Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. It borders the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
to the west,
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
to the northwest,
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
to the north,
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
to the northeast,
Cote d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
to the southeast, and
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
and
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
to the south. It is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry after its capital
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 ...
, to distinguish it from other territories in the
eponymous region such as Guinea-Bissau and
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
.
It has a population of million and an area of .
Formerly
French Guinea
French Guinea (french: Guinée française) was a French colonial possession in West Africa. Its borders, while changed over time, were in 1958 those of the current independent nation of Guinea.
French Guinea was established by France in 1891, ...
, it achieved independence in 1958. It has a history of military
coups d'état.
[Nicholas Bariyo & Benoit Faucon]
Military Faction Stages Coup in Mineral-Rich Guinea
''Wall Street Journal'' (September 5, 2021).[Krista Larson]
EXPLAINER: Why is history repeating itself in Guinea's coup?
Associated Press (September 7, 2021).[Danielle Paquett]
Here's what we know about the unfolding coup in Guinea
''Washington Post'' (September 6, 2021). After decades of authoritarian rule, in 2010 it held its first
democratic election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
.
[Guinea]
''Freedom in the World'', Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
, 2021. As it continued to hold multi-party elections, the country continued to face ethnic conflicts, corruption, and abuses by military and police.[ In 2011, the United States government claimed that torture by security forces and abuse of women and children (including ]female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
) were ongoing human rights issues. In 2021, a military faction overthrew president Alpha Condé and suspended the constitution.[
Muslims represent 85% of the population.] The country is divided into four geographic regions: Maritime Guinea on the Atlantic coast, the Fouta Djallon
Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a Highland (geography), highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa.
Etymology
The Ful ...
or Middle Guinea highlands, the Upper Guinea Upper Guinea is a geographical term used in several contexts:
# Upper Guinea (french: Haute-Guinée) is one of the four geographic regions of the Republic of Guinea, being east of Futa Jalon, north of Forest Guinea, and bordering Mali. The populat ...
savanna region in the northeast, and the Guinée forestière region of tropical forests. French, the official language of Guinea, is a language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. More than 24 indigenous languages are spoken and the largest are Susu, Pular, and Maninka, which dominate respectively in Maritime Guinea, Fouta Djallon, and Upper Guinea, while Guinée forestière is ethnolinguistically diverse. Guinea's economy is mostly dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the world's second largest producer of 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 ...
, and has deposits of diamonds and gold. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an unrele ...
.
Name
Guinea is named after the Guinea region
Guinea is a traditional name for the region of the African coast of West Africa which lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It is a naturally moist tropical forest or savanna that stretches along the coast and borders the Sahel belt in the north.
Et ...
which lies along the Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...
. It stretches north through the forested tropical regions and ends at the Sahel
The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
. The English term Guinea comes directly from the Portuguese word ''Guiné'' which emerged in the mid-15th century to refer to the lands inhabited by the ''Guineus'', a generic term for the black African peoples south of the Senegal River
,french: Fleuve Sénégal)
, name_etymology =
, image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...
, in contrast to the "tawny" Zenaga Berbers above it, whom they called ''Azenegues'' or Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
.
History
The land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa
French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...
. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958. From independence until the presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers.
West African empires and kingdoms
What is now Guinea was on the fringes of some West African empires. The earliest, the Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, ...
, grew on trade and ultimately fell after repeated incursions of the Almoravids
The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...
. It was in this period that Islam first arrived in the region by way of North African traders.
The Sosso Empire
The Sosso Empire was a twelfth-century Kaniaga kingdom of West Africa.
The Kingdom of Sosso, also written as Soso or Susu, was an ancient kingdom on the coast of west Africa. During its empire, reigned their most famous leader, Sumaoro Kan ...
(12th to 13th centuries) flourished in the resulting void, and the Mali Empire
The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...
came to prominence when Soundiata Kéïta defeated the Sosso ruler Soumangourou Kanté at the Battle of Kirina
The Battle of Kirina, also known as the Battle of Krina or Siege of Karina ( c. 1235), was a confrontation between Sosso king Sumanguru Kanté and Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita. Sundiata Keita's forces roundly defeated those of Sumanguru Kant ...
, in . The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa (Emperors), including Kankou Moussa who made a hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
to Mecca in 1324. After his reign, the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
states in the 15th century.
The Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...
expanded its power from about 1460 and eventually surpassed the Mali Empire in both territory and wealth. It continued to prosper until a civil war, over succession, followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The empire fell to invaders from Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
at the Battle of Tondibi 3 years later. The Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively and it split into smaller kingdoms.
After the fall of some of the West African empires, various kingdoms existed in what is now Guinea. Fulani Muslims migrated to Futa Jallon
Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa.
Etymology
The Fulani people call the re ...
in Central Guinea, and established an Islamic state from 1727 to 1896, with a written constitution and alternate rulers. The Wassoulou or Wassulu Empire (1878–1898) was led by Samori Toure in the predominantly Malinké
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic gro ...
area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
(Wassoulou). It moved to Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
before being conquered by the French.
Colony
European traders competed for the cape trade from the 17th century onward and made inroads earlier. Slaves were exported to work elsewhere. The traders used the regional slave practices.
Guinea's colonial period began with French military penetration into the area in the mid-19th century. French domination was assured by the defeat in 1898 of the armies of Samori Touré
Samory Toure ( – June 2, 1900), also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Muslim cleric, a military strategist, and the founder and leader of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic empire that was in present-day ...
, Mansa (or Emperor) of the Ouassoulou
Wassoulou is a cultural area and historical region in the Wassoulou River Valley of West Africa. It is home to about 160,000 people, and is also the native land of the Wassoulou genre of music.
Wassoulou surrounds the point where the borde ...
state and leader of Malinké descent, which gave France control of what today is Guinea and adjacent areas.
France negotiated Guinea's present boundaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the British for Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
, the Portuguese for their Guinea colony (now Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
), and Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
. Under the French, the country formed the French Guinea, Territory of Guinea within French West Africa
French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...
, administered by a governor general resident in Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
. Lieutenant governors administered the individual colonies, including Guinea.
