentary election. President Vieira's official residence was attacked by members of the armed forces, killing a guard; Vieira was unharmed.

Vieira was assassinated on 2 March 2009 by (according to preliminary reports) a group of soldiers avenging the death of joint chiefs of staff head Batista Tagme Na Wai, who had been killed in an explosion the day before. Vieira's death did not trigger widespread violence, but the advocacy group Swisspeace noted signs of turmoil in the country. Military leaders in Guinea-Bissau pledged to respect the constitutional order of succession. National Assembly Speaker Raimundo Pereira was appointed interim president until the nationwide election on 28 June 2009. It was won by Malam Bacai Sanhá of the PAIGC over PRS candidate Kumba Ialá.

2012 coup

On 9 January 2012, President Sanhá died of complications of diabetes and Pereira was again appointed interim president. On the evening of 12 April 2012, members of the country's military staged a coup d'état and arrested Pereira and a leading presidential candidate. Former vice chief of staff Mamadu Ture Kuruma took control of the country and began negotiations with opposition political parties.

Presidencies of José Mário Vaz and Umaro Sissoco Embaló

José Mário Vaz was president of Guinea-Bissau from 2014 to the 2019 presidential election. At the end of his term, Vaz was the first elected president to complete his five-year mandate. He lost the 2019 election to Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who took office in February 2020. Embaló is the first president elected without PAIGC support.

A February 2022 coup attempt against Embaló failed. According to the president, the attempted coup was linked to drug trafficking. Another coup attempt in 2023 resulted in clashes between government forces and the National Guard. Embaló announced on 11 September 2024 that he would not seek a second term in the presidential election scheduled for November 2025. On 3 March 2025, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said that he would run for a second term in November, contrary to his earlier vows to step down.

2025 coup

A day before the results of the 2025 elections were set to be announced, the military took control of the government. The following day, Horta Inta-A Na Man was proclaimed interim president by the High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order.