Guinean franc (FG) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Guinean francs (FG) per US$1--505.00 (October 1988),
440.00 (January 1988), 440.00 (1987), 235.63 (1986), 22.47 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

- Communications
Railroads: 1,045 km; 806 km 1.000-meter gauge, 239 km 1.435-meter
standard gauge

Highways: 30,100 km total; 1,145 km paved, 12,955 km gravel or laterite
(of which barely 4,500 km are currently all-weather roads), 16,000 km unimproved
earth (1987)

Inland waterways: 1,295 km navigable by shallow-draft native craft

Ports: Conakry, Kamsar

Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft

Airports: 16 total, 16 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire lines, small
radiocommunication stations, and new radio relay system; 10,000 telephones;
stations--3 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 12,000 TV sets; 125,000 radio receivers;
1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

- Defense Forces
Branches: Army (ground forces), Navy (acts primarily as a coast guard),
Air Force, paramilitary National Gendarmerie

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,657,787; 834,777 fit for military
service

Defense expenditures: 3.1% of GDP (1984)
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Guinea-Bissau
- Geography
Total area: 36,120 km2; land area: 28,000 km2

Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of
Connecticut

Land boundaries: 724 km total; Guinea 386, Senegal 338 km

Coastline: 350 km

Maritime claims:

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rendered its
decision on the Guinea-Bissau/Senegal maritime boundary (in favor
of Senegal)--that decision has been rejected by Guinea-Bissau

Climate: tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoon-type rainy
season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December
to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds

Terrain: mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east

Natural resources: unexploited deposits of petroleum, bauxite,
phosphates; fish, timber

Land use: 11% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 43% meadows and
pastures; 38% forest and woodland; 7% other

Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during
dry season

- People
Population: 998,963 (July 1990), growth rate 2.5% (1990)

Birth rate: 43 births