Portal:Guinea

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The Guinea Portal

Flag of Guinea Coat of arms of Guinea

Guinea (/ˈɡɪni/ ^ⓘ GHIN-ee), officially the Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sierra Leone and Liberia to the south. It is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry, after its capital Conakry, to distinguish it from other territories in the eponymous region, such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has a population of 14 million and an area of 245,857 square kilometres (94,926 sq mi).

Formerly French Guinea, it achieved independence in 1958. Guinea has a history of military coups d'état. After decades of authoritarian rule, it held its first democratic election in 2010. As it continued to hold multi-party elections, the country still faces ethnic conflicts, corruption, and abuses by the military and police. In 2011, the United States government claimed that torture by security forces and abuse of women and children (including female genital mutilation) were ongoing human rights issues. In 2021, a military faction overthrew president Alpha Condé and suspended the constitution.

Muslims represent 90% of the population. The country is divided into four geographic regions: Maritime Guinea on the Atlantic coast, the Fouta Djallon or Middle Guinea highlands, the Upper Guinea savanna region in the northeast, and the Guinée forestière region of tropical forests. French, the official language of Guinea, is a language of communication in schools, government administration, and the media. More than 24 indigenous languages are spoken, and the largest are Susu, Pular, and Maninka, which dominate respectively in Maritime Guinea, Fouta Djallon, and Upper Guinea, while Guinée forestière is ethnolinguistically diverse. Guinea's economy is mostly dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the world's second-largest producer of bauxite and has deposits of diamonds and gold. As of the most recent survey in 2018, 66.2% of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty, and an additional 16.4% are vulnerable to it. The country was at the core of the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.

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A pygmy hippopotamus at Edinburgh Zoo

The pygmy hippopotamus or pygmy hippo (Choeropsis liberiensis) is a small hippopotamid which is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, primarily in Liberia, with small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. It has been extirpated from Nigeria.

The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being its much larger relative, the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) or Nile hippopotamus. The pygmy hippopotamus displays many terrestrial adaptations, but like the common hippo, it is semiaquatic and relies on water to keep its skin moist and its body temperature cool. Behaviors such as mating and giving birth may occur in water or on land. The pygmy hippo is herbivorous, feeding on ferns, broad-leaved plants, grasses, and fruits it finds in the forests. (Full article...)

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... that although the 1954 Guinean by-poll was marred with irregularities, only the communists and the African Democratic Rally voted against validating the results in the French National Assembly?

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... that the national women's day of Guinea-Bissau commemorates the death of Titina Silá, who was killed on this day during the nation's war of independence?
... that Salvador Ondo Nkumu read out the sentences of mercenaries involved in the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt?
... that Equatorial Guinea's national abortion law is, as of 2022, one of only eleven that requires a woman to get her spouse's approval to receive an abortion?
... that upon independence from Portugal, the flags of São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau all featured the colours green, yellow and red, as well as black stars?
... that to encourage the development of Bissau-Guinean cinema, one foreign filmmaker provided the country's film institute with cameras, lights, and a Steinbeck guitar?
... that a banker was named the prime minister of Equatorial Guinea after his predecessor resigned during an economic crisis?

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The following are images from various Guinea-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Kissidougou market (from Guinea)
Image 2The 2019–2020 Guinean protests against the rule of Alpha Condé (from Guinea)
Image 3Chimpanzé de Bossou (from Guinea)
Image 4Dame de Mali (from Guinea)
Image 5A map showing Guinea's cities and administrative divisions (from Guinea)
Image 6U.S. President Jimmy Carter welcoming Ahmed Sékou Touré outside the White House, Washington, D.C., 1979 (from Guinea)
Image 7Malinke fisher women on the Niger River, Niandankoro, Kankan Region, in eastern Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 8Badiar National Park (from Guinea)
Image 9President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017 (from Guinea)
Image 10The 2019–2020 Guinean protests against the rule of Alpha Condé (from Guinea)
Image 11President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017 (from Guinea)
Image 12A map showing Guinea's cities and administrative divisions (from Guinea)
Image 13Plage sur les Ile de Loos (from Guinea)
Image 14Chimpanzé de Bossou (from Guinea)
Image 15Regions of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 16U.S. President Jimmy Carter welcoming Ahmed Sékou Touré outside the White House, Washington, D.C., 1979 (from Guinea)
Image 17A market stall selling vegetables in Dinguiraye Prefecture, Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 18Köppen climate classification of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 19A market stall selling vegetables in Dinguiraye Prefecture, Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 20atlas Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 21President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by Communist states and, in 1961, visited Yugoslavia. (from Guinea)
Image 22Kora, one of the instruments, is shown here. (from Guinea)
Image 23Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 24Chute de Saala Labé (from Guinea)
Image 25Chute de Tabouna à Kindia (from Guinea)
Image 26Malinke fisher women on the Niger River, Niandankoro, Kankan Region, in eastern Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 27A proportional representation of Guinea exports, 2019 (from Guinea)
Image 28Chute de Tabouna à Kindia (from Guinea)
Image 29A proportional representation of Guinea exports, 2019 (from Guinea)
Image 30Kora, one of the instruments, is shown here. (from Guinea)
Image 31Köppen climate classification of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 32Dame de Mali (from Guinea)
Image 33The "Voile de la Mariée" (Bride's Veil) waterfall in Kindia (from Guinea)
Image 34Badiar National Park (from Guinea)
Image 35Regions of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 36atlas Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 37Plage sur les Ile de Loos (from Guinea)
Image 38President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by Communist states and, in 1961, visited Yugoslavia. (from Guinea)
Image 39Chute de Saala Labé (from Guinea)
Image 40The "Voile de la Mariée" (Bride's Veil) waterfall in Kindia (from Guinea)
Image 41Kissidougou market (from Guinea)
Image 42Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea (from Guinea)