Population
The total population of Guinea-Bissau is over 1.5 million. The growth rate of Guinea-Bissau's population is relatively low in comparison with the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. The people are predominantly rural. More than two-fifths of them are less than 15 years old.
The population of Guinea-Bissau is ethnically diverse with distinct languages, customs and social structures. The various groups mix easily in urban areas, where there is a notable lack of ethnic tensions.
Among the population are farmers with traditional religious beliefs (animist). Principally Fula and Mandinga-speakers are concentrated in the north and northeast. Other important groups are the Balanta and Papel, living in the southern coastal regions, and the Manjaca and Mancanha, occupying the central and northern coastal areas. There are also a small number of Europeans and people of mixed (mulatto) ethnicity.
Half the population -- 50 percent -- holds animist indigenous beliefs. About 45 percent are Muslims belonging to the aforementioned Fula and Mandinga groups. Christianity is present among some of the population with adherents numbering about five percent.
Portuguese is the official language and a testament to the colonial past. Crioulo, a type of dialect, and a number of African languages, are also spoken.
Health and Welfare
In the 1994-1995 school year primary schools enrolled 100,369 students, 70 percent of the eligible students. Only 11 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled in school. The country has several teacher-training colleges. The government has undertaken a program to improve the literacy rate for the population age 15 and over, which stood at 42.4 percent in recent years. This rate belies the vast gender imbalance in which literate males number about 58 percent and literate females number only 27 percent.
The country's educational system is hampered by a lack of school facilities and trained teachers. Poor economic and political leadership in the 25 years since independence has left Guinea-Bissau unable to rectify the decades of Portuguese colonial neglect that preceded it. The nation's radio stations and major newspaper ("Nô Pintcha") are controlled by the government.
About 8.1 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures. Health conditions in Guinea-Bissau are among the worst in the world. Many people still suffer from such diseases as tuberculosis, whooping cough, typhoid fever, bacillary dysentery and malaria. The poor state of health is perhaps best reflected in the country's high infant mortality rate of 101.64 deaths per 1,000 live births, and a life expectancy of only 48.7 years of age (46.8 years for males and 50.67 years for females). It was estimated that up to 20,000 people were living with HIV/AIDs in recent years.
Human Development
A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main areas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. The HDI places Guinea-Bissau near the bottom of its ranking in the low human development category, at 164th place, out of 169 countries and territories.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at CountryWatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.