Guinea (gĭn'ē), Fr. Guinée, officially Republic of Guinea, republic (2005 est. pop. 9,468,000), 94,925 sq mi (245,856 sq km), W Africa. It is bounded on the north by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali; on the east by the Côte d'Ivoire; on the south by Sierra Leone and Liberia; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Conakry is the capital and chief city. The country is divided into 33 administrative regions.

Land and People

A humid and tropical country, Guinea comprises an alluvial coastal plain, the mountainous Fouta Djallon region, a savanna interior, and the forested Guinea Highlands, which rise to c.5,800 ft (1,770 m) in the Nimba Mts.
Guinea's main ethnic groups are the pastoral Fulani and the agrarian Malinké, Susu, and other peoples. Although French is the country's official language, indigenous peoples have their own languages. Islam is the chief religion, and there are Christian and native religious minorities.

Economy

Predominantly agricultural, Guinea produces rice, coffee, pineapples, cassava, bananas, palm kernels, and citrus fruits. Livestock raising is important in the highlands. The country has about half of the world's bauxite deposits, which are mined jointly by Guinea and international companies. Iron ore, gold, and diamonds are also mined. Mineral exports account for more than 70% of all exports.
Alumina, made from bauxite, is also a leading export; other exports include fish and a variety of agricultural products. Guinea's chief trading partners are the United States, France, Belgium, and Côte d'Ivoire. Guinea has some light industry, but inadequate transportation facilities have hampered industrialization. Rail lines connect some large cities, and there are airports at Conakry and Kankan. Expansion of the mineral industry has led to improvement of the road network.

Government

Politics of Guinea takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Guinea is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.

History

Early History
The northeastern plains of present-day Guinea belonged to medieval Ghana and later to the Mali empire (see under Mali, History). In the early 18th cent., a Fulani feudal state was established in the Fouta Djallon region. European exploration of the Guinean coast began with the Portuguese in the mid-15th cent.; by the 17th cent. French, British, and Portuguese traders were competing for slaves and by the 19th cent. for palm oil, peanuts, and other products. Anger over excessive levies exacted from French traders by local chieftains led France to proclaim a protectorate over the Boké area of Guinea in 1849. After a series of wars and agreements with other tribal chiefs, France took control of much of the rest of Guinea and annexed it under the name Rivières du Sud [rivers of the south]. In 1891 it was constituted as a French colony separate from Senegal, of which it had hitherto been a part. Its name was changed to French Guinea in 1893, and two years later it became part of French West Africa.
Guinean resistance to French rule was not quelled until 1898, however, and sporadic revolts continued into the 20th cent. Little economic development occurred under the colonial regime until just before World War II, when exploitation of Guinea's rich bauxite deposits began. The parallel growth of a radical labor movement led to the rise of Sékou Touré, a union leader who also headed the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG), a branch of the intercolonial Rassemblement Démocratique Africain