Nzérékoré ( N’ko: , Adlam: ; also spelled N'Zérékoré) is the second-largest city in

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

by population after the capital,

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

, and the largest city in the

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 ...

region of southeastern

. The city is the capital of

Nzérékoré Prefecture Nzérékoré is a prefecture located in the Nzérékoré Region of Guinea. The capital is Nzérékoré. The prefecture covers an area of and has an estimated population of 396,949. Sub-prefectures The prefecture is divided administratively int ...

. Nzérékoré is a commercial and economic center and lies approximately southeast of

. It was the centre of an uprising against French rule in 1911 and is now known as a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

and for its

silversmithing A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

. The population number lied between ~110,000 and ~290,000 in 1996 based on the Census, and is growing significantly since the start of civil wars in the neighboring

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 Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

sparking inward migration, with the current population number lying between ~230,000 and ~400,000.

History

Nzérékoré was the center of an uprising against French rule in 1911. From 1911–1912, the majority of the Nzérékoré Region was put under direct military rule. There were three days of ethno-religious fighting in Nzérékoré in July 2013. Fighting between ethnic Guerzé (Kpelle), who are Christian or animist, and ethnic Konianke, who are Muslims and close to the larger Malinké ethnic group, left at least 54 dead. The dead included people who were killed with machetes and burned alive. The violence ended after the Guinean military imposed a curfew, and President Alpha Condé made a televised appeal for calm. On 1 December 2024, Nzérékoré football stadium was the scene of violent clashes and a stampede that caused at least 56 deaths. After a disputed refereeing decision fans started to throw stones, triggering panic, after which the police joined in, firing tear gas. In the rush and scramble for the single stadium exit that followed, people fell to the ground and many, including children were trampled underfoot.Guinea stadium crush kills 56 people after disputed refereeing decision
Reuters, 2 December 2024. Accessed on 2 December 2024.

Climate

Nzérékoré has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Aw''). The city features a lengthy

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

covering the months of March through November, while the remaining three months form the city's

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

. While average daily temperatures remain relatively consistent throughout the course of the year, Nzérékoré has a much higher

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...

during its dry season with average highs around and average lows ranging from . The city averages roughly of precipitation annually.

Transportation

The N1 highway connects the city with Kankan in the north. The city is also served by Nzérékoré Airport.

Places of worship

* Cathédrale du Cœur Immaculé de Marie de Nzérékoré

Hospitals

* Hôpital régional de Nzérékoré * Poste de Santé de Nyen 2

References

External links

Maplandia
{{Nzérékoré Prefecture Regional capitals in Guinea Sub-prefectures of the Nzérékoré Region