Guinea-Bissau Timeline -- Prehistory to Present Day
A Chronology of Key Events in Guinea-Bissau
By Alistair Boddy-Evans, About.com
| 1000s | The region is inhabited by four main ethnic groups: Balante, Fulani, Manyduako, and Molinke. |
| 1446 | First Portuguese explorer reaches region and lands near to what is now the city of Bissau -- Nuno Tristão was sent by the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator to the west coast of Africa. |
| 1616 | A military garrison is established at Cacheu to help control the burgeoning slave trade. Local African rulers maintained a strict control over European access to the interior, and traded slaves to Europeans at the coast. |
| 1687 | Bissau developed as a military garrison and slave trading center. |
| 1879 | Portuguese Guinea created out of colonies of Bissau and Cacheu. |
| 1952 | Portuguese Guinea (Guiné) becomes an overseas province of Portugal. |
| 1956 | Amílcar Cabral forms the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC, African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). |
| 3 August 1959 | Striking dock workers are massacred (Pijiguiti Massacre) by Portuguese authorities in Bissau. |
| 1959 | PAIGC moves its headquarters to Conakry in neighboring Guinea. |
| July 1961 | PAIGC initiates guerrilla war against Portuguese rule. During the 1960s the PAIGC takes control of large proportion of country. |
| 22 November 1970 | Conakry, in Guinea, is raided from Portuguese Guinea by Portuguese mercenaries in Operação Mar Verde (Operation Green Sea) in an attempt to initiate a coup d'état against Ahmed Sékou Touré's regime and destroy the PAIGC's military assets. The operation was a failure. |
| 20 January 1973 | Amílcar Cabral assassinated in Conakry. |
| 24 September 1973 | PAIGC declares Portuguese Guinea independent with Luís de Almeida Cabral as Chairman of the Council of State. |
| 10 September 1974 | Guinea-Bissau granted independence by Portugal as a result of the collapse of the Portuguese Empire (the Carnation Revolution). |
| 14 November 1980 | Military Coup removes Luís Cabral from power and names João Bernardo Vieira as Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council. The coup is said to be inspired by the resentment over domination of the country's government by Cape Verdeans. |
| 1983 | Failed coup attempt. |
| 4 May 1984 | New constitution (single-party) introduced based on Marxist-Leninist principles. Carmen Pereira acts as Chairman of the National People's Assembly. |
| 16 May 1984 | João Vieira returned as Chairman of the Council of State. |
| 1985 | Failed coup attempt. |
| 1991 | Multi-party democracy introduced. |
| 1993 | Failed coup attempt. |
| 29 September 1994 | João Bernardo Vieira becomes president of the republic for the PAIGC under the country's first multi-party elections. |
| 1997 | Guinea-Bissau adopts the CFA franc as official unit of currency (replacing the peso). |
| 1998 | Attempted military coup by dismissed the army chief-of-staff, Ansumane Mané. Civil war begins, which lasts for 11 months and requires international intervention by neighboring west African states. |
| 7 May 1999 | Military coup by Ansumane Mané finally successful, he becomes head of state as Chairman of the Supreme Command of the Military Junta. |
| 13 May 1999 | Malam Bacai Sanhá for the PAIGC heads a new transitional government, whilst awaiting national elections. |
| 17 February 2000 | Kumba Yalá takes power as leader of the new Partido para a Renovaçao Social (PRS, Social Renewal Party). |
| 30 November 2000 | Ansumane Mané killed in an unsuccessful coup attempt. |
| 14 September 2003 | Kumba Yalá overthrown in military coup. Veríssimo Correia Seabra becomes President of the Military Committee for the Restitution of Constitutional and Democratic Order. |
| 28 September 2003 | Henrique Pereira Rosa heads interim government in preparation for new multi-party elections. |
| 1 October 2005 | João Bernardo Vieira wins presidential elections for PAIGC. |
| 23 November 2008 | Vieira attacked by dissident soldiers. A new 400-strong presidential bodyguard is recruited. |
| 2 March 2009 | President João Bernardo Vieira is shot dead by soldiers as he flees his residence. Vieira was implicated in the assassination the previous day of the army chief-of-staff, Batista Tagme Na Waie, who was one of Vieira's main political rivals. Military announced that Raimundo Pereira would act as interim president, according to the constitution. |
| 5 June 2009 | Baciro Dabo (a presidential candidate), Faustino Imbali and Helder Proenca are amongst several prominent politicians shot -- the official reason given is that the temporary military leadership was putting down another attempted coup. |
| 8 September 2009 | Malam Bacai Sanhá elected president. |
| 9 January 2012 | Malam Bacai Sanhá dies, he is replaced by Raimundo Pereira as interim president. |
| 12 April 2012 | Pereira was removed from office by a military coup. Mamadou Touré Kuruma takes control as the Head of Military Command. |
| 11 May 2012 | Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo now president of a transitional government. |
More on the History of Guinea-Bissau
• A Very Short History of Guinea-Bissau
Bissau-Guinean Leaders
• Leaders
of Guinea-Bissau Since Independence
• Luís de Almeida Cabral