In 1958, the French Fourth Republic collapsed due to political instability and its failures in dealing with its colonies, especially Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
and Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. The French Fifth Republic gave the colonies the choice of autonomy
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...
in a new French Community
The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...
or immediate independence, in the referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
of 28 September 1958. Unlike most other colonies, Guinea voted overwhelmingly for independence. It was led by Ahmed Sékou Touré
Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; January 9, 1922 – March 26, 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who became the first president of Guinea, serving from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was am ...
whose Democratic Party of Guinea-African Democratic Rally
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
(PDG) had won 56 of 60 seats in 1957 territorial elections. The French withdrew, and on 2 October 1958, Guinea proclaimed itself a sovereign and independent republic, with Sékou Touré as president.
''The Washington Post'' observed the "brutal" French tearing down all that they considered their contributions to Guinea: "In reaction, and as a warning to other French-speaking territories, the French pulled out of Guinea over a two-month period, taking everything they could with them. They unscrewed lightbulbs, removed plans for sewage pipelines in Conakry, the capital, and even burned medicines rather than leave them for the Guineans."
Post-colonial (1958–)
Subsequently, Guinea aligned itself with the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and adopted socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
policies. It then moved towards a Chinese model of socialism. It continued to receive investment from capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
countries, such as the United States. By 1960, Touré had declared PDG the country's only legal political party, and for the next 24 years, the government and PDG were one. Touré was re-elected unopposed to 4 7-year terms as president, and every 5 years voters were presented with a single list of PDG candidates for the National Assembly. Advocating a hybrid African Socialism
African socialism or Afrosocialism is a belief in sharing economic resources in a traditional African way, as distinct from classical socialism. Many African politicians of the 1950s and 1960s professed their support for African socialism, althou ...
domestically and Pan-Africanism abroad, Touré became a polarising leader, with his government becoming intolerant of dissent, imprisoning thousands, and stifling the press.
Throughout the 1960s, the Guinean government nationalised land, removed French-appointed and traditional chiefs from power, and had strained ties with the French government and French companies. Touré's government relied on the Soviet Union and China for infrastructure aid and development, and much of this was used for political and not economic purposes, such as the building of stadiums to hold political rallies.
On 22 November 1970, Portuguese forces from neighbouring Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Gu ...
staged Operation Green Sea
Operation Green Sea ( pt, Operação Mar Verde) was an amphibious attack on Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by between 350 and 420 Portuguese soldiers and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters in November 1970. The goals of the operation included th ...
, a raid on Conakry by several hundred exiled Guinean opposition forces. Among their goals, the Portuguese military wanted to kill or capture Sekou Touré due to his support of PAIGC, an independence movement and rebel group that had carried out attacks inside Portuguese Guinea from their bases in Guinea. After some fighting, the Portuguese-backed forces retreated, having freed several dozen Portuguese prisoners of war that were being held by PAIGC in Conakry, and without having ousted Touré. In the years after the raid, purges were carried out by the Touré government, and at least 50 thousand people were killed. Others were imprisoned and faced torture. Some foreigners were forced to leave the country, after having had their Guinean spouse arrested and their children placed into state custody.
Guinea was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
1972–73.
In 1977, a declining economy, mass killings, a stifling political atmosphere, and a ban on all private economic transactions led to the Market Women's Revolt, a series of anti-government riots started by women working in Conakry's Madina Market. This prompted Touré to make major reforms. Touré vacillated from supporting the Soviet Union to supporting the United States. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw some economic reforms, while Touré's centralized control of the state remained. In the relationship with France, after the election of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981.
After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
as French president, trade increased and the 2 countries exchanged diplomatic visits.
Sékou Touré died on 26 March 1984, after a heart operation in the United States, and was replaced by Prime Minister Louis Lansana Beavogui
Louis Lansana Beavogui ( nqo, ߟߊ߲߭ߛߌ߬ߣߍ߬ ߓߌߦߊߝ߭ߏߜ߭ߌ߫; 28 December 1923 – 19 August 1984) was a Guinean politician. He was List of prime ministers of Guinea, Prime Minister from 1972 to 1984 and was briefly List of presi ...
, who was to serve as interim president, pending new elections. PDG was due to elect a new leader on 3 April 1984. Under the constitution, that person would have been the only candidate for president. Hours before that meeting, Colonels Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré
Diarra Traoré (1935 – 8 July 1985) was a Guinean soldier and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Guinea briefly in 1984 as a member of a junta led by Lansana Conté. In 1985, after Traoré attempted a coup d'état against President C ...
seized power in a bloodless coup. Conté assumed the role of president, with Traoré serving as prime minister, until December.
Conté denounced the previous regime's record on human rights, releasing 250 political prisoners and encouraging approximately 200 thousand more to return from exile. He made explicit the turn away from socialism.
In 1992, Conté announced a return to civilian rule, with a presidential poll in 1993, followed by elections to parliament in 1995 (in which his party—the Party of Unity and Progress
The Unity and Progress Party (french: Parti de l'Unité et du Progrès, PUP) is a political party in Guinea. It was the ruling party during the long rule of President Lansana Conté. In terms of ideology, the PUP advocates the unity of Guineans an ...
—won 71 of 114 seats.) In September 2001, the opposition leader Alpha Condé was imprisoned for endangering state security and pardoned 8 months later. Subsequently, he spent time in exile in France.
In 2001, Conté organized and won a referendum to lengthen the presidential term, and in 2003, began his third term after elections were boycotted by the opposition. In January 2005, Conté survived a suspected assassination attempt while making a public appearance in the capital 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 ...
. His opponents claimed that he was a "tired dictator", whose departure was inevitable, whereas his supporters believed that he was winning a battle with dissidents. According to ''Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'', Guinea was in danger of becoming a failed state.
In 2000, Guinea suffered from the instability which had blighted the rest of West Africa, as rebels crossed the borders with Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
. It seemed that the country was headed for civil war. Conté blamed neighbouring leaders for coveting Guinea's natural resources, and these claims were denied. In 2003, Guinea agreed to plans with her neighbours to tackle the insurgents. The 2007 Guinean general strike
The 2007 Guinean general strike began on January 10, 2007. Guinea's trade unions and opposition parties called on President Lansana Conté to resign, accusing him of mismanaging the economy and abusing his authority. The strikers also accused ...
resulted in the appointment of a new prime minister.
