Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau: Political System
Guinea-Bissau is a presidential republic. The directly elected regional
councils send 150 members to the National Assembly every five years. This elects
the 15-member State Council, which acts as the executive. The heads of state are
also directly elected every five years. A one-time re-election is possible. According to Digopaul.com,
the
official name of the country is:
| República da Guiné-Bissau
Republic of Guinea Bissau |
National anthem
Esta é a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada (This is our beloved land)
has been the national anthem of Guinea-Bissau since 1974. The text and melody
were written by Amilcar Lopes Cabral in 1963.
| In Portuguese |
In the English translation |
| Sol, suor eo verde e mar,
Séculos de dor e esperança:
Esta é a terra dos nossos avós!
Fruto das nosas mãos,
Da flôr do nosso sangue:
Esta é a nossa pátria amada.Refrain:
Viva a pátria gloriosa!
Floriu nos céus a bandeira da luta.
Avante, contra o jugo estrangeiro!
Nós vamos construir
Na patria immortal
A paz eo progresso!
Nós vamos construir
Na patria immortal
A paz eo progresso! paz eo progresso!Ramos do mesmo tronco,
Olhos na mesma luz:
Esta é a força da nossa união!
Cantem o mar ea terra
A madrugada eo sol
Que a nossa luta fecundou.refrain |
Sun, sweat, algae and sea,
decades of pain and hope;
This is the land of our ancestors.
Fruit of our hands,
the flower of our blood;
This is our beloved land.Refrain:
Long live our glorious land!
The banner of our struggle
fluttered in the sky.
Forward against the foreign yoke!
Peace and Progress
We Will
Build Up In Our Immortal Land!
Peace and Progress
In Our Immortal Land!Branches of the same trunk,
eyes in the same light;
This is the power of our unity!
The sea and the land,
The dawn and the sun sing
That our struggle bore fruit!refrain |
National flag
The national flag (national flag) of Guinea-Bissau was officially introduced
on September 24, 1973. Based on flag descriptions by
Countryaah.com, the flag is interpreted as follows:
- Red stands for the blood that the people wore to achieve independence.
- Yellow symbolizes the fruits of labor and the harvest.
- Green stands for the tropical nature and for the hope for a happy future
- The black five-pointed star is a symbol for Africa and its black population.
Guinea-Bissau: Known People
Amílcar Cabral (1924-1973)
The Cape Verdean politician and independence fighter, who was
born in Bafatá in 1924, began his fight against the Portuguese colonial rulers
with the establishment of the PAIGC, the African Party for the independence
of Guinea and Cape Verde. He also campaigned for the independence of Cape
Verdes and Guinea abroad, to which the Portuguese military responded with
several assassination attempts. In 1973 Cabral was killed as a result of a
(failed) coup committed by part of the PAIGC army in Cape Verde. The day of
Amílcar Cabral's death is now a national holiday in Cape Verde.
Flora Gomes (born 1949)
The film director, who was born in Cadique in Guinea-Bissau, shot the first
fictional film ever made in Guinea-Bissau with his Mortu Nega in 1988. In 1992
Gomes' film Udju Azul di Yonta was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
Carlos Gomes Júnior (born 1949) In
1949 Carlos Gomes Júnior, also known as Cadogo, was born in Bolama,
Guinea-Bissau's current Prime Minister. Today's richest man in the country began
his political career during the war of independence against Portugal as a member
of the PAIGC, which ruled Guinea-Bissau until 1999.
Malam Bacai Sanhá (born 1947)
After Malam Sanhá had been President of Guinea-Bissau from 1999 to 2000, he was
re-elected in 2009.
João Bernardo Vieira (1939-2009)
The politician also known as Nino served as President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980
to 1999 and from 2005 to 2009. Vieira, who was also active during the War of
Independence, took up his first high office as Defense Minister in 1973. Vieira
was murdered by soldiers in 2009.
Guinea Bissau: animals
Mammals
Monkeys, including chimpanzees, are native to the tropical rainforests in the
south of the country. Guinea baboons, green monkeys, West African colobus
monkeys, Senegal Galagos and hussar monkeys also live here. There are also
warthogs, brush ear pigs and aardvarks in Guinea-Bissau, which feed on termites,
among other things.
