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

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

. The population mostly comprises poor

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

-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 (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa 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 The Cheche Disaster (Portuguese: ''Desastre do Cheche'') was an incident during the Portuguese Colonial War in Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) in which almost fifty Portuguese soldiers died on 6 February 1969 while crossing the Corubal R ...

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

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. Thereafter,

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it 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, its administr ...

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