Bissau (Portuguese pronunciation:[biˈsaw]) is thecapital and largest city ofGuinea-Bissau. As of 2015,[update] it had a population of 492,004.[1] Bissau is located on theGeba River estuary, off theAtlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administrative and military center.
The term Bissau may have come from the name of a clan N'nssassun, in its plural form Bôssassun.[2] Intchassu (Bôssassu) was the name given to the nephew of King Mecau—the first sovereign of theisland of Bissau—son of his sister Pungenhum. Bôssassu formed a clan of thePapel peoples.[3]
From well before the arrival of Europeans to the early 20th century, the island of Bissau was governed as a kingdom inhabited by thePapel people. According to oral tradition, the kingdom was founded by Mecau, the son of the king ofQuinara (Guinala), who moved to the area with his pregnant sister, six wives, and subjects of his father's kingdom. The kingdom was composed of seven clans, descended from the sister and six wives. The Bossassun clan, which descends from the sister, inherited the throne.[2] The Kingdom of Bissau was highly stratified.[4] The king's coronation involved the practice of binding and beating the king, as the king should know what punishment felt like before administering it, as well as the presentation of a spear, the royal badge of office.[5] When the Portuguese began to trade there in the 16th century, the king of Bissau was among the most supportive monarchs of the region. In 1680 Bissau even helped the Portuguese in a conflict with the Papels of Cacheu.[6]
The city was founded in 1687 as aPortuguese trading post.[7] During this same periodFrench activities in the area were increasing. Although the king of Bissau Bacompolco refused them permission to build a fort, he did grant them a trading factory, from which they shipped thousands of slaves, among other things. In response the PortugueseConselho Ultramarino [pt] established the captaincy-general of Bissau, and by 1696 the town hada fort, a church, and a hospital.[8] It was the main emporium for trade on and south of theGeba river,[9] and was rivaling if not eclipsingCacheu in importance.[10]
Bacompulco died in 1696. King Incinhate emerged from the ensuing succession dispute despite tacit Portuguese opposition, and relations rapidly deteriorated.[11] When Captain-General Pinheiro tried to enforce Portugal's monopoly in defiance of the Papel policy of free trade, Incinhate surrounded the incomplete fort and threatened to massacre the inhabitants. Pinheiro later died in Papel custody.[12] Unable to enforce a trading monopoly or collect duties from foreign shipping, the Portuguese soon abandoned the fort.[13] They returned in 1753 but, faced with determined Papel resistance, were unable to build a new fort and left two years later.[8]
Thefort was rebuilt by theGrão Pará and Maranhão Company in 1775 to better project Portuguese power and store more slaves for shipment toBrazil.[8] Real control of the area, however, remained in the hands of the Papel kings.[14] In 1869, as part of an effort to more efficiently govern the territory, Bissau was raised to the status of commune.[15]
The decades on either side of the turn of the 20th century saw fierce resistance on the part of the Papels to colonial 'pacification campaigns.' In 1915 after 30 years of war, the Portuguese under the command of OfficerTeixeira Pinto and warlordAbdul Injai defeated the Kingdom of Bissau and permanently incorporated it intoPortuguese Guinea.[16]: 9 In 1941 the capital was transferred fromBolama to Bissau.[7] 1959 saw the bloody repression of a dockworkers' strike, a key event that pushed the nationalists towards armed resistance.[15]
After the declaration of independence by the anti-colonial guerrillas ofPAIGC in 1973, the capital of the rebel territories was declared to beMadina do Boe, while Bissau remained the colonial capital. The city was attacked in 1968 and 1971 by nationalist forces.[17] When Portugal granted independence, following themilitary coup of April 25 inLisbon, Bissau became the capital of the newly independent state.
Bissau was the scene of intense fighting during the beginning and end of theGuinea-Bissau Civil War in 1998 and 1999.[18] Much of the infrastructure was destroyed and most of the population fled. The city rebounded after peace returned, holding more than 25% of the country's population during the 2009 census and witnessing the erection of many new and rehabilitated buildings.[15]
On October 18, 2023, a city-wide blackout occurred due to an unpaid power bill to the Turkish power firmKarpowership which was over $15 million.[19]
View of downtown Bissau in the 1960s as the capital of Portuguese Guinea
Bissau is located on theGeba River estuary, off theAtlantic Ocean. The land surrounding the city is extremely low-lying, and the river is accessible to ocean-going vessels despite its modest discharge for about 80 kilometres (50 mi) beyond the city.
Almost no rain falls from November to May, but during the remaining five months of the year, the city receives around 2,000 millimetres (79 in) of rain.
Bissau is the country's largest city, major port, and educational, administrative, industrial and military center.Peanuts,hardwoods,copra,palm oil,milk products, andrubber are the chief products. Bissau is also the main city of the fishing and agricultural industry in the country.[23]
Bissau is served byOsvaldo Vieira International Airport, the country's sole international airport, which currently offers flights from six different airlines.
The main highway connecting Bissau to the rest of the nation and the continent is theTrans–West African Coastal Highway. There are also many smaller national highways that connect to other big cities such asBafatá andGabu.
Attractions include the Portuguese-builtFortaleza de São José da Amura barracks from the 18th century, containingAmílcar Cabral'smausoleum, the Pidjiguiti Memorial to the dockers killed in the Bissau Dockers' Strike on August 3, 1959, the Guinea-Bissau National Arts Institute, Bissau New Stadium and localbeaches.
Many buildings in the city were ruined during theGuinea-Bissau Civil War (1998–1999), including the Guinea-Bissau Presidential Palace and the Bissau French Cultural Centre (now rebuilt), and the city center is still underdeveloped. Because of the large population of Muslims in Bissau,Ramadan is also an important celebration.[28][29]
^Bowman, Joye L. (22 January 2009). "Abdul Njai: Ally and Enemy of the Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau, 1895–1919".The Journal of African History.27 (3):463–479.doi:10.1017/S0021853700023276.S2CID162344466.
^Furtado, Alexandre Brito Ribeiro (2005).Administração e Gestão da Educação na Guiné-Bissau: Incoerências e Descontinuidades [Administration and Management of Education in Guinea-Bissau: Inconsistencies and Discontinuities] (Doctorate thesis) (in Portuguese). Universidade de Aveiro.hdl:10773/1098.
Mendy, Peter Karibe; Lobban, Richard Andrew Jr. (2013).Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (4th ed.). Lanham: Scarecrow Press.ISBN978-0-8108-5310-2.
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