Conté remained in power until his death on 23 December 2008. Several hours after his death, Moussa Dadis Camara seized control in a coup, declaring himself head of a military junta. Protests against the coup became violent, and 157 people were killed when, on 28 September 2009, the junta ordered its soldiers to attack people gathered to protest Camara's attempt to become president. The soldiers went on a rampage of rape, mutilation, and murder, which caused some foreign governments to withdraw their support for the new regime.[
]
On 3 December 2009, an aide shot Camara during a dispute over the rampage in September. Camara went to Morocco for medical care. Vice-president (and defense minister) Sékouba Konaté
General Sékouba Konaté ( nqo, ߛߋߞߎߓߊ ߞߏ߬ߣߊ߬ߕߋ; born 6 June 1964) is an officer of the Guinean army who formerly served as the vice president of its military junta, the National Council for Democracy and Development. After atten ...
flew from Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
to run the country. After meeting in Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...
on 13 and 14 January 2010, Camara, Konaté and Blaise Compaoré, President of Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
, produced a formal statement of 12 principles promising a return of Guinea to civilian rule within 6 months. The presidential election of 27 June[Guinea to hold presidential elections in six months _English_Xinhua](_blank)
. News.xinhuanet.com (16 January 2010). Retrieved 28 June 2011. brought allegations of fraud, and a second election was held on 7 November. Voter turnout was "high", and the elections went "relatively smoothly". Alpha Condé, leader of the opposition party Rally of the Guinean People (RGP), won the election, promising to reform the security sector and review mining contracts.
In February 2013, political violence erupted after street protests over transparency of upcoming May elections. The protests were fueled by the opposition coalition's decision to step down from the elections, in protest of the lack of transparency in the preparations for elections. 9 people were killed during the protests, and around 220 were injured. Some deaths and injuries were caused by security forces using live ammunition on protesters. The violence led to ethnic clashes between the Malinke
Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peop ...
and Fula, who supported and opposed President Condé, respectively. On 26 March 2013, the opposition party backed out of negotiations with the government over the election, saying that the government had not respected them, and had broken all agreements.
On 25 March 2014, the World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
stated that Guinea's Ministry of Health had reported an outbreak of Ebola virus disease
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
in Guinea. This initial outbreak had 86 cases, including 59 deaths. By 28 May, there were 281 cases, with 186 deaths. It is believed that the first case was Emile Ouamouno, a 2-year-old boy in the village of Meliandou Meliandou is a village in Guéckédou Prefecture, in the Nzérékoré Region of southern Guinea. Medical researchers believe that the village was the location of the first known case of Ebola virus disease in the epidemic in West Africa. The patien ...
. He fell ill on 2 December 2013 and died on 6 December. On 18 September 2014, 8 members of an Ebola education health care team were murdered by villagers in the town of Womey
Womey (or Womé or Ouomé) is a town and sub-prefecture in the Nzérékoré Prefecture in the Nzérékoré Region of Guinea.
The sub-prefecture is 494 km2 in area and has a population of 13,196 (2014 census).
Incident on 16 September ...
. As of 1 November 2015, there had been 3,810 cases and 2,536 deaths in Guinea.
The 2019–2020 Guinean protests
The 2019–2020 Guinean protests, or the (FNDC), were a series of violent protests and mass civil unrest around Guinea against the rule of Alpha Conde that first broke out on 14 October 2019 against constitutional changes. More than 800 were ki ...
were a series of violent protests and mass civil unrest against the rule of Alpha Conde that broke out on October 14, 2019, against constitutional changes. More than 800 were killed in clashes. After the 2020 Guinean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 18 October 2020. Incumbent president Alpha Condé was running for a third term. He was challenged by former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, as well as several other candidates.
Background
The ...
, Alpha Condé's election to a third term was challenged by the opposition, who accused him of fraud. Condé claimed a constitutional referendum from March 2020 allowed him to run despite the 2-term limit.
On 5 September 2021, after hours of gunfire near the presidential palace, Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya seized control of state television and declared that President Alpha Conde
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
's government had been dissolved and the nation's borders closed. By the evening, the putschists declared control of all Conakry and the country's armed forces. According to ''Guinée Matin,'' by 6 September the military fully controlled the state administration and started to replace the civil administration with its military counterpart. The United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
, ECOWAS (which suspended Guinea's membership) and La Francophonie
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
denounced the coup, and called for President Condé's unconditional release. Similar responses came from some neighboring and Western countries (including the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
),[West African leaders due in Guinea as post-coup calm pervades Conakry,"](_blank)
September 9, 2021, Reuters News Service
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was establ ...
, retrieved September 9, 2021["West African leaders suspend Guinea from Ecowas following coup,"](_blank)
September 9, 2021, BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, retrieved September 9, 2021["China Is OK With Interfering in Guinea's Internal Affairs,"](_blank)
September 8, 2021, ''Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' retrieved September 9, 2021 and from China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(which relies on Guinea for half of its aluminum ore, facilitated by its connections to President Condé). Despite these, On 1 October 2021, Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as interim President.
Geography
Guinea shares a border with Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
to the northwest, Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
to the north, Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
to the northeast, Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
to the east, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
to Guinea–Sierra Leone border, the southwest and Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
to the south. The nation forms a crescent as it curves from its southeast region to the north and west, to its northwest border with Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
and southwestern coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The sources of the Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
, the Gambia River
The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable f ...
, and the Senegal River
,french: Fleuve Sénégal)
, name_etymology =
, image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...
are all found in the Guinea Highlands
The Guinea Highlands is a densely forested mountainous plateau extending from central Guinea through northern Sierra Leone and Liberia to western Ivory Coast. The highlands include a number of mountains, ranges and plateaus, including the Fouta ...
. At , Guinea is roughly the size of the United Kingdom. There are of coastline and a total land border of . It lies mostly between latitudes 7° and 13°N, and longitudes 7° and 15°W, with a smaller area that is west of 15°.
