Though once the capital of Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), it has a population of just 4,819 (2009 census)[1] and much of its colonial era architecture is in a state of severe decay.

[2] The expedition, which consisted of two ships and two hundred and seventy-five colonists, set sail from England on 14 April 1792.

Nonetheless, Britain continued to press its territorial claims to the town and island, hoping to annex the region to colonial possessions in Sierra Leone.

[7] This gave rise to the so-called Bolama Question, a diplomatic conflict initially raised at the Madrid conference of 1861, and dragging on until 1870 when it was eventually settled through an arbitration process overseen by United States President Ulysses S. Grant.

However, a shortage of fresh water meant that Bolama could never hope to develop into a major city and on 6 December 1941 the colonial capital was moved to Bissau.

[8] A fruit processing plant was built on Bolama shortly after independence of Guinea Bissau, with Dutch foreign aid.