Administrative division of Guinea-Bissau

The administrative division of Guinea-Bissau is the vertical administrative structure of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau . The country is located on the West African coast on the Atlantic Ocean and consists to a small extent of islands.

Guinea-Bissau is divided into three provinces, which are divided into eight regions ( Regiões ) and one equivalent autonomous sector ( Setor autônomo de Bissau ). The eight regions are made up of a total of 38 sectors ( setores ).

history

Map of Guinea-Bissau, 1906

Portuguese Guinea formed a joint province with Cape Verde until 1879 , and since 1890 it has been a separate province. In 1912 the former military and local administrative units were unified into seven civil districts (Bolama, Bissau, Geba, Cacheu, Farim, Buba and Cacine). This structure was changed in 1916, and from then on there were two districts ( Concelhos ) and nine simpler administrative districts (Geba, Farim, Cacheu, Buba, Cacine, Bijagós, Brames, Costa de Baixo and Balantas) in Portuguese Guinea with Bolama and Bissau . By 1922, the number of wards had risen to 14 before being reduced to seven (Cacheu, Canchungo, Farim, Mansoa, Bafatá, Buba and Bubaque) in 1927. The reason was improved connections and a more peaceful development between the colonial rulers and the ancestral residents, so that the administration became increasingly easier.

In 1963, the administrative structure of Portuguese Guinea was reorganized with the "political-administrative status of the Province of Guinea" ( Estatuto Político-Administrativo da Província da Guiné ). Henceforth there were nine independent circles ( concelhos ): Concelho de Bissau, Concelho de Bissorã, Concelho de Bolama, Concelho de Bafatá, Concelho de Catió, Concelho de Gabu, Concelho de Mansoa, Concelho de Farim and Concelho de Cacheu .

There were also three simpler administrative districts: Circunscrição de Bijagós, Circunscrição de Fulacunda and Circunscrição de São Domingos .

The Portuguese colonial war, which also flared up in Portuguese Guinea in 1963 , has not been very successful for the Portuguese armed forces since the beginning. In addition, due to the relative isolation of the country and the limited Portuguese presence in the interior of the country, the independence movement PAIGC was able to steadily expand its sphere of influence and set up its own administrative structures early on. In 1973 the PAIGC declared the War of Independence in Guinea-Bissau won and the country independent. In the same year a first constitution was passed, which also roughly regulated the administrative structure.

Of all the former Portuguese colonies in Africa, Guinea-Bissau therefore shows the least similarities to the administrative structure of Portugal , even if the nine earlier districts were taken over into the administrative structure of the independent Guinea-Bissau.

After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, democratic Portugal also recognized Guinea-Bissau's independence. As part of Portuguese-Guinea-Bissau cooperation, Portuguese institutions and authorities have since been supporting Guinea-Bissau in setting up its authorities (e.g. at the Guinea-Bissau Statistics Institute INE), including in the area of administration. However, the ongoing crises in the country prevented most of the projects.

structure

List of provinces

The division of the country into provinces represents the top level of the administrative structure of Guinea-Bissau. They roughly correspond to the NUTS 1 regions in Europe, for example the federal states in Germany. However, they are of no major administrative importance in Guinea-Bissau.

The regions of Guinea-Bissau

The national territory of Guinea-Bissau is made up of three provinces:

Província Leste (Eastern Province), with the Bafatá region and the Gabú region
Província Norte (northern province), with the Biombo region , the Cacheu region and the Oio region
Província Sul (South Province), with the Bolama Region , the Quinara Region and the Tombali Region

List of regions

The second level of the administrative structure of Guinea-Bissau is formed by the eight regions, in Europe roughly comparable to the NUTS 2 regions (for example, in Germany the administrative districts ). The autonomous sector around the capital Bissau is equivalent to a region and is usually managed as the ninth region.

province	region	ISO code	Capital
Leste	Bafatá region	`GW-BA`	Bafatá
Norte	Biombo region	`GW-BM`	Quinhámel
-	Bissau *	`GW-BS`	Bissau
Sul	Bolama region	`GW-BL`	Bolama
Norte	Cacheu region	`GW-CA`	Cacheu
Leste	Gabú region	`GW-GA`	Gabu
Norte	Oio region	`GW-OI`	Farim
Sul	Quinara region	`GW-QU`	Buba
Sul	Tombali region	`GW-TU`	Catió

* autonomous sector, equated with a region

List of sectors

The eight regions of Guinea-Bissau are divided into 38 sectors. They are the third level of the administrative structure of Guinea-Bissau, roughly comparable to the European NUTS 3 regions (for example, in Germany the rural districts ). In terms of importance, they come closest to the concelhos in Portugal, and thus represent the most influential administrative unit in the country Occasionally, the lack of smaller units below the large-scale sectors is criticized, as a result of which only insufficient proximity to the citizen and no efficient local administration would be achieved.

Of the 38 sectors, 37 are subordinate to the eight regions, while the Bissau sector forms an autonomous sector that is on an equal footing with the regions.

The youngest sector, the UN, was created in 2004 by outsourcing it from the 90 islands and islets of the Bolama region , which previously belonged to the Caravela and Bubaque sectors .

Province ( Província )	Region ( Região )	Sector ( Setor )
Leste	Bafatá region	Bafatá
		Bambadinca
		Contuboel
		Galomaro
		Gá-Mamudo
		Xitole
	Gabú region	Madina do Boé
		Gabu
		Pirada
		Pitches
		Sonaco
Norte	Biombo region	Quinhamel
		Prábis
		Safim
	Cacheu region	Bigene
		Bula
		Cacheu
		Caió
		Canchungo
		São Domingos
	Oio region	Bissorã
		Farim
		Mansabá
		Mansôa
		Nhacra
Sul	Bolama region	Bolama
		Caravela
		Bubaque
		U.N
	Quinara region	Buba
		Empada
		Fulacunda
		Tite
	Tombali region	Bedanda
		Catió
		Cacine
		Quebo
(autonomous)	(autonomous)	Bissau

Traditional administrative structures

In addition to the state administrative structure, Guinea-Bissau has maintained a traditional system. According to the principle of elders, the regulos are the local heads of the 117 traditional administrative districts of Guinea-Bissau.

Although the régulos do not have administrative powers, they are in fact essential pillars of the administration of Guinea-Bissau. This is mainly due to the fact that the presence of the state administration is limited to the urban areas of the sectors and the rural population continues to rely on the administrative and legal help of the Régulos . This is why the state administration also relies on the Régulos to reach the rural population away from the main towns of the sectors, for example in the run-up to elections. On such occasions, assemblies of all régulos take place.

Individual evidence

↑ Portuguese article on the administrative history of Guinea-Bissau , accessed June 6, 2014

↑ Article from September 24, 2009 ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the Guinea-Swiss website www.didinho.org, accessed on June 6, 2014 @1@ 2

↑ Guinea-Bissau's administrative profile on the website of the Pan-African Ministerial Conference on Decentralization and Development AMCOD ( page 3 of the pfd-Retrieval Contexto geral ), accessed on June 6, 2014

↑ ^a ^b Article from August 18, 2011 (port.) Of the news blog Novas da Guiné Bissau , accessed on June 6, 2014

[1] Portuguese article on the administrative history of Guinea-Bissau , accessed June 6, 2014