Boe (full name Madina do Boe) is a settlement in the southeastern
Gabú Region of
Guinea-Bissau. 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. 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'' 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 ...
in 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. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
. 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 m ...
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