Guinea is divided into 4 regions: Maritime Guinea, also known as Lower Guinea or the Basse-Coté lowlands, populated mainly by the Susu ethnic group; the cooler, more mountainous Fouta Djallon
Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a Highland (geography), highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa.
Etymology
The Ful ...
that run roughly north–south through the middle of the country, populated by Fulas; the Sahelian Haute-Guinea to the northeast, populated by Malinké
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic gro ...
; and the forested jungle regions in the southeast, with several ethnic groups. Guinea's mountains are the source for the Niger, the Gambia, and Senegal Rivers, and rivers flowing to the sea on the west side of the range in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. The highest point in Guinea is Mount Nimba
Mount Richard-Molard, also known as Mount Nimba, is a mountain along the border of Ivory Coast and Guinea in West Africa. The highest peak for both countries and the Nimba Range is at . The mountain is a part of the Guinea Highlands, which stra ...
at . While the Guinean and Ivorian sides of the Nimba Massif
The Nimba Range forms part of the southern extent of the Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Richard-Molard on the border of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, at 1,752 m (5,750 ft). "Mount Nimba" may refer either to Mount Richard-Mol ...
are a UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Strict Nature Reserve, the portion of the so-called Guinean Backbone continues into Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
, where it has been mined for decades; the damage is evident in the Nzérékoré Region at .
Guinea is home to 5 ecoregions: Guinean montane forests, Western Guinean lowland forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
, West Sudanian savanna
The West Sudanian savanna is a tropical savanna ecoregion that extends across West Africa.
Geography
The ecoregion stretches east and west across West Africa, from the Atlantic coast of Senegal to the Mandara Mountains on Nigeria's eastern borde ...
, and Guinean mangroves
The Guinean mangroves are a coastal ecoregion of mangrove swamps in rivers and estuaries near the ocean of West Africa from Senegal to Sierra Leone.
Location and description
Guinean mangroves can be found: in the Saloum River and Casamance del ...
. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.9/10, ranking it 114th globally out of 172 countries.
Wildlife
The southern part of Guinea lies within the Guinean Forests of West Africa
The Guinean forests of West Africa is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which includes the belt of tropical moist broadleaf forests along the coast of West Africa, running from Sierra Leone and Guinea in the west to ...
Biodiversity hotspot, while the north-east is characterized by dry savanna woodlands. Declining populations of some animals are restricted to uninhabited distant parts of parks and reserves.
Species found in Guinea include the following:
* Amphibians : ''Hemisus guineensis
The Guinea snout-burrower (''Hemisus guineensis''), or Guinea shovelnose frog, is a species of frog in the family Hemisotidae found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist ...
'', ''Phrynobatrachus guineensis
''Phrynobatrachus guineensis'' is a species of frog in the family Phrynobatrachidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, southern Guinea, Liberia, and western Ivory Coast. Common name Guinea river frog has been coined for it, although it is actually ...
''
* Reptiles : ''Acanthodactylus
''Acanthodactylus'' is a genus of lacertid lizards, commonly referred to as fringe-fingered lizards, fringe-toed lizards (though the latter common name is also used for the New World lizard genus ''Uma''), and spiny-toed lizards.
Geographic ra ...
guineensis'', ''Mochlus
''Mochlus'' is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Africa.
Description
Skinks of the genus ''Mochlus'' are cylindrical in shape and robust. They get the common name "writhing skinks" from the side-to-si ...
guineensis''
* Arachnids: '' Malloneta guineensis'', ''Dictyna
''Dictyna'' is a genus of cribellate araneomorph spiders in the family Dictynidae, and was first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833.
Species
it contains 118 species:
*'' D. abundans'' Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941 – USA
*'' D. agressa'' I ...
guineensis''
* Insects : '' Zorotypus guineensis'', '' Euchromia guineensis''
* Birds: ''Melaniparus guineensis
The white-shouldered black tit (''Melaniparus guineensis''), also known as the pale-eyed black tit, is a passerine bird in the tit family. It breeds in a belt across Africa from Senegal in the west to Kenya and Ethiopia in the east. It is someti ...
''
Regions and prefectures
The Republic of Guinea covers of West Africa, about 10 degrees north of the equator. It is divided into 4 natural regions with distinct human, geographic, and climatic characteristics:
* Maritime Guinea (''La Guinée Maritime'') covers 18% of the country.
* Middle Guinea
Middle Guinea (french: Moyenne-Guinée, links=no) refers to a region in central Guinea, corresponding roughly with the plateau region known as Futa Jalon (french: Fouta Djallon, links=no; ff, Fuuta Jaloo).
It is bounded by Maritime Guinea, also ...
(''La Moyenne-Guinée'') covers 20% of the country.
* Upper Guinea Upper Guinea is a geographical term used in several contexts:
# Upper Guinea (french: Haute-Guinée) is one of the four geographic regions of the Republic of Guinea, being east of Futa Jalon, north of Forest Guinea, and bordering Mali. The populat ...
(''La Haute-Guinée'') covers 38% of the country.
* Forested Guinea (''Guinée forestière'') covers 23% of the country, and is both forested and mountainous.
Guinea is divided into 8 administrative regions
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
which are subdivided into 33 prefectures. The capital 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 ...
with a population of 1,675,069 ranks as a special zone.
Politics
Guinea is a republic. The president is directly elected by the people and is the head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
and the head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
. The unicameral National Assembly is the legislative body
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
of the country, and its members are directly elected by the people. The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court of Guinea, the highest and final court of appeal in the country.
The National Assembly of Guinea
The unicameral ''Assemblée nationale'' or National Assembly is Guinea's legislative body. Since the country's birth in 1958, it has experienced political turmoil, and elections have been called at irregular intervals, and only since 1995 have the ...
, the country's legislative body, did not meet from 2008 to 2013, when it was dissolved after the military coup in December. Elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
have been postponed multiple times since 2007. In April 2012, President Condé postponed the elections indefinitely, citing the need to ensure that they were "transparent and democratic". The 2013 Guinean legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Guinea on 28 September 2013 after numerous delays and postponements. President Alpha Condé's party, the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly with 53 of the 114 ...
was held on 24 September. President Alpha Condé's party, the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG), won a plurality of seats in the National Assembly of Guinea
The unicameral ''Assemblée nationale'' or National Assembly is Guinea's legislative body. Since the country's birth in 1958, it has experienced political turmoil, and elections have been called at irregular intervals, and only since 1995 have the ...
