Bafatá
| Bafatá | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 12 ° 10 ′ N , 14 ° 39 ′ W | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Guinea-Bissau | ||
| Leste | |||
| region | Bafatá | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | GW-BA | ||
| surface | 837 km² | ||
| Residents | 68,956 (2009) | ||
| density | 82.4 Ew. / km² | ||
Bafatá is a city with 28,298 inhabitants (as of 2009) in the center of Guinea-Bissau , at the same time the capital of the Bafatá region of the same name and seat of the Catholic diocese of Bafatá , to which more than half of the country belongs. It is the largest city in the country after the capital Bissau .
The city is the seat of a sector of the same name with an area of 837 km² and 68,956 inhabitants (as of 2007), mainly Fulbe (60%) and Mandinka (22.9%). The Portuguese who dominated here until 1973 are now a small minority in Bafatá, u. a. an old trading family in the historic lower town and the only driving instructor in the region who runs the Ponto de Encontro restaurant in the upper town with his wife, who is also Portuguese .
In the city itself, the former center of the lower town on the Geba river bank is hardly inhabited, its wide avenues are empty and the large colonial buildings are either abandoned or used as administrative buildings and trading houses. The accommodation for the majority of the population and the colorful street market are located above and today form the actual center of the upper town.
Bafatá is in the middle of an area with rich fauna, especially monkeys and macaques .
history
The city of Bafatá was founded as a trading post by the Portuguese, who began to develop Portuguese Guinea in 1640 via the numerous rivers and bays . By 1880 it was already an important trading center from which agricultural products were shipped.
In 1913 Bafatá was elevated to a small town ( Vila ).
In the course of the Portuguese colonial war , which lasted in Guinea-Bissau from 1963 to 1974 and was waged particularly intensively, the Portuguese armed forces found it increasingly difficult to assert themselves against the PAIGC guerrilla. After the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, they left the city. As a result, many Portuguese and Portugal-friendly residents moved from the city, which has now lost its importance as a commercial, administrative and garrison town and transport hub.
Sights and culture
In 1924 Amílcar Cabral was born here, decisive leader of the country's war of independence. His birth house has been restored since 2011 with the help of UNESCO and expanded into a museum that can be visited free of charge (donations are accepted on site).
The EU supports the project Panos de Ponte Nova - Tchossan Soninké the traditional local fabric dyeing. The artistically colored cloths are made and sold on site by women from the Bafatá sector.
From the Portuguese colonial times, a number of colonial buildings, especially from the 1940s to 1960s, have been preserved in the lower town, including the main church, the cinema, the historic center (including the house where Cabrals was born), the former city park on the river bank with its memorial stones, the new Arabian old market (also Arabian market) and some mansions and city villas.
The former cinema is looked after by Canjajá Mané, who also takes care of the home games of the local football club Sporting Clube de Bafatá. The former projectionist and the closed cinema were the central themes of the Portuguese documentary "Bafatá Films Clube", shot in 2012 . With the help of the cinema, director Silas Tiny portrays the sleeping city that hangs over its colonial history and waits for a future.
Transport and economy
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The city is located on the east bank of the Geba River , which is navigable for around 145 kilometers from its mouth near the state capital Bissau . The left tributary Colufe flows into the city . A bridge spans the Geba in the north of the city. The old port facilities from Portuguese colonial times, however, have largely fallen into disrepair.
In the east of the city there is an airfield with the ICAO code GGBF.
An important branch of industry is the manufacture of bricks , and the place is also important as a regional administrative and commercial center.
The manufacture and dyeing of cloths has a long tradition here, but has since been almost forgotten due to cheaper products from neighboring countries and is now being promoted again.
structure
The main town Bafatá is divided into 27, with subdivisions in 60 districts ( Bairros ).
The Bafatá sector comprises a total of 176 localities, mostly rural villages ( Tabancas ).
The most important localities in the sector include (as of 2009):
- Bafatá (28,298 inhabitants)
- Banduma (also Sintchã Mamadu, 1,015 inhabitants)
- Bidjine (3,047 inhabitants in three districts)
- Bissaque (852 inhabitants)
- Bricama (842 inhabitants)
- Cantauda (896 inhabitants)
- Cumuda (834 inhabitants)
- Cuntchumpa (549 inhabitants)
- Djabicunda (4,510 inhabitants in five districts)
- Entroncamento de Contuboel (656 inhabitants)
- Jana (1,142 inhabitants)
- Tabato (223 inhabitants), a village known for its balafon tradition, location of two films
Sports
The sports club Sporting Clube de Bafatá , founded in 1937 and a subsidiary of the Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon , is the most important football club in the sector.
He plays in the country's top division, the Campeonato Nacional da Guiné-Bissau . In 1987 and 2008 he was national champion.
He plays his home games in the Estádio da Rocha, which has a capacity of around 5,000 .
Town twinning
sons and daughters of the town
Batafá is the birthplace of Amílcar Cabral (1924–1973), the national hero of the war of independence against the Portuguese (see: History of Guinea-Bissau ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ INE População por região, sector, localidade e por sexo - RGPH2009, page 64
- ↑ Annual Statistical Report Guinea-Bissau 2015 (p. 10), PDF available from the National Statistics Office INE on December 16, 2017
- ↑ Inhabitants by region, sector and town by gender, 2009 census (p. 64), PDF access from the National Statistics Office INE of December 16, 2017
- ↑ Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau . , Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 73
- ↑ Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. , Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 11f
- ↑ Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. , Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 76
- ↑ Bafatá in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ The Bafatá Films Clube in the overview of the productions 2012 , website of the film company Real Ficção, accessed on December 16, 2017
- ↑ Entry of Bafata airfield on www.fallingrain.com (English), accessed on December 16, 2017
- ↑ Inhabitants by region, sector and town by gender, 2009 census (p. 64ff), PDF access from the INE National Statistics Office of January 23, 2018
- ↑ Entry on Sporting Clube de Bafatá on www.fussballzz.de, accessed on December 16, 2017
- ↑ Overview of the town twinning of Portuguese municipalities in Guinea-Bissau , Association of Portuguese Local Governments (ANMP), accessed on December 16, 2017