(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52814000/gif/_52814476_guinea_bissau.gif)
Once hailed as a potential model for African development, Guinea-Bissau is now one of the poorest countries in the world.
• Full name: The Republic of Guinea-Bissau
• Population: 1.6 million (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Bissau
• Area: 36,125 sq km (13,948 sq miles)
• Major languages: Portuguese, Crioulo, African languages
• Major religions: Indigenous beliefs, Islam, Christianity
• Life expectancy: 48 years (men), 51 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) = 100 centimes
• Main exports: Cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn timber
• GNI per capita: US $510 (World Bank, 2009)
• Internet domain: .gw
• International dialling code: +245
It has a massive foreign debt and an economy which relies heavily on foreign aid.
Compounding this, the country experienced a bitter civil war in the late 1990s in which thousands were killed, wounded and displaced.
Formerly Portuguese Guinea, Guinea-Bissau won independence from Portugal in 1974 after a long struggle spearheaded by the left-wing African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). For the next six years post-independence leader Luis Cabral presided over a command economy.
In 1980 he was overthrown by his army chief, Joao Vieira, who accused him of corruption and mismanagement. Mr Vieira led the country towards a market economy and a multi-party system, but was accused of crony capitalism, corruption and autocracy. In 1994 he was chosen as president in Guinea-Bissau's first free elections.
BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13443186)