Cape buffalo and various species of antelope such as the sitatunga (water kudu)
and even hippos can be found in Guinea-Bissau. All over Guinea-Bissau there are
also hyraxes, porcupines, gray footed squirrels, Mozambique hares, pangolins,
but also various types of rats and mice.
The big cats in Guinea-Bissau include pardle rollers, which are similar to the
crawling cats and can be up to 60 cm long. Other predators are the lynx-like
caracals, wild cats, servals, as well as spotted hyenas and leopards. Of the
large mammal species, elephants and hippos still live in some protected areas.
Reptiles, amphibians (excluding venomous snakes)
The largest turtle colony in West Africa can be found on some of the islands
in the Bissagós Archipelago. Crocodiles live in the mangroves and turtles lay
their eggs in the sand on the country's beaches.
Non-poisonous snakes, strangler snakes
- African house snake (Boaedon fuliginosus)
- Rock python (Python sebae)
- Ball python (Python regius)
Poisonous snakes
- African spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis)
- Common puff adder (Bitis arietans)
- Striped house snake (Boaedon lineatus)
- Green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis)
- Rhinoceros viper Bitis rhinoceros)
- Black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)
- Black and white cobra (
Senegal Kobra) - Black and white cobra (Naja senegalensis)
- uraeus snake (Naja haje)
insects
Among the numerous mosquitoes that occur is the Anopheles mosquito, the
carrier of malaria. Yellow fever is transmitted by the yellow fever mosquito
(Stegomyia aegypti), which also transmits dengue fever and zika fever. There is
also the tsetse fly, which is known to be the carrier of sleeping sickness. You
can also find termites, flies, bees and wasps, to name just a few of the local
insects. Numerous - often very colorful - butterflies also live in
Guinea-Bissau.
Wandering
ants Three subfamilies of ants are called real wandering ants, the Ecitoninae,
Dorylinae and Aenictinae. In Guinea-Bissau there are some species of the genus
Dorylus from the subfamily Dorylinae and some species of the genus Aenictus from
the subfamily Aenictinae. This genus is divided into about 135 species and 30
subspecies. The wandering ants of the genus Dorylus live in groups of up to 20
million specimens. They don't build nests but move around all the time. Your
queen can grow up to 7 cm.
Goliath beetles
The Goliath beetles (Goliathus) form a genus from the subfamily of the rose
beetles (Cetoniinae) in the order of the beetles (Coleoptera). These nocturnal
beetles can reach a length of up to 10 cm and inhabit the rainforests and tree
savannas of the country. There are the following species of the genus:
- Goliathus goliatus
- Goliathus albosignatus
- Goliathus regius
- Goliathus cacicus
- Goliathus orientalis
Birds
The native birds of Guinea-Bissau include, for example, gray-headed parrots,
white pelicans, red-billed tropical birds, white-bellied gannets and little
grebes. There are also flamingos, cormorants, guinea fowl, herons as well as
darters and storks. In the Cufada Laguna Nature Park in particular, numerous
migratory birds from Europe overwinter - in addition to the native and often
rare and exotic bird species. These include crested larks, house martins,
Graubülbüls and stilt birds.
Water world
In the sea off the coast of the country, there are numerous tropical fish,
whales, dolphins, African manatees - a species of manatee - and various types of
shark.
Guinea Bissau: plants
More than a third of the area of Guinea-Bissau is covered by tropical
rainforest, some of which extend to the coast. Sometimes there is a strip on the
coast, which consists of swamp areas. The further you get inland, the more you
will find savannah landscapes. A third of the area of Guinea-Bissau consists
of nature reserves with a diverse flora and fauna.
The numerous rivers that flow into the Atlantic are lined with mangrove
forests. The Cacheu River Mangrove Nature Park is one of the largest mangrove
areas in Africa.
Rice, corn, millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane as well as peanuts, cashews and
oil palms are grown in the country.
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