Guinea Bissau:
In May 1999, President Joao Bernardo Vieira was kicked out of office by a military junta. After that, things dissolved into a civil war. An armistice was finally put in place, but in February, 2000, fighting broke out again. Civilians fled the capital city, and food and water began to run out. Most of the country's 6,000 soldiers have joined the insurgency.
Guinea-Bissau is tucked into the northwest corner of Guinea . A small country, it has the dubious distinction of being one of the poorest countries in the world. It's a former Portuguese colony, and most people (90 per cent) are Muslim. The richest people are those of mixed Portuguese-African descent, even though they make up only about two per cent of the population. As for environmental concerns, the poverty of the country works in its favour. With barely any industry and a small population, the environment is mostly intact. Few children get even a rudimentary education, the life expectancy is only 42 years, and most people have a hard time just putting enough food on the table.
This page last updated February 21, 2000.