Guinea-Bissau in other languages: exonyms, flag, Bissau and ISO codes
Guinea-Bissau is Guiné-Bissau in Portuguese, officially República da Guiné-Bissau, and its capital is Bissau; ISO 3166-1 codes it GW, GNB and 624. The name is listed here in 164 languages, the capital in 61, beside the flag, the three provinces, eight regions and the autonomous sector of Bissau.
Official languagesPortuguese (português)
Checked
- alpha-2
- GW
- alpha-3
- GNB
- numeric
- 624
República da Guiné-Bissau
- English
- Guinea-BissauRepublic of Guinea-Bissau
- Capital
- BissauBissau
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026
Guinea-Bissau in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Aragonese, Asturian, Czech, Corsican, Welsh, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Kven, Galician, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Ladin, Norwegian, Romansh, Aromanian, Slovak, Northern Sami, Sardinian, Saterland Frisian, Swedish | eng / arg / ast / ces / cos / cym / dan / est / fin / fkv / glg / ina / ind / ita / jav / lld / nor / roh / rup / slk / sme / srd / stq / swe | Guinea-Bissau | same as written |
| Afrikaans, West Frisian, Dutch | afr / fry / nld | Guinee-Bissau | same as written |
| Breton, Basque, Võro | bre / eus / vor | Ginea-Bissau | same as written |
| Catalan, Faroese, Nahuatl | cat / fao / nah | Guinea Bissau | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Guinea-Bissau | same as written |
| Crimean Tatar, Gagauz | crh / gag | Gvineya-Bissau / Гвинея-Биссау | Gvineya-Bissau |
| Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian | dsb / hsb | Guineja-Bissau | same as written |
| Igbo, Novial | ibo / nov | Gini-Bisau | same as written |
| Kinyarwanda, Kirundi | kin / run | Gine-Bisso | same as written |
| Latvian, Latgalian | lav / ltg | Gvineja-Bisava | same as written |
| Polish, Silesian | pol / szl | Gwinea-Bissau | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Qvineya-Bisau / Гвинеја-Бисау | Qvineya-Bisau |
| Bambara | bam | Lagine-Bisaw | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Gvineja Bisao / Гвинеја Бисао / غوٖىنەيا بٖىساۉ | Gvineja Bisao |
| Cornish | cor | Gyni-Bissaw | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Gvineo-Bisaŭo, Gvineo Bisaŭa | same as written |
| French | fra | Guinée-Bissau | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal | frp | Guinê-Bissaou | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Vuinee-Bissau | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Gini-Bissau | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Guine Bhissau | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Ghuinea-Bissau | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Gine-Bisao | same as written |
| Croatian | hrv | Gvineja Bisau | same as written |
| Hungarian | hun | Bissau-Guinea | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Gínea-Bissá | same as written |
| Jersey Norman French | jnf | Dginnée-Bissau | same as written |
| Karakalpak | kaa | Gvineya-Bisau / Гвинея-Бисау | Gvineya-Bisau |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Gînêya Bîsaû | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Guinea Bissavia, Guinea Bissaviensis, Guinea Bissagensis | same as written |
