Bolama

Brief information about the Bolama

Bolama is the closest of the Bissagos Islands to the mainland of Guinea-Bissau, and is also the name of This island's Most Important town. The island has a population of 6,024, town Bolama 4,819 (2009 census).It is all but surrounded by mangrove swamps and is well known for its cashew nuts.

Although visited by local people, the island has been uninhabited when colonists settled it in 1792. After having a succession of failures, they left the island in 1794, another colonisation effort in 1814 being quickly finished.