Nunez River or Rio Nuñez (Kakandé) is a river in Guinea with its source in the

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 th ...

highlands. It is also known as the Tinguilinta River, after a village along its upper course.

Geography

Lying between the to the north and the Pongo River to the south, the Nunez empties into 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 ...

at the port town of Kamsar, along the coast of Guinea-Conakry. The river is swollen each year during the rainy season, producing floodplains and inland swamps. These floodplains are inhabited by the Nalu and

Baga people Baga may refer to: People * Baga (king) (3rd century BC), a king of ancient Mauretania * Ena Baga (1906–2004), English pianist * Kiri Baga (born 1995), American figure skater * Rita Baga, Canadian drag queen * Baga Chipz, stage name of Leo Lor ...

. About inland is the city of

Boké Boké is the capital city of Boké Prefecture within the Boké Region of Lower Guinea near the border with Guinea-Bissau. It is also a sub-prefecture of Guinea. Located along the Rio Nuñez which flows to its not-too-distant mouth on the Atla ...

; the largest on the river and the chief commercial center of Guinea. Here the river is 100m wide and 1m deep. Upstream from Boké, the shallow river winds through low hills with many series of rapids and small islet clusters to its source, a confluence of several small streams.

Coordinates

History

Prior to 1840, this river served as a market for Fulbe slave caravans transporting slaves from the Muslim

Imamate of Futa Jallon The Imamate of Futa Jallon or Jalon ( ar, إمامة فوتة جالون; fuf, Fuuta Jaloo or ' ) was a West African theocratic state based in the Fouta Djallon highlands of modern Guinea. The state was founded around 1727 by a Fulani jihad ...

. In 1793 Captain Samuel Gamble of the

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake in between. Together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built-up area of ...

was forced to seek protection from enemy war boats and pirates in the

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 ...

swaps of the Rio Nunez during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

, where vessels were threatened by French privateers along the West African coast. For unknown reasons, he travels to agricultural villages around the commercial centers of Boke and Kacundy. During his journey Gamble records the earliest known description of irrigated

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

cultivation in the Rio Nunez region (though earlier accounts exist such Diego Gomes' 15th century record of mangrove rice farming along 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 navigabl ...

, detailing his eyewitness account of the process. Records attest to his purchases of both

red rice Red rice is a variety of rice that is colored red by its anthocyanin content. It is usually eaten unpolished or partially polished, and has a red bran layer, rather than the more common pale brown. Red rice has a nutty flavor. It has the highe ...

and polished rice from the Rio Nunez's farmers. In 1849 the river was the site of the

Rio Nuñez incident The Rio Nuñez incident or Rio Nuñez affair () was an international incident which occurred in 1849 on the Nunez river (Rio Nuñez) near Boké in modern-day Guinea. The incident occurred as a result of a local power struggle, when vessels of a ...

, when a Franco-Belgian squadron of warships fired on Boké, which resulted in loss of inventory by two British traders. The incident was inconclusive. During the 1870s, this river was a major export point for

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s, with 5,000 tons per year. In the 1880s, the trade turned to rubber.

Demographics

Speakers of the

Rio Nunez languages The Rio Nunez (Rio Nuñez) or Nunez River languages constitute a pair of Niger–Congo languages, Mbulungish and Baga Mboteni. They are spoken at the mouth of the Nunez River in Guinea, West Africa. The Rio Nunez languages have been studied ...

, Mbulungish and Baga Mboteni, live at the mouth of the Nunez River.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Guinea