, with 53 out of 114 seats. The opposition parties won a total of 53 seats, and opposition leaders denounced the official results as fraudulent.
The president of Guinea is normally elected by popular vote for a 5-year term; the winning candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected president. The president governs Guinea, assisted by a council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
of 25 civilian ministers
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...
, appointed by him. The government administers the country through 8 regions, 33 prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
s, over 100 subprefectures, and districts (known as communes in Conakry and other cities and villages, or ''quartiers'' in the interior). District-level leaders are elected; the president appoints officials to all other levels of the centralized administration. Former President Alpha Condé derived support from Guinea's second-largest ethnic group, the Malinke
Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peop ...
. Guinea's opposition was backed by the Fula ethnic group,[In french: link=no, Peul. In ff, Fulɓe.] who account for around 33.4% of the population.
Foreign relations
Guinea is a member of the African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
, Agency for the French-Speaking Community
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that s ...
, African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...
, Economic Community of West African States, World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, Islamic Development Bank, IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
, and the United Nations.
According to a February 2009 U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
statement, Guinea's foreign relations, including those with its West African neighbours, had improved steadily since 1985. The Department's October 2018 statement indicated that—although "the U.S. condemned" Guinea's "2008 military coup d'etat,"—the U.S. had "close relations" with Guinea before the coup, and after "Guinea's presidential elections in 2010, the United States re-established strong diplomatic relations with the government." The statement indicated support for the "legislative elections in 2013 and a second presidential election in 2015," as signs of "democratic reform."["U.S. Relations With Guinea,"](_blank)
October 30, 2018, United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
, retrieved September 6, 2021 A March 2021 report by the U.S. State Department blasted extensive human rights violations by the government, security forces and businesses in Guinea. The report cited extensive international criticism of the recent national elections, which yielded "President Alpha Conde's re-election (despite disputed results)... following a controversial March referendum amending the constitution and allowing him to run for a third term."[2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea,"](_blank)
March 30, 2021, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
, retrieved September 9, 2021 The Department condemned the 2021 coup, warning that "violence and any extra-constitutional measures will only erode Guinea's prospects for peace, stability, and prosperity, ndcould limit the ability of the United States and Guinea's other international partners to support the country...," While not explicitly calling for President Condé's return to power, the U.S. called for "national dialogue to address concerns sustainably and transparently to enable a peaceful and democratic way forward for Guinea..."["On the Military Seizure of Power in Guinea,"](_blank)
September 5, 2021, United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
, retrieved September 6, 2021["Guinea coup leader bars foreign travel for government officials,"](_blank)
Reuters News Service
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was establ ...
, retrieved September 6, 2021
The United Nations promptly denounced the 2021 coup, and some of Guinea's allies condemned the coup. The African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
and West Africa's regional bloc ( ECOWAS), both threatened sanctions—while some analysts expect the threats to be of limited effect because Guinea is not a member of the West African currency union, and is not a landlocked country. ECOWAS promptly suspended Guinea's membership, and demanded the unconditional release of President Condé, while sending envoys to Conakry to attempt a "constitutional" resolution of the situation. Uncharacteristically responding to another nation's internal affairs, China (which relies on Guinea for half of its aluminium ore, facilitated by connections to ousted President Condé) openly opposed the coup.
Military
Guinea's armed forces are divided into 5 branches—army, navy, air force, the paramilitary National Gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
and the Republican Guard—whose chiefs report to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is subordinate to the Minister of Defence. In addition, regime security forces include the National Police Force (Sûreté Nationale). The Gendarmerie, responsible for internal security, has a strength of several thousand.
The army, with about 15,000 personnel, is by far the largest branch of the armed forces and is mainly responsible for protecting the state borders, the security of administered territories, and defending Guinea's national interests. Air force personnel total about 700. Its equipment includes several Russian-supplied fighter planes and transports. The navy has about 900 personnel and operates several small patrol craft and barges.
Human rights
Homosexuality is illegal in Guinea. The prime minister declared in 2010 that he does not consider sexual orientation a legitimate human right.
Guinea has one of the world's highest rates of female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
(FGM, sometimes referred to as 'female circumcision') according to Anastasia Gage, an associate professor at Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
, and Ronan van Rossem, an associate professor at Ghent University. Female genital mutilation in Guinea had been performed on more than 98% of women . In Guinea "almost all cultures, religions, and ethnicities" practice female genital mutilation. The 2005 Demographic and Health Survey The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program is responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries. The project is implemented by ICF International and is funded ...
reported that 96% of women have gone through the operation.
Economy
Agriculture
The agriculture sector at some point employed approximately 75% of the country. The rice is cultivated in the flooded zones between streams and rivers. The local production of rice is not sufficient to feed the country, so rice is imported from Asia. The sector cultivates coffee beans, pineapples, peaches, nectarines, mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...
es, oranges, bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, and other types of produce. Guinea is one of the emerging regional producers of apples and pears. There are plantations of grapes, pomegranates, and more recent years have seen the development of strawberry plantations, based on the vertical hydroponic system.
Natural resources
Guinea has 25% or more of the world's known 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 ...
reserves. It has diamonds, gold, and other metals. Bauxite and alumina are the most major exports. Other industries include processing plants for beer, juices, soft drinks and tobacco. Agriculture employs 75% of the nation's labour force. Under French rule, and at the beginning of independence, Guinea was an exporter of bananas, pineapples, coffee, peanuts, and palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
. Soil, water, and climatic conditions provide opportunities for irrigated farming and agro industry.
Mining
Guinea possesses over 25 billion tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s (metric tons) of 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 ...
– and perhaps up to one half of the world's reserves. Its mineral wealth includes more than 4-billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore, and diamond and gold deposits, and uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
. Possibilities for investment and commercial activities exist in all these areas, and Guinea's "poorly developed infrastructure and rampant corruption continue to present obstacles to large-scale investment projects".
