Guinea-Bissau, the West African country of 1.4 million, is to hold the presidential election on Sunday, after the assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira on March 2. The following are the major events in the country's history.

-- Sept. 24, 1973: The Independence of Guinea- Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) proclaimed the founding of the republic. The State Council was formed under Luis Cabral.

-- Sept. 10, 1974: Portugal recognized Guinea-Bissau's independence. Luis Cabral became the country's first president.

-- Nov. 14, 1980: President Cabral was toppled in a military coup d'etat. A revolutionary council led by Prime Minister Joao Bernardo Vieira took over power.

-- June 19, 1989: Vieira was reelected to the presidency.

-- May 8, 1991: Guinea-Bissau adopted multipartism.

-- July-August, 1994: The first presidential and legislative elections were held after the country introduced multipartism. Vieira was reelected in the race against Kumba Yala.

-- June 1998: A mutiny erupted after army chief of staff Ansumane Mane was sacked.

-- July 26, 1998: A ceasefire was reached between the government and rebel forces.

-- Aug. 26, 1998: The government and rebel forces had their second ceasefire. The civil war resumed in October.

-- May 7, 1999: President Vieira was ousted. The president of the National Assembly (parliament), Malam Bacai Sanha, was named president of transition.

-- Jan. 16, 2000: Yala, head of the Party of Social Renovation (PRS), defeated Sanha of the PAIGC in the presidential election.

-- Sept. 14, 2003: General Verissimo Seabra Correia launched a non-violent coup. Henrique Rosa named head of state.

-- March 2004: The PAIGC had another win in the legislative elections.

-- June-July 2005: Vieira elected president in the race against Sanha.

-- November 2008: The PAIGC once again won the legislative elections.

-- March 2, 2009: Vieira and army chief of staff Tagme Na Waie were assassinated. The president of the National Assembly, Raimundo Pereira, assumed the interim presidency.

-- June 5, 2009: Three politicians including a presidential candidate were assassinated in renewed violence.

Source:Xinhua