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, Cote 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, in 2010 it held its first democratic election. As it continued to hold multi-party elections, the country continued to face ethnic conflicts, corruption, and abuses by 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, in 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. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

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Mansa Musa's visit to Mecca in 1324 CE with large amounts of gold attracted Middle Eastern Muslims and Europeans to Mali.

The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family, which are a lingua franca in much of West Africa. Virtually all of Mandinka people are adherent to Islam, mostly based on the Maliki jurisprudence. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali.

The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power in the 13th century under the rule of king Sundiata Keita, who founded an empire that would go on to span a large part of West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest. Nowadays, the Mandinka inhabit the West Sudanian savanna region extending from The Gambia and the Casamance region in Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Although widespread, the Mandinka constitute the largest ethnic group only in the countries of Mali, Guinea and The Gambia. Most Mandinka live in family-related compounds in traditional rural villages. Their traditional society has featured socially stratified castes. Mandinka communities have been fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a chief and group of elders. Mandinka has been an oral society, where mythologies, history and knowledge are verbally transmitted from one generation to the next. Their music and literary traditions are preserved by a caste of griots, known locally as jelis, as well as guilds and brotherhoods like the donso (hunters). (Full article...)

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...that Mohamed Camara's 1997 film Dakan was the first West African film to explore homosexuality?

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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 mining entrepreneur and former model Tigui Camara is the first woman in Guinea to own a mining company, which she partially runs as a social enterprise?
... that Salvador Ondo Nkumu read out the sentences of mercenaries involved in the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt?

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

Image 1Kissidougou market (from Guinea)
Image 2U.S. President Jimmy Carter welcoming Ahmed Sékou Touré outside the White House, Washington, D.C., 1979 (from Guinea)
Image 3U.S. President Jimmy Carter welcoming Ahmed Sékou Touré outside the White House, Washington, D.C., 1979 (from Guinea)
Image 4Regions of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 5The 2019–2020 Guinean protests against the rule of Alpha Condé (from Guinea)
Image 6The 2019–2020 Guinean protests against the rule of Alpha Condé (from Guinea)
Image 7Regions of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 8Children engaged in manual labour in order to support their families. (from Guinea)
Image 9President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by Communist states, and in 1961, visited Yugoslavia. (from Guinea)
Image 10Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 11Map of Köppen climate classification (from Guinea)
Image 12President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017 (from Guinea)
Image 13President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by Communist states, and in 1961, visited Yugoslavia. (from Guinea)
Image 14A market stall selling vegetables in Dinguiraye Prefecture, Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 15Malinke fisher women on the Niger River, Niandankoro, Kankan Region, in eastern Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 16Schoolgirls in Conakry (from Guinea)
Image 17Badiar National Park (from Guinea)
Image 18Kissidougou market (from Guinea)
Image 19The "Voile de la Mariée" (Bride's Veil) waterfall in Kindia (from Guinea)
Image 20Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 21Children engaged in manual labour in order to support their families. (from Guinea)
Image 22A map showing Guinea's cities and administrative divisions (from Guinea)
Image 23Map of Köppen climate classification (from Guinea)
Image 24A proportional representation of Guinea exports, 2019 (from Guinea)
Image 25Badiar National Park (from Guinea)
Image 26President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017 (from Guinea)
Image 27The "Voile de la Mariée" (Bride's Veil) waterfall in Kindia (from Guinea)
Image 28A proportional representation of Guinea exports, 2019 (from Guinea)
Image 29Schoolgirls in Conakry (from Guinea)
Image 30A market stall selling vegetables in Dinguiraye Prefecture, Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 31Malinke fisher women on the Niger River, Niandankoro, Kankan Region, in eastern Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 32A map showing Guinea's cities and administrative divisions (from Guinea)