ABSTRACT
More than 1,000 years ago the coast of Guinea-Bissau was occupied by agriculturists using iron implements. They grew irrigated and dry rice and were also the major suppliers of marine salt to the western Sudan. The rivers of Guinea and the islands of Cape Verde were among the first areas in Africa explored by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Portugal claimed Portuguese Guinea in 1446, but few trading posts were established before 1600. The slave trade declined in the nineteenth century, and Bissau, originally founded as a military and slave-trading center in 1765, grew to become the major commercial center. Portugal lost part of Guinea to French West Africa, including the center of earlier Portuguese commercial interest, the Casamance River region. Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In June 2019, Jose Mario Vaz became the first president in Guinea-Bissau’s history to complete a full presidential term.
