Cacheu Region

Cacheu is a region in western Guinea-Bissau, on the border with Senegal. It has an area of 5,175 km and a population estimated in 2004 at 164,676. Its capital is Cacheu. There has not been any local administration since the civil war of 1998-99 and all the social services are done by organs of civil society and other government agencies. It is a coastal region covered with Mangrove swamps, rain forest and tangled forest and receives an annual rainfall of more than 1,000 mm (39 in)

As of 2009, the total population of the region was 185,053, with the urban population being 40,051 and rural being 145,002. The sex ratio of the region is 91 females for every hundred males. As of 2009, the net activity rate was 54.24 per cent, proportion of employed labour force was 36.20 per cent, proportion of labour force was 78.17 and the proportion of potentially active population was 36.20 per cent. The absolute poverty rate, people earning less than $2 a day, in the region stood at 63.8 per cent, with a regional contribution of 14.2 per cent to the national poverty totals.