Guinea-Bissau’s annual per capita GDP is estimated to be less than $500, ranking it among the ten poorest nations in the world.  Illiteracy is 80%, a legacy of colonial laws banning the teaching of natives to read.  Most residents speak Creole, a patois of tribal languages mixed with Portuguese. Guinea-Bissau is working to sustain democracy. Until a civil war in 1998, Guinea Bissau enjoyed one of the highest growth rates in Africa.  There is much hope for the new government elected in July 2005 to restore peace and prosperity.  Subsistence farming, fishing and forestry dominate the economy.  Cash crops include cashews, peanuts, palm kernels, and mangoes.

Guinea Bissau, with a population of almost 2 million on the West African coast, just east of Cape Verde and north of the equator, is the size of Massachusetts.  The Portuguese started the Atlantic slave trade in Guinea Bissau before Columbus discovered America.  Many African-Americans can trace their ancestry there, including Whoopi Goldberg.  Guinea-Bissau became independent in 1974, after 475 years as a Portuguese colony.  The eastern half of the country has a large and well-financed Muslim population and China has a very a very active presence.

Guinea-Bissau’s annual per capita GDP is estimated to be less than $500, ranking it among the ten poorest nations in the world.  Illiteracy is 80%, a legacy of colonial laws banning the teaching of natives to read.  Most residents speak Creole, a patois of tribal languages mixed with Portuguese. Guinea-Bissau is working to sustain democracy. Until a civil war in 1998, Guinea Bissau enjoyed one of the highest growth rates in Africa.  There is much hope for the new government elected in July 2005 to restore peace and prosperity.  Subsistence farming, fishing and forestry dominate the economy.  Cash crops include cashews, peanuts, palm kernels, and mangoes.