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Travel to Guinea — Unbiased reviews and
great deals from TripAdvisorGuinea
| Republic of Guinea National
name: République de Guinée President: Lansana Conté (1984) Prime Minister: Ahmed Tidiane
Souaré (2008)
Current government officials
Total area: 94,927 sq mi (245,861 sq
km) Population (2007 est.): 9,947,814
(growth rate: 2.6%); birth rate: 41.5/1000; infant mortality rate:
88.6/1000; life expectancy: 49.7; density per sq mi: 105
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Conakry, 1,767,200 Monetary unit: Guinean franc
Languages:
French (official), native tongues
(Malinké, Susu, Fulani)
Ethnicity/race:
Peuhl 40%, Malinke 30%, Susu 20%, smaller tribes
10%
Religions:
Islam 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous 7% Literacy rate: 29.5% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$10.69 billion; per capita $1,100. Real growth rate: 1.5%.
Inflation: 22.9%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land:
4%. Agriculture: rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels,
cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats;
timber. Labor force: 3.7 million (2006); agriculture 76%,
industry and services 24% (2006 est.). Industries: bauxite,
gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural
processing industries. Natural resources: bauxite, iron ore,
diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish. Exports: $998
million f.o.b. (2007 est.): bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee,
fish, agricultural products. Imports: $838 million f.o.b. (2007
est.): petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment,
textiles, grain and other foodstuffs. Major trading partners:
Russia, Spain, France, Belgium, South Korea, US, Germany, Ireland, UK,
Switzerland, Ukraine, China, Netherlands (2006). Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 26,300 (2005); mobile cellular: 189,000 (2005). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 5, shortwave 3 (2006). Television
broadcast stations: 6 low-power stations (2001). Internet
hosts: 173 (2007). Internet users: 50,000 (2006). Transportation: Railways: total: 837 km
(2006). Highways: total: 44,348 km; paved: 4,342 km; unpaved:
40,006 km (2003). Waterways: 1,300 km (navigable by
shallow-draft native craft) (2005). Ports and harbors: Kamsar.
Airports: 16 (2007). International
disputes: conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs
in neighboring states has spilled over into Guinea, resulting in
domestic instability; Sierra Leone pressures Guinea to remove its
forces from the town of Yenga occupied since 1998.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Guinea, in West Africa on the Atlantic, is also bordered by
Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra
Leone. Slightly smaller than Oregon, the country consists of a coastal
plain, a mountainous region, a savanna interior, and a forest area in the
Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Nimba at 5,748 ft (1,752
m).
Government
Republic.
History
Beginning in 900, the Susu migrated from the north and began settling
in the area that is now Guinea. The Susu civilization reached its height
in the 13th century. Today the Susu make up about 20% of Guinea's
population. From the 16th to the 19th century, the Fulani empire dominated
the region. In 1849, the French claimed it as a protectorate. First called
Rivières du Sud, the protectorate was rechristened French Guinea;
finally, in 1895, it became part of French West Africa.
Guinea achieved independence on Oct. 2, 1958, and became an independent
state with Sékou Touré as president. Under Touré, the
country was the first avowedly Marxist state in Africa. Diplomatic
relations with France were suspended in 1965, with the Soviet Union
replacing France as the country's chief source of economic and technical
assistance.
Prosperity came in 1960 after the start of exploitation of bauxite
deposits. Touré was reelected to a seven-year term in 1974 and
again in 1981. He died after 26 years as president in March 1984. A week
later, a military regime headed by Col. Lansana Conté took
power.
In 1989, President Conté announced that Guinea would move to a
multiparty democracy, and in 1991, voters approved a new constitution. In
Dec. 1993 elections, the president's Unity and Progress Party took almost
51% of the vote. In 2001, a government referendum was passed that
eliminated presidential term limits, thus allowing Conté to run for
a third term in 2003. Despite the trappings of multiparty rule,
Conté has ruled the country with an iron fist.
Guinea has had ongoing difficulties with its neighbor Liberia, which
was embroiled in a long civil war during the 1990s and again in
2000–2003. Guinea had taken sides against rebel leader Charles
Taylor in Liberia's civil war and was part of the Nigerian-led ECOMOG
forces that intervened in the crisis. As a consequence, President
Conté's relations with Taylor remained sour after Taylor became
Liberia's president in 1997. The fighting in Liberia spilled over the
border into Guinea on several occasions. Sierra Leone's recent civil war
also caused problems for neighboring Guinea. Already burdened by an
inadequate infrastructure and a weak economy, an influx of nearly 300,000
refugees from Sierra Leone has overwhelmed the country.
In Dec. 2003 President Conté was reelected to a third term. In
April 2004, after two months on the job, Prime Minister Lonseny Fall
resigned and went into exile, claiming that the president would not allow
him to govern effectively. President Conté is in poor health, and
many fear a power struggle should he die or be deposed. Anti-government
demonstrators took to the streets in January and February 2007, demanding
that Conté step down. In addition, labor unions went on strike,
paralyzing the country. Conté, who has been criticized as being
corrupt, responded by declaring martial law. The strike ended in late
February when President Conté agreed to name diplomat Lansana
Kouyaté as prime minister. More than 100 people died in battles
with security officials during the strike.
Kouyaté was sacked in May 2008 and replaced by Ahmed Tidiane
Souaré, a member of President Conté's Party of Unity and
Progress.
See also Encyclopedia: Guinea.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Guinea
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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