| Lingala | lin | Gine-Bisau | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Bisau Gvinėja | same as written |
| Malagasy | mlg | Ginea-Bisao | same as written |
| Maltese | mlt | Gwinea-Bissaw | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Guineea-Bissau / Гуйнея-Биссау | Guineea-Bissau |
| Malay | msa | Guinea-Bissau / ݢينيا بيساو | Guinea-Bissau |
| Norman French | nrm | Petite-Gùinaée | same as written |
| Occitan | oci | Guinèa Bissau | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | Guiné-Bissau | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Khiniya-Wisaw | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Guineya-Bissau / गुइनेया-बिस्साउ | Guineya-Bissau |
| Romanian | ron | Guineea-Bissau | same as written |
| Sango | sag | Ginë-Bisao | same as written |
| Sicilian | scn | Guinìa-Bissau | same as written |
| Slovio | slo | Gvinea-Biso / Гвинеа-Бисо | Gvinea-Biso |
| Slovenian | slv | Gvineja-Bissau | same as written |
| Samogitian | smg | Bisau Gvinėjė | same as written |
| Samoan | smo | Kini-Pisau | same as written |
| Spanish | spa | Guinea-Bissáu | same as written |
| Albanian | sqi | Guineja Bisau | same as written |
| Swahili | swa | Guinea Bisau | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Giné-Bisau | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Gwineýa-Bisau / Гвинея-Бисау | Gwineýa-Bisau |
| Turkish | tur | Gine-Bissau | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Gvineya-Bisau / Гвинея-Бисау / گۋىنېيە-بىسەئۇ | Gvineya-Bisau |
| Vietnamese | vie | Ghi-nê Bít-xao | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Bisava-Gineyän | same as written |
| Walloon | wln | Guinêye-Bissaw | same as written |
| Wolof | wol | Ginne Bisaawóo, Gine Bisaawóo | same as written |
| Zazaki | zza | Gineya Bissaoy | same as written |
| Abaza, Altai, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Russian, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmyk | abq / alt / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / rus / tyv / udm / xal | Гвинея-Бисау | Gvineja-Bisau |
| Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Ossetian | mhr / mon / oss | Гвиней-Бисау | Gvinej-Bisau |
| Abkhaz | abk | Гвинеа-Бисау | Gvinea-Bisau |
| Avar | ava | Гвинея-Бисау | Gwineja-Bisau |
| Bashkir | bak | Гвинея-Бисау / Gvineya-Bisau | Gvineya-Bisau |
| Belarusian | bel | Гвінея-Бісаў / Hvinieja-Bisaŭ, Гвінэя-Бісаў / Hvineja-Bisaŭ | Hvinieja-Bisaŭ, Hvineja-Bisaŭ |
| Bulgarian | bul | Гвинея Бисау | Gvineja Bisau |
| Chechen | che | Гвиней-Бисау / Gviney-Bisau | Gviney-Bisau |
| Chuvash | chv | Гвинейӑ-Бисау | Gvinejă-Bisau |
| Kazakh | kaz | Гвинея-Бисау / گۆينەيا-بيساۋ / Gvïneya-Bïsaw | Gvïneya-Bïsaw |
| Kabardian | kbd | Гуинеэ-Бисау | Guineă-Bisau |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Гвинея-Бисау / گۋىنەيا-بئساۇ / Gvineya-Bisau | Gvineya-Bisau |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Гԝинейа Бисауйе / Gwînêya Bîsaûyê, Гвинейа Бисауйе / Gvînêya Bîsaûyê | Gwînêya Bîsaûyê, Gvînêya Bîsaûyê |
