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FACTBOX-Impoverished Guinea-Bissau faces drugs threat
16 Nov 2008 13:37:53 GMT
 Source: Reuters
Nov 16 (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau, which held a parliamentary election on Sunday, has lurched from one political crisis to another since independence from Portugal in 1974.

There are fears that drug-traffickers using the small West African country to smuggle cocaine from Latin America to Europe could further undermine its stability.

Here are some facts about Guinea-Bissau:

* THE THREAT:

-- Guinea-Bissau, a tiny former Portuguese colony on the tip of West Africa, has become a major hub in the flow of cocaine from Latin America to Europe as traffickers have taken advantage of a jagged coastline and a weak state mired in crises.

-- Drugs are transported across the Atlantic by light aircraft or boat, then re-directed by plane or boat or on land on the next leg of their journey north to Europe.

-- Narcotics experts have said some members of the military have facilitated the trade by guaranteeing safe passage for planes and boats ferrying millions of dollars worth of drugs.

* THE ECONOMY:

-- Guinea-Bissau is ranked 175th out of 177 nations in the U.N. Development Programme's Human Development Index. Life expectancy at birth is less than 46 years.

-- Last month, the U.N. said in a report by its Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that sharp increases in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Guinea-Bissau could point to a surge in illegal proceeds from cocaine trafficking swelling its economy.

-- The report said Guinea Bissau, whose main export is cashew nuts, and after years of little or no FDI, had attracted $42 million of FDI in 2006, equal to a sixth of GDP.

-- Cashew nuts made up 90 percent of Guinea-Bissau's official exports. Exports for 2008 are forecast by the IMF to total nearly $94 million, against $71 million in 2007. Cashew nuts are expected to account for $87 million of the 2008 total.

* THE COUNTRY:

AREA: 28,120 sq km: Guinea-Bissau is bordered to the north by Senegal and to the east and southeast by Guinea. About the size of Taiwan, it is flat, densely forested and dissected by many rivers.

POPULATION: 1.6 million.

LANGUAGES: The official language is Portuguese but Portuguese-based Creole is the lingua franca. The most common native languages are Mande and Fulah.

CAPITAL: Bissau.

ETHNICITY: Balante 27 percent, Fulani 23 percent, Malinke 12 percent. There are also Mandyako, Pepel and other minorities.

RELIGION: Around two thirds practise traditional African religions; nearly one third are Muslim and there is a Catholic community.

* Most people are subsistence farmers. Cashew nuts, palm kernels and cotton are the main cash crops. Livestock, timber production and fishing are also important. There are deposits of bauxite and phosphates and unexploited offshore oil reserves.

* Since formal independence in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has been torn by a series of coups and uprisings. A 1998/99 civil war destroyed much of the very limited infrastructure.

* In 1961, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) began a guerrilla war against Portuguese rule. It unilaterally declared independence in 1973 and ruled a single-party state until 1991.


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