Fria is a town and

Sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

Lower Guinea Lower Guinea may refer to: * Maritime Guinea, the coastal region of the republic of Guinea. * in biogeography, a region of coastal tropical forests stretching along the Gulf of Guinea, from Ghana through Benin, Togo, Nigeria, and Cameroon. It is sep ...

, lying north of

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

near the Amaria Dam on the

Konkouré River The Konkouré River arises in west-central Guinea and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Several dams on the river provide the country with much of its electricity. The river originates in the Futa Jallon highland region and flows in a westerly direct ...

. As of 2014 it had a population of 61,691 people.

Overview

There are some variations in the name of the town: Friguia, Kimbo or Kimbo-city. Fria is known for its local

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s, the Grottes de Bogoro and the Grottes de Konkouré). The town's economy relies heavily upon

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

mining and aluminum production. The town of Fria was built around a company called Kimbo-Fria, now ACG Fria (Aluminum Company of Guinea), Africa's first aluminum factory. ACG-Fria is the only operating alumina refinery in Guinea, producing 600,000 tonnes of alumina and 2.8 million tonnes of bauxite per year. Recently, the president of Guinea,

Lansana Conte Lansana is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alpha Lansana (born 1980), Sierra Leonean international footballer *David Lansana (1922–1975), appointed army commander of Sierra Leone in 1964 *Komeh Gulama Lansana, the w ...

, signed an agreement with

RUSAL United Company RUSAL, international public joint-stock company (russian: МКПАО «ОК РУСАЛ», MKPAO «ОК RUSAL») is the world's second largest aluminium company by primary production output (as of 2016). It was the largest until ov ...

privatizing the bauxite and aluminum complex in Fria run by the

Alumina Company of Guinea The Alumina Company of Guinea (ACG-Fria) is a bauxite mining company based in Fria, Guinea. They are the main aluminium producing company in the country, and was once part-owned by the government of Guinea in Conakry and by the Reynolds Metals Compa ...

. This will allow for eventual doubling of the company's capacity. The town is served by

Fria Airport Fria Airport is an airport serving Fria, a town and prefecture in the Boke Region of the Republic of Guinea. The airport is on the southeast side of Fria. An overrun to the southwest will drop into a deep ravine. See also * * *Transport in ...

Railway

The bauxite mine is connected by a 1000mm gauge railway to the port of

Notable residents

Dede Camara Dede Camara (born 22 July 1991 in Fria) is a Guinean swimmer. She competed for Guinea at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Camara ranked 46th in the Women's 100m breaststroke event and did not advance to the semifinals. Disappearance On 11 August 2012, ...

- Olympic swimmer

References

{{Authority control Mining communities in Africa Mining in Guinea Sub-prefectures of the Boké Region