The

Republic of Guinea 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 ...

is a

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

country, with over 40 languages spoken. The

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

is French, which was inherited from colonial rule. Several indigenous languages have been given the status of

national language A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the te ...

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

(or Pular);

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 g ...

(or Maninka); Susu; Kissi; Kpelle (also known in French as Guerzé) and Loma.

Government and institutions

French is the language of state and of official institutions. It is used as a second language by 15% to 25% of the population, and as a first language by a negligible portion of the population. At the end of the

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 ...

regime, French was the only language used in business and schools.

By region

Fula (34.6%) is mostly spoken in

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, als ...

, where the major city is

Labé Labé (Adlam script, Pular 𞤆𞤵𞤤𞤢𞤪:𞤂𞤢𞤦𞤫) is the main city and administrative capital of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It has a population of about 200,000. It is the second largest city in the country after the capit ...

. It dominates in the

and

Mamou Mamou (Pular: 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤥𞤵𞤲) is a city and sub-prefecture in a valley of the Fouta Djallon area of Guinea. Population 376,269 (2018 est),and the city is almost 98% Fulani tribe. 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 popula ...

, where

Kankan Kankan ( Mandingo: Kánkàn; N’ko: ߞߊ߲ߞߊ߲߫) is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 1 980 130 people as of 2020. The city is located in eastern Guinea about east of the ...

is the major city. It dominates the

Kankan Region The Kankan region now has more than 6,167,904 inhabitants (2021) the most popular region of Guinea The region has five (5) prefectures (Kankan, Kérouané, Kouroussa, Mandiana and Siguiri), 53 sub-prefectures, 5 urban communes, 53 rural commun ...

where it is spoken by 87.1% of the population. The Kankan variety of the language was used by

Solomana Kante Solomana Kanté (also written as Sùlemáana Kántε, Souleymane Kanté or Sulemaana Kantè; , 1922 – November 23, 1987) was a Guinean writer and educator, best known as the inventor of the N'Ko alphabet for the Mandé languages of Africa. Ka ...

for the development of

N'Ko N'Ko () is a script devised by Solomana Kante in 1949, as a modern writing system for the Mandé languages of West Africa. The term ''N'Ko'', which means ''I say'' in all Mandé languages, is also used for the Mandé literary standard written i ...

, a standardized unified written Manding language, which is increasingly used in literacy education and publishing books and newspapers in Guinea and neighboring countries. Susu (17.7%) is mostly spoken in Guinée maritime, where the capital is

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 ...

. It dominates the

Kindia Region Kindia Region (Pular language, Pular: 𞤁𞤭𞥅𞤱𞤢𞤤 𞤑𞤭𞤲𞤣𞤭𞤴𞤢𞥄) is located in western Guinea. It is bordered by the country of Sierra Leone and the Guinean regions of Conakry Region, Conakry, Labé Region, Labé ...

where it is spoken by 54.9% of the population and the plurality (37%) of

also speaks it. Koniaka (4.5%), Kissi (4.1%) and Kpelle (4%) are spoken in

Guinée Forestière Guinée forestière (Forested Guinea) is a forested mountainous region in southeastern Guinea, extending into northeastern Sierra Leone. It is one of four natural regions into which Guinea is divided and covers 23% of the country. It includes a ...

. More specifically, Kpelle is spoken in

Nzérékoré Nzérékoré (N’ko: , Adlam: ; also spelled N'Zérékoré) is the second-largest city in Guinea by population after the capital, Conakry, and the largest city in the Guinée forestière region of southeastern Guinea. The city is the capital of ...

and

Yomou Yomou ( N’ko: ߦߏ߭ߡߎ߲߬) is a town located in southeastern Guinea. It is the capital of Yomou Prefecture. It has an estimated population of 29,138 (2008) growing from 9,661 (1996).Guéckédou Guéckédou or Guékédou is a town in southern Guinea near the Sierra Leone and Liberian borders. It had a population of 79,140 in 1996 (census) but has grown massively since the civil wars and, , it is estimated to be 221,715. It was a centre o ...

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 ...

. Kono is a language used in the south of Guinea, mostly in

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

Conakry

According to a report by Alpha Mamadou Diallo,''Usages et images des langues en guinée'', page 17, Alpha Mamadou Diallo, Université de Conakry. the ''

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

'' of inhabitants of the city of

in decreasing order was: Susu 42%, Pular (Fula) 20%, Maninka(with koniaka) 19%, Kissi 4%, Guerzé 4%, French 2% and Toma 2%.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of Guinea