Maritime Guinea (), also known as Lower Guinea, is one of the four natural regions 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 ...

. It is located in the west of the country, between the Atlantic Ocean and the

Fouta 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 ...

plateau.

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 ...

, Guinea's capital and largest city, is located in the region.

Geography

Maritime Guinea includes the Atlantic coast and coastal plain. The coast is indented with

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

s, or drowned river valleys, that form inlets, tidal marshes,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

forests, and estuaries, and numerous offshore islands.

occupies Tombo Island and the adjacent Kaloum Peninsula. The region is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean 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, the Fouta Djallon, also known as Middle Guinea, to the northeast and east, 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 , Sierr ...

to the south. The region is a gentle coastal plain, between 50 and 80 km (30 and 40 miles) wide, and wider in the south than the north. the

plateau rises from the plain, and several rivers, including the Fatala, Konkouré River, Konkouré, and

Kolenté Kolenté is a town and sub-prefecture in the Kindia Prefecture in the Kindia Region of western Guinea. It lies about 20 km from the Sierra Leone border. Transport It is served by a small station on the national railway system. S ...

, originate in the Fouta Djallon and flow west to empty into the Atlantic. The base rocks of the region are

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

and

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

Laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

, a red soil rich in

iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of wh ...

s and aluminum hydroxide, and sandstone gravel are the dominant soil types.

Climate

The climate of Guinea is tropical, with a six-month dry season (November through March) and a wet season (April through October). The heaviest rainfall comes in June, with the arrival of the

Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal e ...

(ITCZ). Average rainfall at Conakry is about 4,300 mm (170 inches) a year, and the average annual temperature is about 27 °C (low 80s F)."Guinea". britannica.com. Accessed 2 October 2015
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Ecoregions

* Guinean forest-savanna mosaic covers most of the region, extending north into Guinea Bissau and Senegal, and east through northern Sierra Leone and Upper Guinea. * Western Guinean lowland forests occupies the area around Conakry and south, extending into coastal Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d'Ivoire. *

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 ...

, in the coastal estuaries. Enclaves extend north into Guinea Bissau, Gambia and Senegal, and southeast through Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire.

People

Peoples of Maritime Guinea include the Baga, who live along the coast; the Susu in the southern part of the region around Conakry and into adjacent Sierra Leone; and the

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

in the north.

References

{{Authority control Regions of Guinea Geography of Guinea