Bissau

Bissau (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Portuguese pronunciation: [biˈsaw]) is the capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. As of 2015,[update] it had a population of 492,004.[1] Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administrative and military center. The term Bissau may have come from the name of a clan N'nssassun, in its plural form Bôssassun.[2] Intchassu (Bôssassu) was the name given to the nephew of King Mecau—the first sovereign of the island of Bissau—son of his sister Pungenhum. Bôssassu formed a clan of the Papel peoples.[3] From well before the arrival of Europeans to the early 20th century, the island of Bissau was governed as a kingdom inhabited by the Papel people. According to oral tradition, the kingdom was founded by Mecau, the son of the king of Quinara (Guinala), who moved to the area with his pregnant sister, six wives, and subjects of his father's kingdom. The kingdom was composed of seven clans, descended from the sister and six wives. The Bossassun clan, which descends from the sister, inherited the throne.[2] The Kingdom of Bissau was highly stratified.[4] The king's coronation involved the practice of binding and beating the king, as the king should know what punishment felt like before administering it, as well as the presentation of a spear, the royal badge of office.[5] When the Portuguese began to trade there in the 16th century, the king of Bissau was among the most supportive monarchs of the region. In 1680 Bissau even helped the Portuguese in a conflict with the Papels of Cacheu.[6]