Bijagós Islands
archipelago in Guinea-Bissau
The Bijagós Islands (Portuguese: Arquipélago dos Bijagós), often misspelled Bijagos in English text and formerly known in English as Bissagots (often misspelled Bissagos), are a group of about 88 islands and islets located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Guinea-Bissau.
Geography
The archipelago was formed from the ancient delta of the Geba and Grande de Buba rivers and spans an area of 12,958 km2 (5,003 sq mi). Twenty of its islands are populated year-round, including the most populated island, Bubaque. The administrative capital, Bolama is situated on the island of Bolama.
Environment
There is a high diversity of ecosystems: mangroves with intertidal zones, palm forests, dry and semi-dry forests, secondary and degraded forests, coastal savanna, sand banks and aquatic zones. The archipelago was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1996. The site has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because its intertidal mudflats and mangroves support significant populations of non-breeding and wintering waterbirds, especially large numbers of migratory Palaearctic waders, gulls and terns, as well as greater flamingos and pink-backed pelicans.
Demographics
The population is estimated at 30,000 (2006) and the ethnic group Bissago (Portuguese: Bijagó) predominates. It has a relatively youthful population due to high birth rates and low life expectancy.
Economy
The economy is largely rural, with many families living from subsistence farming and fishing.
The public source identifies “Bijagós Islands” as archipelago in Guinea-Bissau. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bijagós, Islands and archipelago.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q664687. VIAF identifies the subject as 315528059. The Library of Congress control number is sh96003411. Authority coordinates are 11.250, -16.083. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996 and 2006.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bijagós Islands” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.