Guinea

Guinea is a republic on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, between Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Often called Guinea-Conakry after its capital, it curves in a crescent across 245,857 km2 (94,926 sq mi).

Conakry is the capital. The constitution of September 2025 made French and eight local languages, among them Susu, Fulani and Malinke, official, with French kept as the working language. The region lay on the edge of the Ghana Empire, then belonged to the Sosso Empire in the 12th and 13th centuries and to the Mali Empire, which rose after Soundiata Kéïta won the Battle of Kirina around 1235. Fulani Muslims ran an Islamic state in Fouta Djallon from 1727 to 1896 under a written constitution, and Samori Touré led the Wassoulou Empire from 1878 to 1898. France declared Guinea a colony on 17 December 1891 and ruled it within French West Africa from Dakar. On 2 October 1958 Guinea proclaimed itself an independent republic, with Sékou Touré as its first president.

Guinea is a republic whose president, elected by popular vote for five years, is both head of state and head of government, while the National Assembly is the parliament. The Niger, Gambia and Senegal rivers all rise in its mountains, and Mount Nimba is the highest point at 1,752 m (5,748 ft). Farming and mining carry the economy, and the country holds a quarter or more of known bauxite reserves, refined into alumina by firms such as the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, along with iron ore at Simandou, gold and diamonds.

Farmers grow rice on flooded land between rivers, while apples and pears are newer crops. Waterfalls mark Lower and Middle Guinea, among them the Bride's Veil at Dubréka and the Kinkon falls near Pita, which drop about 80 m (260 ft). The kora, the bala and the koni join drums as the traditional instruments. Rice, cassava and fonio are staples, and the Guinean Football Federation, founded in 1960, runs the national team and league.