Boé

The Boé is the south-eastern sector of the Gabon region.  The official capital is (Madina de) Boé; however, the government seat is in Beli; this is where the “administrador” the highest government official of the Boé resides.

The Boé is 3,287.8 km² (328,780 hectare) in size. The local population is comprised of more than 12,000 people living in 85 villages. In general, the Boé is very sparsely populated.

The area is extremely poor. More than 90% of the population lives on less than
€ 1 a day. There is no famine; however, the inhabitants are very dependent upon what they find in nature during certain seasons.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure in the Boé is inadequate. The western and northern borders of the Boé are formed by the Rio Corubal. The only way to access the Boé from the north is by ferry over the Corubal. The ferry is often out of service because the cable that anchors it to the shore is broken.  The engine is sometimes not powerful enough during the rainy season, so the ferry is taken out of  service completely at times. Private transport over the river by logboat is almost always possible. The Boé borders Guinea (Conakry) to the south and the east. There are a few border crossings but the roads are not always passable. They are generally used to transport contraband. The Boé is very far away from the capital of Bissau for the average inhabitant. Most of them have never been there.

Climate

The climate of the Boé is humid and tropical, just like the rest of Guinea-Bissau. It is in the tropical savannah (AW) climate zone. Daytime temperatures range between 30 and 33º Celsius while night-time temperatures vary from 18 to 23 degrees. The differences in precipitation are extreme. It hardly ever rains from December through April. However, it is very wet from June through October.

Geography

Geographically, the Boé is seen as the most north-westerly part of the Fouta Djallon massive in Guinea (Conakry). The landscape consists of immense, flat plateaus with savannah vegetation, intersected by relatively narrow, rather shallow river valleys  with often very steep shorelines.  The river banks and valleys are overgrown with tropical forestation.   This forestation has the widest variety of flora and fauna. Chimpanzees live here.