| Macedonian | mkd | Гвинеја Бисао | Gvineja Bisao |
| Rusyn | rue | Ґвінея Біссау | Gvineja Bissau |
| Yakut | sah | Гуинея-Бисау | Guineja-Bisau |
| Serbian | srp | Гвинеја Бисао / Gvineja Bisao | Gvineja Bisao |
| Tatar | tat | Гвинея-Бисау / Gvineyä-Bisaw / گۋىنېيە-بىساۇ | Gvineyä-Bisaw |
| Tajik | tgk | Гвинея-Бисау / گوینیه بیسئو / Gvineja-Bisau | Gvineja-Bisau |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Ґвінея-Бісау | Gvineja-Bisau |
| Arabic | ara | غينيا بيساو, جينيا بيساو | Ġīniyā Bīsāw, Gīniyā Bīsāw |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | قوینئیا بیساو / Qvineya-Bisau | Qvineya-Bisau |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | گینیا بیساو / Gînya Bîsaw | Gînya Bîsaw |
| Persian | fas | گینهٔ بیسائو / Gineye Bisâu | Gineye Bisâu |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | گنی بساؤ | Ginī Bisāʾu |
| Dari | prs | گینی بیساو, گینیا بیساو | Gīnī Bīsāv, Gīniyā Bīsāv |
| Pashto | pus | ګيني بيساو, ګينيا بيساو, ګينېا بيساو | Gīnī Bīsāw, Gīniyā Bīsāw, Gīneā Bīsāw |
| Uyghur | uig | گۋىنېيە بىسائۇ / Gwinéye Bisau / Гвинея-Бисау | Gwinéye Bisau |
| Urdu | urd | گنی بساؤ | Ginī Bisāʾu |
| Dhivehi | div | ގިނީ ބިސާއޮ | Ginī Bisāo |
| Hebrew | heb | גינאה־ביסאו, גיניאה־ביסאו, גינאה־ביסו | Gīneʾah-Bīsaʾū, Gīnēʾah-Bīsaʾū, Gīneʾah-Bīsō |
| Ladino | lad | גיניאה־ביסאו / Ginea-Bisau | Ginea-Bisau |
| Yiddish | yid | גינע־ביסאַו | Gine-Bisau |
| Amharic | amh | ጊኔ ቢሳው, ጊኒ ቢሳው | Gine Bisaw, Gini Bisaw |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Γουινέα Μπισσάου | Goyinéa Mpissáoy |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Γουϊνέα Μπισάου | Goyïnéa Mpisáoy |
| Armenian | hye | Գվինեա Բիսաու | Gvinea Bisaou |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | გვინეა-ბისაუ | Gvinea-Bisau |
| Laz | lzz | გინე-ბისაუ / Gine-Bisau | Gine-Bisau |
| Hindi | hin | गिनी-बिसाउ | Ginī-Bisāu |
| Bengali | ben | গিনি-বিসাউ, গিনি-বিসাও | Gini-Bisāu, Gini-Bisāo |
| Gujarati | guj | ગિની-બિસ્સાઉ | Ginī-Bissāu |
| Odia | ori | ଗିନୀ-ବିସ୍ସାଓ | Ginī-Bissāo |
| Punjabi | pan | ਗਿਨੀ-ਬਿੱਸਉ | Ginī-Bissau |
| Sinhala | sin | ගිනි-බිසව් | Gini-Bisav |
| Malayalam | mal | ഗിനി-ബിസോ, ഗ്വിനിയ-ബിസാവു | Gini-Bisō, Gviniya-Bisāvu |
| Tamil | tam | கினி-பிஸ்ஸோ, கினி-பிசாவு, கினி-பிஸ்ஸாவ் | Kiṉi-Pissō, Kiṉi-Picāvu, Kiṉi-Pissāv |
| Telugu | tel | గినియా-బిస్సావు | Giniyā-Bissāvu |
| Chinese | zho | 幾內亞比索/几内亚比绍 | Jīnèiyà Bìshào |
| Japanese | jpn | ギニア・ビサオ, ギニアビサウ | Ginia-Bisao, Ginia Bisau |
| Korean | kor | 기니비사우 | Gini Bisau |
| Tibetan | bod | གི་ནེ་-བི་སའོ། | Gi.ne.-Bi.sa'o |
| Burmese | mya | ဂီနီဘစ်ဆော | Gini Bʰiʿsʰɔ̀ |
| Thai | tha | กินีบิสเซา | Kinī Bitsaw |
| Khmer | khm | ហ្គីណេប៊ីសៅ, ហ្គីនៀប៊ីសូ | Hkīṇe Bīsau, Hkīnie Bīsū |
Where a language writes the name in more than one script, every form is given, separated by a slash.
Guiné-Bissau: a country named with its capital
The Portuguese name Guiné-Bissau joins Guiné to the name of the capital, Bissau, and the adjective is guineense. Two dozen languages write it exactly as English does, Guinea-Bissau, from Aragonese and Czech to Swedish and Sardinian, and German, Luxembourgish and Low German use the same form.
