Arquivos Históricos Nacionais da República da Guiné-Bissau (AHN)

Overview

The Arquivos Históricos Nacionais da República da Guiné-Bissau (AHN) is the country's national historical archive, located on Avenida dos Combatentes da Liberdade da Pátria in Bissau. It operates as part of the Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa (INEP).

History

The archive was formed on November 10, 1984, by government decree 31/84. Decree n.º 17/89, published July 24, 1989, further defined the responsibilities of the Departamento dos Arquivos Históricos within INEP's Centro de Estudos da História Contemporânea (CEHC), designating the national archival holdings as encompassing all historical-administrative documentation produced in the country, in any format, and directing that colonial-era documentation be transferred to this department. Part of the AHN's collection derives from the colonial-era Centro de Estudos da Guiné Portuguesa (CEGP). During the Guinea-Bissau Civil War (1998-99), the archive suffered destruction and damage to more than half of its holdings.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The AHN's core holdings relate to the central government of the former Portuguese Guinea and its institutions, including courts, hospital, post and telegraph, and port administrations, as well as records from the territory's civil districts and administrative posts. The collection also includes photographs from the Liberation Struggle, the integral photographic collection of the Centro de Estudos da Guiné Portuguesa, and records of the Cacheu civil administration and the Governor's Office and Secretariat for Indigenous Affairs.

Access and Usage

The AHN functions within INEP to support research into Guinea-Bissau's colonial and national history; international cooperation projects, including with institutions in Portugal and Brazil and funding from the UN Development Programme's Peacebuilding Fund, have supported training for Guinea-Bissau's archival and records-management personnel.