Joint venture bauxite mining and alumina operations in north-west Guinea historically provide about 80% of Guinea's Foreign exchange reserves. Bauxite is refined into alumina, which is later smelted
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from l ...
into aluminium. The ''Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée
Compagnie des bauxites de Guinée (CBG) is a Guinean mining company. Since 1963 it has extracted bauxite from the notable mine in Sangarédi, in Boké Region in Guinea. It is 49% owned by the Guinean State, with the remainder owned by the Boké ...
'' (CBG) exports about 14 million tonnes of high-grade bauxite annually. CBG is a joint venture, 49% owned by the Guinean government and 51% by an international consortium known as Halco Mining Halco Mining is an aluminium company based at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). The company is organized under the laws of the state of Delaware in the United States. Halco is the 51% owner of the stock of Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, the prim ...
Inc., itself a joint venture controlled by aluminium producer Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
(AA), global miner Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...
and Dadco Investments. CBG has exclusive rights to bauxite reserves and resources in north-western Guinea, through 2038. In 2008, protesters upset about poor electrical services blocked the tracks CBG uses. Guinea includes a proviso in its agreements with international oil companies, requiring its partners to generate power for nearby communities.
The ''Compagnie des Bauxites de Kindia'' (CBK), a joint venture between the government of Guinea and 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 ...
, produces some 2.5 million tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s annually, nearly all of which is exported to Russia and Eastern Europe. Dian Dian
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 ...
, a Guinean/Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
joint bauxite venture, has a projected production rate of per year, and is not expected to begin operation for several years. The '' Alumina Compagnie de Guinée'' (ACG) which took over the former Friguia Consortium produced about 2.4 million tonnes in 2004, as raw material for its alumina refinery. The refinery exports about 750,000 tonnes of alumina. Both Global Alumina and Alcoa-Alcan have signed conventions with the government of Guinea to build large alumina refineries, with a combined capacity of about 4 million tonnes per year.
The Simandou mine
The Simandou mine is a large iron mine located in the Simandou mountain range of southern Guinea's Nzérékoré Region. Simandou represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in Guinea and in the world, having estimated reserves of 2.4 billion ...
is an iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
reserve. In March 2010, Anglo-Australian corporation Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...
and its biggest shareholder, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chinalco), signed a preliminary agreement to develop Rio Tinto's iron ore project. In 2017, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Britain's anti-fraud regulator, launched an official investigation into Rio Tinto's business and mining practices in Guinea.
Tigui Camara
Tigui Camara, also Tiguidanké Camara, is a Guinean model and mining entrepreneur, who is Chief Executive Officer of Tigui Mining Group and a member of the association International Women in Mining. She is one of the youngest mining entrepreneur ...
, a former model, is the first woman in Guinea to own a mining company which is partially run as a social enterprise.
Oil
In 2006, Guinea signed a production sharing agreement Production sharing agreements (PSAs) or production sharing contracts (PSCs) are a common type of contract signed between a government and a resource extraction company (or group of companies) concerning how much of the resource (usually oil) extract ...
with Hyperdynamics Corporation of Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
to explore an offshore tract, and was then in partnership with Dana Petroleum
Dana Petroleum plc is an oil and gas exploration and production company based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Its activities are focused on the North Sea, Africa and The Middle East. It is a subsidiary of the Korea National Oil Corporation and is a forme ...
PLC (Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, United Kingdom). The initial well, the Sabu-1, was scheduled to begin drilling in October 2011, at a site in approximately 700 metres of water. The Sabu-1 targeted a 4-way anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...
prospect with upper Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...
sands, and was anticipated to be drilled to a total depth of 3,600 meters.
Following the completion of exploratory drilling in 2012, the Sabu-1 well was not deemed commercially viable. In November 2012, Hyperdynamics subsidiary SCS reached an agreement for a sale of 40% of the concession to Tullow Oil, bringing ownership shares in the Guinea offshore tract to 37% Hyperdynamics, 40% Tullow Oil, and 23% Dana Petroleum. Hyperdynamics will have until September 2016, under the current agreement, to begin drilling its next selected site, the Fatala Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...
turbidite fan prospect.
Tourism
Among the attractions in Guinea are the waterfalls found mostly in the Basse Guinee (Lower Guinea) and Moyenne Guinee (Middle Guinea) regions. The Soumba cascade at the foot of Mount Kakoulima in Kindia, Voile de la Mariée (Bride's Veil) in Dubreka, the Kinkon cascades that are about high on the Kokoula River in the prefecture of Pita, the Kambadaga falls that can reach during the rainy season on the same river, the Ditinn & Mitty waterfalls in Dalaba, and the Fetoré waterfalls and the stone bridge in the region of Labe are among water-related tourist sites.
Transport
Conakry International Airport
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 po ...
is the largest airport in the country, with flights to other cities in Africa and to Europe.
Built between 1904 and 1910, a railway once linked Conakry to Kankan via Kouroussa ceased operating in 1995 and had been dismantled altogether by 2007 with rails mostly stolen and/or sold for scrap. Plans had at 1 time been mooted for the passenger line to be rehabilitated as part of an iron-ore development master plan and while the start of work was announced in 2010, corruption charges led the whole master plan to be paused and the line was rebuilt as a 105 km mineral railway, paralleling the older route as far as the mines of Kalia
Kalia may refer to:
People
*Kalia Davis (born 1998), American football player
* Kalia Kulothungan (born 1977), Indian footballer
*Saurabh Kalia, India Army Officer (Kargil War)
Places
*Kalia, Faranah, in Guinea
* Kalia, Gaoual, in Guinea
*Ka ...
. There is a state run mineral railway linking the bauxite mines of Sangarédi
Sangarédi is a mining town and sub-prefecture in western Guinea, where bauxite is mined. The ore is shipped by a railway to the Atlantic coast port of Kamsar
Kamsar is a port city in Guinea, West Africa. It is also a Sub-prefecture of Gui ...
to the port of Kamsar
Kamsar is a port city in Guinea, West Africa. It is also a Sub-prefecture of Guinea. It is located on the mouth of the Nunez River.
