Bafatá is the second-largest city in Guinea-Bissau, known as the birthplace of Amílcar Cabral.

Bafata was founded in the mid 1800s by Malam Santi, a Mandinka veteran of Portuguese 'pacification campaigns' in the interior.

[2] By the 1880s it was an established trading centre for the Portuguese, including peanuts, cattle, hides, textiles, and salt.

[4] The presidio of nearby Geba was transferred to Bafata in 1906, dramatically raising the town's profile and importance.

[10] Bafatá has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), not dissimilar to Bissau although about a third drier overall and substantially hotter during the afternoons due to its inland location.