Guinea-Bissau Regions

Guinea-Bissau is a small country on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, wedged between Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east, and most of it is low, flat and cut by tidal rivers. Its coast is a maze of mangrove estuaries and the Bijagós archipelago, so a round here is mostly a question of where you are along the coast and how far you have gone inland. The region is the first tier of the picture, and there are nine of them.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The north, the east and the south
In the game: 9 regions

Start

What you are looking at

Eight regions and the capital, Bissau, which is an autonomous sector with the rank of a region and is a speck on the Geba estuary. Cacheu, Oio and Biombo make up the north along with Bissau, while Bafatá and Gabú are the east, which Guineans call the Leste, and Quinara, Tombali and Bolama are the south.

Gabú is the biggest and the one with the longest land border, a broad block in the east against Guinea and Senegal. Bolama is the odd one: its mainland piece is small, and the rest is the Bijagós, an archipelago of islands scattered off the coast. Oio is the central block that Bafatá and Cacheu lean on, and Biombo is the small region that wraps round the capital.

How to place one

Start with Bissau and Biombo. They are the small pair on the coast, where the Geba estuary meets the sea.
Walk up the coast to the north. Cacheu is the north-west corner against Senegal, with Oio behind it.
Cross to the east. Bafatá and Gabú are the two inland regions, Bafatá nearer the middle and Gabú reaching to the far corner.
Finish in the south. Quinara and Tombali follow the coast down towards Guinea, and Bolama is the islands off the front of them.

Every region, by group

North4 regions: Biombo, Bissau, Cacheu, Oio
East2 regions: Bafatá, Gabú
South3 regions: Bolama, Quinara, Tombali

Worked examples

Bissau

The one that is a city

Bissau is the capital and counts as a region of its own, a small area on the north bank of the Geba estuary. On a phone it needs a careful tap.

Gabú

The big block in the east

Gabú fills the whole eastern end of the country, with no coast. It is the largest region by a distance and the easiest to hit once you know where the east is.

Frequently asked questions

How many regions does Guinea-Bissau have?

Nine: eight regions, and the Bissau autonomous sector, which has the rank of a region.

What are the groups?

The north, the east and the south, which are the three provinces the country was divided into before the current regions and are still how people describe it.