Bolama is an administrative

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

, consisting primarily of the Bijagós Archipelago of the country's southern coast, together with a small coastal strip centred on the coastal town of São João. It has an area of 2,624 km². Its capital is

Bolama Bolama may refer to several locations in Guinea-Bissau: * Bolama Region * Bolama Island * Bolama (town) Bolama is the main town of Bolama Island and the capital of the Bolama Region. Though once the capital of Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea Biss ...

, on the island of the same name. It is a coastal region covered with

Mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

swamps, rain forest and tangled forest and receives an annual rainfall of more than . As of 2009, the total population of the region was 32,424, with the urban population being 9,118 and rural being 23,306. The sex ratio of the region is 97 females for every hundred males. As of 2009, the net activity rate was 48.88 per cent, proportion of employed labour force was 33.32 per cent, proportion of labour force was 75.77 and the proportion of potentially active population was 33.32 per cent. The absolute poverty rate, people earning less than $2 a day, in the region stood at 51.6 per cent, with a regional contribution of 20.6 per cent to the national poverty totals.

Administration

Bolama is divided into four administrative sectors: * Bolama, comprising the islands of

and

Galinhas Galinhas ( pt, Ilha das Galinhas) is an island in the Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau. Galinhas is located about 25 km southwest of Bolama town. The Canal de Bolama separates it from Bolama Island, the easternmost island of the group th ...

, and some adjacent islands in the north-east of the region, together with the coastal strip; *

Bubaque Bubaque is one of the Bijagós Islands in Guinea-Bissau, and is also the name of its main town. The island has a population of 6,427, the town Bubaque 4,299 (2009 census). The area of the island is 75 km2, it is 13.6 km long and 8 ...

, consisting of various islands including

, Orangozinho, Meneque, Soga, Rubane,

Roxa Roxa
in the Catalogue of Islands at João Viera, all in the south-east of the Bijagós Archipelago; * Caravela, consisting of various islands including Caravela,

Carache Carache is an island in the northwestern part of the Bissagos Islands group, Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisa ...

Enu ENU, also known as ''N''-ethyl-''N''-nitrosourea (chemical formula C3H7N3O2), is a highly potent mutagen. For a given gene in mice, ENU can induce 1 new mutation in every 700 loci. It is also toxic at high doses. The chemical is an alkylating a ...

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

, Ponta and Maio, all in the north-west of the Bijagós Archipelago; * Uno, consisting of the islands

Uno Uno or UNO may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Television * "Uno" (''Better Call Saul''), premiere episode of the American TV series ''Better Call Saul'' * ''Uno'' (film), a 2004 Norwegian drama film * Rai Uno, an Italian TV channel **' ...

Orango Orango is one of the Bijagós Islands, located off the coast of mainland Guinea-Bissau. At , it is the largest island in the archipelago. The island has a population of 1,250 (2009 census); the largest village is Eticoga.

, Uracane, Eguba, Unhacomo, Unhocomozinho and others, in the south-west of the region. Guinea-Bissau unilaterally proclaimed its independence from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

on 24 September 1973 after wars and diplomatic political actions under the

Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence fro ...

(PAIGC), Portugal acknowledge the independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1974 and Cape Verde on 5 July 1975. PAIGC ruled both the countries after independence. While international funds came pouring in for the economic development of the nation, the party was accused of misusing power in authoritarian manner (Guinea-Bissau only). In 14th November 1980, there was the first military coup in Guinea-Bissau led by João Bernardo Vieira, Nino, removing Luis Cabral from the Presidency of the Republic. The one-party state mechanism was turbulent during the period of 1980s and 1990s with army taking control of power more frequently and the resultant civil war resulted in loss of property and lives. To decentralize power, an administrative region and eight regions were created. There has not been any local administration since the civil war of 1998-99 and all the social services are done by organs of civil society and other government agencies. There is minimal health and education services offered by the government and all the government departments have operated in a limited fashion. A transitional government was selected during 2003-4 with an adopted Public Transition Charter. The Military Committee appointed two civilians as interim President and Prime Minister. Elections were held for a five-year term on 24 July 2005 with a multi party representation. There was a military coup in 2012, after which EU and international donations stopped. The latest elections were held during April 2014 with 13 Presidential candidates and representation from 15 parties. The elections were monitored by 550 international observers. Jose Mario Vaz and his party, won the Presidential and parliamentary elections against the military backed

Nuno Gomes Nabiam Nuno Gomes Nabiam (born 17 November 1966) is a Bissau-Guinean politician who has been the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau since 28 February 2020. He is a political scientist and military officer who previously served as President of Guinea-Bis ...

Geography

Bolama is a low-lying coastal archipelago and the low-lying coastal areas are periodically submerged during high tide. All the coastal regions have a maximum elevation of . The internal region has plains, which are interspersed with ''rias''. There are lot of meandering rivers, many of them forming estuaries in the coastal regions. The principal river, Cacheu, flows through the region. The climate is hot and tropical and the region has two seasons. The onset of summer is from December to May with April - May period having temperature ranges from to . The rainy season is usually from May to November. The region receives an average rainfall of around compared to the inland regions, which receive . The coastal regions are covered with

swamps, rain forest and tangled forest.

Demographics

As of 2009, the total population of the region was 32,424, with the urban population being 9,118 and rural being 23,306. The sex ratio of the region is 97 females for every hundred males. The total resident population in the region is 32,424. The total agricultural population in the region is 7,540. The average number of household in the region is 6.7 and the density of the population is 12.4 km². The intercensal rate of average annual growth (adjusted data) is 2.39 per cent. The non-agricultural population in the country is 24,884. The total number of households per capita in the region is 4,839. The fraction of

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

in the region is 30.7 per cent,

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

is 14.90 per cent, animists is 24.60 per cent, not detailed was 25.70 per cent and people following no religion was 4.2 per cent.

Economy

As of 2009, the net activity rate was 48.88 per cent, proportion of employed labour force was 33.32 per cent, proportion of labour force was 75.77 and the proportion of potentially active population was 33.32 per cent. The major economic activity in the parts around the rivers and the coastal areas was fishing, while it was agriculture in the inland areas. As of 2011, the total population which was active constitutes 60 per cent nationwide indicating there are lot of employed people. But the poverty rate was very high in the country with an estimated two-thirds below the poverty line. Out of the working population, an estimated 58.4 per cent are employed in freelance activities, while wage earners formed 42 per cent. The unemployment in the region as of 2001 was 10.2 per cent, compared to the capital Bissau which has 19.3 per cent. Totally 63.5 per cent were employed in agriculture (including forestry), 8.9 in industry and 6.1 per cent in public administration. As per IMF report in 2011, people who were engaged in agriculture were poorer compared to others, while educated and higher educated people earned more. The absolute poverty rate, people earning less than $2 a day, in the region stood at 51.6 per cent, with a regional contribution of 20.6 per cent to the national poverty totals.

References

External links