Guinea-Bissau - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Guinea-Bissau. This small country is swampy along its western coast and is low-lying inland. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 505 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

Geographical data of Guinea-Bissau
Location Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Geographic coordinates 12 00 N, 15 00 W
Map references Africa
Tarrain mostly low-lying coastal plain with a deeply indented estuarine coastline rising to savanna in east; numerous off-shore islands including the Arquipelago Dos Bijagos consisting of 18 main islands and many small islets
Natural Resources fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum
Natural Hazards hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
Irrigated Land 250 sq km (2012)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Major aquifers Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin
Land Boundaries 762 km
Border Countries Guinea 421 km; Senegal 341 km
Coastline 350 km
Climate tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
Area
Total Area
Land Area 28,120 sq km
Water Area 8,005 sq km
comparative Area slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut
Maritime Claims
Territorial sea 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone 200 nm
Elevations
Highest point Dongol Ronde 277 m
Lowest point Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation 70 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 30% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 14% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 8.9% (2022 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 7.1% (2022 est.)
Forest 69.8% (2022 est.)
Other 0.1% (2022 est.)
Population Distribution

Approximately one fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast; the remainder is distributed among the eight mainly rural regions, as shown in this population distribution map

People and Society

In Guinea-Bissau, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Balanta 30%, Fulani 30%, Manjaco 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%, unspecified smaller ethnic groups 6% (2015 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate 2.54% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 36 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 7.2 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density
Total fertility rate 4.62 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 2.28 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Est married women (ages 15-49) 56.7% (2023 est.)
Literacy
Education expenditures
Net Migration rate -3.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality Bissau-Guinean | Bissau-Guinean(s)
Languages Portuguese-based Creole, Portuguese (official; largely used as a second or third language), Pular (a Fula language), Mandingo
Religions Muslim 46.1%, folk religions 30.6%, Christian 18.9%, other or unaffiliated 4.4% (2020 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 42.3% (male 453,513/female 448,514)
15-64 years 54.6% (male 561,868/female 602,280)
65 years and over 3.1% (2024 est.) (male 27,529/female 38,621)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 83.2 (2024 est.)
Youth dependency ratio 77.5 (2024 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio 5.7 (2024 est.)
Potential support ratio 17.6 (2024 est.)
Median Age
Total 18.4 years (2024 est.)
Male 17.8 years
Female 18.9 years
Urbanization
Urban population 45.5% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 3.22% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 664,000 BISSAU (capital) (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.71 male(s)/female
Total population 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 46.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 52 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 40.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 64.5 years (2024 est.)
Male 62.2 years
Female 66.8 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 73.1% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 52.5% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 61.8% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 26.9% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 47.5% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 38.2% of population (2022 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 72.2% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 23.8% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 45.6% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 27.8% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 76.2% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 54.4% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 3.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 0.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 0.54 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 1.28 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 6.7% (2025 est.)
Male 13.2% (2025 est.)
Female 0.5% (2025 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 8.1% (2019)
Women married by age 18 25.7% (2019)
Men married by age 18 2.2% (2019)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Guinea-Bissau

Want to know more about Guinea-Bissau? Check all different factbooks for Guinea-Bissau below.

Guinea-Bissau is found in Western Africa