Guinea-Bissau

The Republic if Guinea-Bissau (República da Guiné-Bissau) is a small, West African nation that was once a Portuguese colonial possession. Part of the Mali Empire from the 13th to 16th centuries, the region later rose to prominence as part of the Kaabu (or Gabu) Empire. As early as 1446, Portuguese explorers and traders began landing on the coast seeking sources for gold and slaves. The first Portuguese forts were built in 1480 (followed by British, Dutch and Danish), and a profitable trade in black slaves established, for which the region later earned the nickname Slave Coast. European presence was largely limited to the coastal regions, and as slavery declined only the Portuguese remained in Guinea. By 1915, after three decades of military campaigning to suppress local African leaders, the boundaries of the present nation were established as Portuguese Guinea (Guiné Portuguesa).

Beginning in 1956, the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde or PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) was established, and by 1961 was waging a guerilla war against the Portuguese. Supported by several Eastern European countries and operating out of safe areas in neighboring Senegal and Guinea, the PAIGC were nevertheless outnumbered by Portuguese troops, and managed by 1973 to secure control over only parts of the interior. Nevertheless, the guerillas officially declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau in September of that year, although in reality it was only after the military coup d'etat in Portugal in 1974 that genuine independence was granted.

The nation was controlled by a revolutionary council until 1984. The first multi-party elections were held in 1994, but an army uprising in 1998 led to the president's ousting and sparked the a civil war pitting government forces against guerilla elements from June 1998 to May 1999. Elections were held again in 2000 and Kumba Ialá was elected president.