Other languages adapt either half. Guinea becomes Gvineja in Croatian, Slovenian and Albanian (Guineja), Gwinea in Polish, Silesian and Maltese, Ginea in Breton and Basque, Gine in Turkish and Gînêya in Kurdish. Bissau becomes Bisao in Bosnian and Serbian, Gvineja Bisao, and in Latvian it takes a case ending, Gvineja-Bisava.
A few languages turn the order round and put the capital first: Hungarian Bissau-Guinea, Lithuanian Bisau Gvinėja, Samogitian Bisau Gvinėjė and Volapük Bisava-Gineyän. Norman French goes furthest with Petite-Gùinaée, which leaves Bissau out altogether.
In Cyrillic the standard is Гвинея-Бисау (Gvineja-Bisau), shared by more than a dozen languages from Russian to Kalmyk; Belarusian has Гвінея-Бісаў (Hvinieja-Bisaŭ), with h where Russian has g, and Macedonian and Serbian Гвинеја Бисао. Arabic writes غينيا بيساو (Ġīniyā Bīsāw), Chinese 几内亚比绍 (Jīnèiyà Bìshào) and Japanese two ways, ギニアビサウ and ギニア・ビサオ.
Flag of Guinea-Bissau and its capital Bissau
The flag of Guinea-Bissau has a red vertical band at the hoist, one third of the flag's length, with a black five-pointed star in its centre. The rest of the field is split horizontally into yellow over green. Its proportions are 1:2, and the drawing above follows the geometry of the version on Wikimedia Commons.
Bissau is the capital and also forms an administrative unit of its own, the Sector Autónomo de Bissau, which ISO 3166-2 codes GW-BS and since 2020 also lists under the short form SAB. In other languages the city name hardly changes: Bisau in Croatian, Lithuanian and Swahili, Bisaŭo in Esperanto, Bissá in Icelandic, Бисау in Russian and 比绍 (Bìshào) in Chinese.
Bissau, the capital, in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Portuguese | eng / fra / por | Bissau | same as written |
| Croatian, Lithuanian, Samogitian, Swahili, Tetum | hrv / lit / smg / swa / tet | Bisau | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Bissau | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Turkmen | aze / tuk | Bisau / Бисау | Bisau |
| Bosnian | bos | Bisao / Бисао / بٖىساۉ | Bisao |
| Cornish | cor | Bissaw | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Bisaŭo | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Bissau | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Bissá | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Bîsaû | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Bisava | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Bissau / Бисау | Bissau |
| Malay | msa | Bissau / بيساو | Bissau |
| Sango | sag | Bisao | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Bisau / Бисау / بىسەئۇ | Bisau |
| Wolof | wol | Bisaawóo | same as written |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Бисау | Bisau |
| Bashkir | bak | Бисау / Bisau | Bisau |
| Belarusian | bel | Бісаў / Bisaŭ | Bisaŭ |
| Kazakh | kaz | Бисау / بيساۋ / Bïsaw | Bïsaw |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Бисау / بئساۇ / Bisau | Bisau |
| Serbian | srp | Бисао / Bisao | Bisao |
| Tatar | tat | Бисау / Bisaw / بىساۇ | Bisaw |
| Tajik | tgk | Бисау / بیسئو / Bisau | Bisau |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Бісау | Bisau |
| Arabic | ara | بيساو, بساو | Bīsāw, Bisāw |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | بیساو / Bisau | Bisau |
| Persian | fas | بیسائو / Bisâu | Bisâu |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | بساؤ | Bisāʾu |