Port Kamsar handles significant part of the world's bauxite production. Ships calling Port Kamsar and going di ...
(137 km) and a 1960s narrow-gauge line operated by Russian aluminium producer 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 ...
to the mines at Fria
Fria is a town and Sub-prefecture in Lower Guinea, lying north of Conakry near the Amaria Dam on the Konkouré River. As of 2014 it had a population of 61,691 people.
Overview
There are some variations in the name of the town: Friguia, Kim ...
(143 km).
As part of the plans to restart iron ore mining at Simandou
Simandou is a range of hills located in the Nzérékoré and Kankan regions of southeastern Guinea, in the country's mountainous, forested ''Guinée Forestière'' region. At the southern end of the range the site of a large iron ore deposit i ...
blocks 1 and 2, the new development consortium pledged in 2019 to fund the construction of a new heavy-duty standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
railway to Matakong
Matakong is an island just off the coast of Guinea between the capital Conakry and the Sierra Leone border.
Nomenclature
Matakong is also called Matakan.
Transport
Matakong is the proposed port terminus of the heavy duty standard gauge ...
on the Atlantic coast where they would invest some US$20 billion in developing a deepwater port. The 650 km route is longer than an alternative heading south to the port of Buchanan, Liberia, which was considered as an alternative in an October 2019 feasibility study. However, the Matakong route would be entirely within Guinea and tied to an agricultural development corridor for citizens along the route.
Some vehicles in Guinea are more than 20 years old, and cabs are any 4-door vehicle which the owner has designated as being for hire. Locals, nearly entirely without vehicles of their own, rely upon these taxis (which charge per seat) and small buses to take them around town and across the country. Horses and donkeys pull carts, primarily to transport construction materials.
Demography
The population of Guinea is estimated at million. 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 ...
, the capital and most populous city, is a hub of economy, commerce, education, and culture. In 2014, the total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
(TFR) of Guinea was estimated at 4.93 children born per woman.
The official language of Guinea is French. Pular was spoken by 33.9% of the population in 2018 as their first or native language, followed by Mandingo, with 29.4%. The third most spoken native language is the Susu, spoken by 21.2% of the population in 2018 as their first language. Other languages spoken in Guinea as Guineans native language totalled 16% of the population in 2018, including Kissi and Kpelle.
The population of Guinea comprises about 24 ethnic groups. The Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to:
Media
* ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957
* ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel
* ''Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Kir ...
, also known as Mandingo or Malinké, comprise 29.4% of the population and are mostly found in eastern Guinea concentrated around the Kankan and Kissidougou
Kissidougou ( N’ko: ߞߛߌ߬ߘߎ߯; pronounced like Kiss-eh-dow-goo) is a city in southern Guinea. It is the capital of in the Kissidougou Prefecture. Following intensified conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia during the fall and winter of ...
prefectures.[ The Fulas or Fulani,] comprise 33.4% of the population and are mostly found in the Futa Djallon
Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa.
Etymology
The Fulani people call the r ...
region. The Soussou
The Susu people are a Mandé peoples, Mande-speaking ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and Northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District. , comprising 21.2% of the population, are predominantly in western areas around the capital 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 ...
, Forécariah, and Kindia
Kindia ( N’ko: ߞߌ߲ߘߌߦߊ߫) is the fourth largest city in Guinea, lying about 85 miles northeast of the nation's capital, Conakry. Its estimated population in 2008 was 181,126. Kindia serves as the capital and largest city of Kindia Prefe ...
. Smaller ethnic groups make up the remaining 16% of the population, including Kpelle, Kissi, Zialo
Zialo (self-identification ''Ziolo'') is a language spoken by the Zialo people in Guinea.
The language of Zialo which belongs to the Southwestern group of the Mande branch of the Niger–Congo language family is spoken by approximately 25,000 ...
, Toma and others.[ Approximately 10,000 non-Africans live in Guinea, predominantly Lebanese, French, and other Europeans.
]
Religion
The population of Guinea is approximately 85% Muslim and 8% Christian, with 7% adhering to indigenous religious beliefs.["Guinea 2012 International Religious Freedom Report"](_blank)
US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Some, both Muslim and Christian, have incorporated indigenous African beliefs into their outlook.
The majority of Guinean Muslims are adherent to Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
, of the Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
school of jurisprudence, influenced by Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
. Christian groups include Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, Anglicans, Baptists
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
, Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
, and Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
groups. Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
are active in the country and recognized by the Government. There is a Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
community. There are numbers of Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, and traditional Chinese religious groups among the expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
community.
There were 3 days of ethno-religious fighting in the city of Nzerekore in July 2013. Fighting between ethnic Kpelle who are Christian or animist, and ethnic Konianke who are Muslims and close to the larger Malinke
Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peop ...
ethnic group, left at least 54 dead. The dead included people who were killed with machetes and burned alive. The violence ended after the Guinea military imposed a curfew, and President Conde made a televised appeal for calm.
Education
In 2010 it was estimated that 41% of adults were literate (52% of males and 30% of females).
Primary education is compulsory for 6 years. In 1999, primary school attendance was 40%. Children, particularly girls, are kept out of school to assist their parents with domestic work or agriculture, or to be married: Guinea has "one of the highest rates" of child marriage in the world.
Health
Ebola
In 2014, an outbreak of the Ebola virus occurred in Guinea. In response, the health ministry banned the sale and consumption of bats, thought to be carriers of the disease. The virus eventually spread from rural areas to Conakry, and by June 2014 had spread to neighbouring countries - Sierra Leone and Liberia. In August 2014 Guinea closed its borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia to help contain the spread of the virus, as more new cases of the disease were being reported in those countries than in Guinea.
The outbreak began in December in a village called Meliandou, southeastern Guinea, near the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone. The first known case involved a 2-year-old child who died, after fever and vomiting and passing black stool, on 6 December. The child's mother died a week later, then a sister and a grandmother, all with symptoms that included fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Then, by way of care-giving visits or attendance at funerals, the outbreak spread to other villages.
"Unsafe burials" is a source of the transmission of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the inability to engage with local communities hindered the ability of health workers to trace the origins and strains of the virus.
