Buba is the largest city in southern

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

and the capital of the Quinara region. Itlies on the extreme end of the Rio Grande de Buba, near the Contanhez National Park, and has a population 6,815 (2008 est).

History

The area that is now Buba was once a part of the Biafada kingdom of Biguba. The city's name is a corruption of this state, although the modern town was not prominent until the 19th century. Buba was the most important commercial center in

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...

from the early 1840s to the late 1870s. During a civil war in Forria in the late 19th century

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Fula alpha ...

''rimbe'' (noble) forces attacked Buba looking for escaped slaves, who had fled to the town for Portuguese protection. The instability led to a collapse in the peanut trade, crushing the town's economy. By the time the Portuguese had established control over the entire area, the economic heart of the colony had moved to

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administr ...

and Bafata, leaving Buba a backwater. The Portuguese constructed an army camp in Buba, which, shortly after independence, was used as the headquarters for a Dutch Foreign Aid Project aimed at providing the villages of Quinara and Tombali with safe drinking water. The construction of a plywood factory through Swedish Foreign Aid in 1982 boosted the economy and growth of Buba, as it installed a steam engine which produced enough electricity to supply the whole town. During his presidency, former

President of Guinea-Bissau This article lists the presidents of Guinea-Bissau, since the establishment of the office of president in 1973. Since Guinea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence from Portugal on 24 September 1973, there have been six presidents, f ...

Kumba Yala Kumba is a city in the Southwest Region of Cameroon and the administrative capital of Meme Division. It is one of the largest and most economically significant cities in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. Known for its vibrant commercial ac ...

planned to move the

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

to Buba. Those plans have been dropped since he was deposed in a coup d'état.

Economy

Construction was planned for a new railway, road, and deepwater port that could host three 70-tonne vessels at any given time, built by

Angola Bauxite Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west- central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in ...

in order to export

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

. The

2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état On 12 April 2012, a coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau was staged by elements of the armed forces about two weeks before the second round of a 2012 Guinea-Bissau presidential election, presidential election between Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ial ...

saw the project suspended.

References

{{Authority control Quinara region Populated places in Guinea-Bissau Sectors of Guinea-Bissau