| Pashto | pus | بيساو | Bīsāw |
| Uyghur | uig | بىسائۇ / Bisau / Бисау | Bisau |
| Urdu | urd | بساؤ | Bisāʾu |
| Hebrew | heb | ביסאו, ביסו | Bīsaʾū, Bīsō |
| Yiddish | yid | ביסאַו | Bisau |
| Amharic | amh | ቢሳው | Bisaw |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Μπισσάου | Mpissáoy |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Μπισάου | Mpisáoy |
| Armenian | hye | Բիսաու | Bisaou |
| Georgian | kat | ბისაუ | Bisau |
| Hindi | hin | बिसाउ | Bisāu |
| Bengali | ben | বিসাউ, বিসাও | Bisāu, Bisāo |
| Punjabi | pan | ਬਿੱਸਉ | Bissau |
| Malayalam | mal | ബിസൗ, ബിസാവു | Bisāu, Bisāvu |
| Tamil | tam | பிஸ்ஸோ, பிசாவு, பிஸ்ஸாவ் | Pissō, Picāvu, Pissāv |
| Telugu | tel | బిస్సావు | Bissāvu |
| Chinese | zho | 比紹/比绍 | Bìshào |
| Japanese | jpn | ビサオ, ビサウ | Bisao, Bisau |
| Korean | kor | 비사우 | Bisau |
| Burmese | mya | ဘစ်ဆော | Bʰiʿsʰɔ̀ |
| Thai | tha | บิสเซา | Bitsaw |
| Khmer | khm | បីសសូ | Bīssū |
Bissau gives its name to the country as well; Portuguese writes both the city and the country with a double s.
Provinces, regions and the autonomous sector with ISO 3166-2 codes
ISO 3166-2 codes Guinea-Bissau on two levels: three provinces, and below them eight regions and the autonomous sector of Bissau. Each region is shown with its Portuguese name, its seat and the province it belongs to.
| ISO 3166-2 | Portuguese | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provinces províncias3 | ||||
| GW-L | Leste | East | ||
| GW-N | Norte | North | ||
| GW-S | Sul | South | ||
| Regions regiões8 | ||||
| GW-BA | Região de Bafatá | Bafatá | BafatáBafatá; province East (GW-L) | |
| GW-BM | Região de Biombo | Biombo | QuinhamelQuinhamel; province North (GW-N) | |
| GW-BL | Região de Bolama | Bolama / Bijagós | BolamaBolama; province South (GW-S) | 2020 ISO name changed from Bolama to Bolama / Bijagós |
| GW-CA | Região de Cacheu | Cacheu | CacheuCacheu; province North (GW-N) | |
| GW-GA | Região do Gabú | Gabú | GabúGabú; province East (GW-L) | |
| GW-OI | Região de Oio | Oio | FarimFarim; province North (GW-N) | |
| GW-QU | Região de Quinara | Quinara | BubaBuba; province South (GW-S) | |
| GW-TO | Região de Tombali | Tombali | CatióCatió; province South (GW-S) | |
| Autonomous sector sector autónomo1 | ||||
| GW-BS | Sector Autónomo de Bissau | Bissau | BissauBissau | 2020 Local variant SAB added |
Codes and current names: ISO 3166-2:GW on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026. In 2010 ISO added the country prefix GW- to every code; the latest change (24 November 2020) renamed GW-BL and added SAB as a local variant of GW-BS. The province names in English are given by ISO for reference only.
Questions about Guinea-Bissau
What is the capital of Guinea-Bissau?
Bissau. The city also forms the autonomous sector of Bissau, coded GW-BS.
What does the flag of Guinea-Bissau look like?
A red vertical band with a black star at the hoist, and two horizontal bands, yellow above green, in the proportion 1:2.
How is Guinea-Bissau written in Croatian and Slovenian?
Gvineja Bisau in Croatian and Gvineja-Bissau in Slovenian; Latvian writes Gvineja-Bisava.
What are the ISO codes of Guinea-Bissau?
GW (alpha-2), GNB (alpha-3) and 624 (numeric).
How many regions does Guinea-Bissau have?
Eight regions and the autonomous sector of Bissau, grouped into three provinces: Leste, Norte and Sul.