Saturday, January 23, 2016

Visit Guinea-Bissau


Visit Guinea-Bissau


Guinea-Bissau officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese: República da Guiné-Bissau, is a country in West Africa. It covers 36,125 km² (nearly 14,000 sq mi) with an estimated population of 1,704,000. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of theMali Empire. Visit Guinea-Bissau 

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Parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were under some rule by the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. In the 19th century, it was colonized as Portuguese Guinea.

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Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with Guinea (formerly French Guinea). Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since independence, and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term.
Only 14% of the population speaks Portuguese, established as the official language in the colonial period. Almost half the population (44%) speaks Crioulo, a Portuguese-based creole language, and the remainder speak a variety of native African languages.

The main religions are African traditional religions and Islam; there is a Christian (mostly Roman Catholic) minority. The country's per-capita gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world.
Guinea-Bissau is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Latin Union, Community of Portuguese Language Countries, La Francophonie and the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone.
14% of the population speaks the official language Portuguese, the language of government and national communication during centuries of colonial rule. 44% speak Kriol, a Portuguese-based creole language, which is effectively a national language of communication among groups. The remainder speak a variety of native African languages unique to ethnicities.
Most Portuguese and Mestiços speak one of the African languages and Kriol as second languages. French is also taught in schools because Guinea-Bissau is surrounded by French-speaking nations. Guinea-Bissau is a full member of theFrancophonie.
Throughout the 20th century, most Bissau-Guineans practiced some form of Animism. In the early 21st century, many have adopted Islam, which is now practiced by 50% of the country's population. Most of Guinea-Bissau's Muslims are of the Sunnidenomination with approximately 2% belonging to the Ahmadiyya sect. Approximately 10% of the country's population belong to the Christian community, and 40% continue to hold Indigenous beliefs. These statistics can be misleading, however, as many residents practice syncretic forms of Islamic and Christian faiths, combining their practices with traditional African beliefs.
Education is compulsory from the age of 7 to 13. The enrollment of boys is higher than that of girls. In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 53.5%, with higher enrollment ratio for males (67.7%) compared to females (40%).
Child labor is very common. In 2011 the literacy rate was estimated at 55.3% (68.9% male, and 42.1% female).
Guinea-Bissau has several secondary schools (general as well as technical) and a number of universities, to which an institutionally autonomous Faculty of Law as well as a Faculty of Medicine have been added.
The music of Guinea-Bissau is usually associated with the polyrhythmicgumbe genre, the country's primary musical export. However, civil unrest and other factors have combined over the years to keep gumbe, and other genres, out of mainstream audiences, even in generally syncretist African countries.
The calabash is the primary musical instrument of Guinea-Bissau, and is used in extremely swift and rhythmically complex dance music. Lyrics are almost always in Guinea-Bissau Creole, a Portuguese-basedcreole language, and are often humorous and topical, revolving around current events and controversies, especially AIDS. Visit Guinea-Bissau
The word gumbe is sometimes used generically, to refer to any music of the country, although it most specifically refers to a unique style that fuses about ten of the country's folk music traditions. Tina and tinga are other popular genres, while extent folk traditions include ceremonial music used in funerals, initiations and other rituals, as well as Balanta brosca and kussundé, Mandinga djambadon, and the kundere sound of the Bissagos Islands. Visit Guinea-Bissau
Rice is a staple in the diet of residents near the coast and millet a staple in the interior. Fish, shellfish, fruits and vegetables are commonly eaten along with cereal grains, milk,curd and whey. The Portuguese encouraged peanut production. Vigna subterranea(Bambara groundnut) and Macrotyloma geocarpum (Hausa groundnut) are also grown.Black-eyed peas are also part of the diet. Palm oil is harvested.
Common dishes include soups and stews. Common ingredients include yams, sweet potato, cassava, onion, tomato and plantain. Spices, peppers and chilis are used in cooking, including Aframomum melegueta seeds (Guinea pepper). Visit Guinea-Bissau
Flora Gomes is an internationally renowned film director; his most famous film is Nha Fala (English: My Voice). Gomes's Mortu Nega (Death Denied) (1988) was the first fiction film and the second feature film ever made in Guinea-Bissau. (The first feature film was N’tturudu, by director Umban u’Kest in 1987.) At FESPACO 1989,Mortu Nega won the prestigious Oumarou Ganda Prize. Mortu Nega is in Creole with English subtitles. In 1992, Gomes directed Udju Azul di Yonta, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Gomes has also served on the boards of many Africa-centric film festivals. Visit Guinea-Bissau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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