While WHO terminated the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 29 March 2016, the Ebola Situation Report released on 30 March confirmed 5 more cases in the preceding 2 weeks, with viral sequencing relating 1 of the cases to the November 2014 outbreak.
The Ebola epidemic affected the treatment of other diseases in Guinea. Healthcare visits by the population declined due to fear of infection and to mistrust in the health-care system, and the system's ability to provide routine health-care and HIV/AIDS treatments decreased due to the Ebola outbreak.
Ebola re-emerged in Guinea in January–February 2021.
Maternal and child healthcare
The 2021 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Guinea is 576. This is compared with 680 in 2010, 859.9 in 2008 and 964.7 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 146 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 29. In Guinea the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 1 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women is 1 in 26. Guinea has the second highest prevalence of female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
in the world.
HIV/AIDS
An estimated 170,000 adults and children were infected at the end of 2004. Surveillance surveys conducted in 2001 and 2002 show higher rates of HIV in urban areas than in rural areas. Prevalence was highest in 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 ...
(5%) and in the cities of the Forest Guinea
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
region (7%) bordering Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
, Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
, and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
.
HIV is spread primarily through multiple-partner heterosexual intercourse. Men and women are at nearly equal risk for HIV, with people aged 15 to 24 most vulnerable. Surveillance figures from 2001 to 2002 show the rates among commercial sex workers (42%), active military personnel (6.6%), truck drivers and bush taxi drivers (7.3%), miners (4.7%), and adults with tuberculosis (8.6%).[
Several factors were attributed to what fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Guinea. They include unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners, illiteracy, endemic poverty, unstable borders, refugee migration, lack of civic responsibility, and scarce medical care and public services.][
]
Malnutrition
A 2012 study reported malnutrition rates with levels ranging from 34% to 40% by region, and acute malnutrition rates above 10% in Upper Guinea's mining zones. The survey showed that 139,200 children underwent acute malnutrition, 609,696 underwent chronic malnutrition and further 1,592,892 have anemia. Degradation of care practices, limited access to medical services, inadequate hygiene practices and a lack of food diversity were said to explain these levels.
Malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
is transmitted year-round, with peak transmission from July through October. It is a cause of disability in Guinea.
COVID-19 pandemic
The first case of COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
was reported in Guinea on 13 March 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. By the end of 2020 the total number of confirmed cases was 13,722. Of these, 13,141 had recovered, 500 were active, and 81 people had died.
Culture
Sports
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
is the "most popular sport" in the country of Guinea, alongside basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
.
Football operations are run by the Guinean Football Federation. The association administers the national football team, and the national league.[ It was founded in 1960 and affiliated with ]FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
since 1962 and with the Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...
since 1963.
The Guinea national football team
The Guinea national football team ( French: '' Équipe de football du Guinée'') represents Guinea in men's international football and it is controlled by the Guinean Football Federation. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, ...
, nicknamed ''Syli nationale'' (National Elephants), have played international football since 1962.[ Their first opponent was East Germany.][ They have yet to reach World Cup finals, and were runners-up to Morocco in the ]Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
in 1976.[
]Guinée Championnat National
Guinée Championnat National (simply known as Ligue 1 Pro) is the top division of the Guinean Football Federation, it was created in 1965.
Ligue 1 Pro 2021–22 teams
Champions
*1965 : AS Kaloum Star
*1966 : Hafia FC
*1967 : Hafia FC
*1968 : ...
is the top division of Guinean football. Since it was established in 1965, 3 teams have dominated in winning the . Horoya AC
Horoya Athletic Club, also known as Horoya Conakry or H.A.C., is a Guinean football club based in Conakry, Guinea. The club plays in the Ligue 1 Pro, the top tier in the Guinean football league system. It was founded in 1975.
History
In 2014, t ...
has at least 16 titles and is the 2017–2018 champion. Hafia FC (known as Conakry II in 1960s) has at least 15 titles, having dominated in 1960s and 70s. AS Kaloum Star
Association Sportive Kaloum , also known as A.S.K, is a football club based in Conakry, Guinea. In the 1960s A.S.K was known as Conakry I, and won three titles under that name.
Due to the problems in sponsoring in 2008, the club was relegated t ...
(known as Conakry I in the 1960s) has at least 13 titles. All 3 teams are based in the capital, 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 ...
.
Hafia FC won the African Cup of Champions Clubs
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and cont ...
3 times, in 1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, 1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
and 1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
, while Horoya AC won the 1978 African Cup Winners' Cup
The 1978 season of the African Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by AC Horaya in two-legged final victory against NA Hussein-Dey. This was the fourth season that the tournament took place for the winners of each African country's d ...
.
Polygamy
Polygamy is generally prohibited by law in Guinea, and there are exceptions. In 2020, it was estimated that about 26% of marriages were polygamous (29% Muslim and 10% Christian).
Cuisine
Guinean cuisine
Guinean cuisine includes the traditional dishes of '' fou fou'', boiled mango, fried plantains, ''patates'' and pumpkin pie.[Cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...]
is consumed. Part of West African cuisine, the foods of Guinea include jollof rice, maafe, and tapalapa bread. In rural areas, food is eaten from a "large serving dish" and eaten by hand outside of homes.
See also
* Outline of Guinea
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Guinea:
Guinea – country located in West Africa, that was formerly known as French Guinea. Guinea's territory has a curved shape, with its base at the Atlantic ...
* Index of Guinea-related articles
Articles (arranged alphabetically) related to Guinea include:
__NOTOC__
0-9
*1958 ''independence''
A
* AfricaPhonebook/ Annulaires Afrique
*Aluminum
*Aluminium in Africa
*Aluminium in Guinea
**Alcan
** Alcan in Africa
**Alcoa
** Alumina
** ...
References
Notes
External links
*
Guinea
''The World Factbook
''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
''. Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.
Guinea
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
*
Guinea profile
from the BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
*
*
Guinea 2008 Summary Trade Statistics
{{Authority control
1958 establishments in Guinea
Countries in Africa
Economic Community of West African States
Central African countries
French-speaking countries and territories
Least developed countries
Member states of the African Union
Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Member states of the United Nations
Republics
States and territories established in 1958
West African countries