Boe (full name Madina do Boe) is a settlement in the southeastern

Gabú Region Gabú Region is the easternmost region in Guinea-Bissau. Its capital is Gabú. The region borders Senegal to the north, Guinea to the east and south and the Guinea-Bissau regions of Tombali and Bafatá to the west. It covers an area of 9,150&n ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

. The population is mostly of poor Fulani speaking herders. Although geologically rich in bauxite, the mineral deposits have not been exploited to any great degree due to the ecological sensitivity of the surrounding Boé National Park.

History

The Boe area was pivotal during the war of independence that would eventually end the colonial regime in

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...

. On 6 February 1969, rebel forces ousted the colonial garrison (known as the Companhia de Caçadores 1790) from Boe. The men retreated north and needed to cross the Corubal River 22 km away. There, in what became known as the Cheche Disaster, 47 Portuguese soldiers and five of the local Boe garrison were killed when one of the overloaded river-rafts capsized. Boe was the site where the 2nd Congress of the PAIGC was held in July 1973 and where independence was declared on September 24, 1973.Britannica article
/ref> Boe itself briefly served as the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' capital until Guinea-Bissau's independence was finally recognised in 1974, following the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. Thereafter,

Bissau Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and ...

was declared the national capital of the newly independent country and Boe returned to relative obscurity.

References

External links

Video of Boe in 1974 during celebrations of the first anniversary of Guinea Bissau's self-declared independence
{{Gabú Region Gabu Region Sectors of Guinea-Bissau Populated places in Guinea-Bissau