几内亚－比索(Guinea-Bissau)

正式名称几内亚－比索共和国（Republic of Guinea-Bissau）

西非国家，包括西南部大西洋海岸的比热戈斯群岛。面积36,125平方公里。人口约1,316,000（2001）。首都︰比索。四大种族集团为巴兰塔布拉萨人、富拉尼人、马林克人和曼迪亚科人。语言︰葡萄牙语（官方语），但各部族仍使用自己的语言。宗教：伊斯兰教，传统宗教。货币︰非洲金融共同体法郎。境内大部分为低地、沼泽和高地。几内亚－比索属开发中经济，以农业为主。腰果和花生为主要经济作物。政府形式是多党共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。

早在1,000多年前，几内亚－比索沿海地区已有使用铁器的农耕者，他们善於种植水稻和旱稻，并成为邻近苏丹西部地区的主要海盐供应者。约在同一时期，该地区划归马利帝国的势力范围，并成为其纳贡国，称加布王国。1546年以後，加布王国实际上已自治；该王国的残部一直延续到1867年。最早跨海来到几内亚沿海地区的是葡萄牙人。葡萄牙人从几内亚地区贩运奴隶至维德角。葡萄牙人声称对整个几内亚－比索拥有主权，但他们实际能控制的范围很有限。奴隶贸易的终止迫使葡萄牙人向内陆寻求新的利益。葡萄牙人对内陆的征服进展缓慢，且遭到激烈反抗；直到1915年殖民活动才初告完成，但零星的抵抗一直持续到1936年。几内亚－比索於1974年宣告独立。1960年代开始的游击战，经过十多次与葡萄牙的交战，几内亚－比索终於在1974年宣告独立。但境内政治动乱不断，1980年军事政变，推翻政府。1984年颁布新宪法。1994年举行第一次多党选举。1998年发生激烈内战，接着1999年军事政变。

English version：

Guinea-Bissau

formerly (until 1974)Portuguese GuineaCountry, western Africa. Its territory includes the Bijagós Archipelago, off the Atlantic coast to the southwest. Area: 13,948 sq mi (36,125 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 1,179,000. Capital: Bissau. The four major ethnic groups are the Balanta Brassa, Fulani, Malinke, and Mandyako. Language: Portuguese (official); each tribe speaks its own vernacular. Religion: Islam; traditional beliefs. Currency: CFA franc. Most of the country consists of low, marshy terrain and flat plateau. The climate is generally hot and tropical. Much of the country's wildlife is aquatic; crocodiles, snakes, and such birds as pelicans and flamingos abound. It has a developing, primarily agricultural economy; cashews and peanuts are the main cash crops. It is a multiparty republic with one legislative house, its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. More than 1,000 years ago the coast of Guinea-Bissau was occupied by iron-using agriculturists. They grew irrigated and dry rice and were also the major suppliers of marine salt to the western Sudan. At about the same time, it came under the influence of the Mali empire and became a tributary kingdom known as Gabú. After 1546 Gabú was virtually autonomous; vestiges of the kingdom lasted until 1867. The earliest overseas contacts came in the 15th century with the Portuguese, who imported slaves from the Guinea area to the offshore Cape Verde Islands. Portuguese control of Guinea-Bissau was marginal despite their claims to sovereignty there. The end of the slave trade forced the Portuguese inland in search of new profits. Their subjugation of the interior was slow and sometimes violent; it was not effectively achieved until 1915, though sporadic resistance continued until 1936. Guerrilla warfare in the 1960s led to the country's independence in 1974, but political turmoil continued and the government was overthrown by a military coup in 1980. A new constitution was adopted in 1984, and the first multiparty elections were held in 1994. A destructive civil war in 1998 was followed by a military coup in 1999.