Map - Tombali Region (Tombali)

Tombali is one of the eight regions in Guinea-Bissau. It is located in the extreme south of the country and its capital is Catió. There has not been any local administration since the civil war of 1998-99 and all social services are done by organs of civil society and other government agencies. It is a coastal region covered with mangrove swamps, rain forest and tangled forest and receives an annual rainfall of more than 2000 mm.

As of 2009, the total population of the region was 91,089, with the urban population being 12,967 and rural being 78,122. The sex ratio of the region is 94 females for every hundred males. As of 2009, the net activity rate was 54.77 per cent, proportion of employed labour force was 37.86 per cent, proportion of labour force was 75.74 and the proportion of potentially active population was 37.86 per cent, with the major economic activity being fishing. The absolute poverty rate, people earning less than $2 a day, in the region stood at 69.1 per cent, with a regional contribution of 11.2 per cent to the national poverty totals.

Tombali is a low-lying coastal region and the low-lying coastal areas are periodically submerged during high tide. All the coastal regions have a maximum elevation of 300 m. The internal region has plains, which are interspersed with rias. There are many meandering rivers, of which a substantial proportion form estuaries in the coastal regions. The principal river, Cacheu, flows through the region. The climate is tropical savanna (Köppen Aw) north of Catió and tropical monsoon (Köppen Am) south of Catió. Like all of Guinea-Bissau there are two seasons: a dry season from November to May with dusty harmattan winds and typical temperature ranges from 20 °C to 30 °C, and a monsoon wet season from May to November with temperatures consistently around 28 °C and heavy thunderstorm rains every day. The region receives an average rainfall of around 2250 mm compared to inland Guinea-Bissau, which receive 1500 mm. The coastal regions are covered with Mangrove swamps, rain forest and tangled forest.