The Republic of Guinea, commonly known as Guinea, borders on Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Mali to the north, on Sierra Leona and Liberia to the south, on Mali (with 858 kms the longest border of the country) and Ivory Coast to the east and on the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its geographical coordinates are 11º 00′ North and 10º 00′ West and its capital is Conakry. It covers a total surface of 245,857 km2 and has an estimated population of more than 8.5 million inhabitants. According to calculations, the country will have a population of 18 million inhabitants before 2050. The population density is of 34.5 inhabitants per km2, with an annual growth rate of 1.6%. Life expectancy is 49.1 years and infant mortality 101.7 per every 1,000 born alive. Guineans are divided into sixteen ethic groups, the largest of which are the Fulanis, Mandingas, Malinkes and Sussus. The majority religion is Muslim (65%), 33% of the population practice traditional cults and the remaining 2% are Christians and other minority groups. The official language is French, but among the native languages, the mostly spoken are Malinké and Sussu. Only 36% of the population can read and write; 50% of the men and 22% of the women.
The Guinean relief is dominated by a large plateau on the Futa Djalon Massive, with mount Nimba, with its 1,854 in height, being the highest summit. The most important rivers are Niger, Gambia and its inflowing rivers. It has a mild tropical weather, with a yearly average temperature of 22º C, varying from the humid west, covered with forests to a large, dry area with savannah like vegetation. Arable land makes up 2% of the countrys total surface and the central massif of Fouta Djallon, with a predominant sheep and goat raising activity, separates the flat area of the coast from the north-eastern part. The coastal area, densely populated, is humid and has rice, coffee, coconut and banana crops, while the north-eastern part is drier, having millet and manioc plantations. The country has important iron beds and a bauxite deposit which is one of the largest of the world. There are also diamond, gold and uranium mines. Wood for building, hydro electrical power and fishing are further natural resources of the country. Heavy rainfall reaches an amount of 3,000 to 4,000 mm a year in the coast and the soil degrading is a consequence of the intense mine exploitation. Mining, light manufacturing and farming based food industries are the base of Guineas economy. The official currency is the Guinean Franc (1¬ = 5,000 GNF). The gross domestic product of the country amounts to 17million US $, with an annual growth of 2,1%, while the GDP does not even amount to 2 dollars per inhabitant.
The north-western plains of Guinea Conakry belonged to Ghana during the Middle Age and later to the Empire of Mali. The first seafarers to approach the Guinean coasts were the Portuguese in the mid 15th century, who were followed by the French in the 17th century and later by the British traders. All of them competed for the control of the regions slave market and later, once this market had disappeared, for the market of raw materials such as palm oil, peanuts, etc. In 1849, the French declared one part of the country as a Protectorate and later, after several pacts and impositions on the authority, several ethnic groups annexed other pieces of land which were then called the Rivers of the South. In 1891 it was constituted as a French Colony, separated from Senegal, of which it had been part until then. Its name was changed to French Guinea in 1893, and two years later it became part of Western French Africa. Until World War II the exploitation of its richness by the French had hardly begun, but the discovery of the rich bauxite deposits promoted the exploitation. This fact together with the growth of the organised workers movement, turned into the beginning of the organised fight against French colonialism. A standing out character of this fight was Sékou Touré, who later would lead the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG).
Under his leadership, Guinea Conakry became the only colony to vote against the set up of the French Community in 1958 and opted for complete independency. France took revenge breaking its relations with Guinea Conakry, withdrawing all financial, technical and personal support until 1963, when the relationships were re-established. Abandoned by France, they looked for support in the Soviet Union, with which they kept a good relationship until 1961, when the Soviet ambassador was forced to leave the country accused of alleged interference in the country’s internal affairs. Under Touré, who held the presidency until his death in 1984, Guinea was a one-party Marxist-socialist republic. In 1970, the country was invaded from Guinea-Bissau by Portuguese forces in reprisal for the support of Toures government of the independence movement of the Portuguese colony. Once the attack had been repulsed, Guinea Conakry continued supporting the fight of the resistance in the neighbouring country, becoming the movement’s logistic and military preparation headquarters. In 1973, the government took greater participation and control of the foreign-owned bauxite industry. The resumption of relationships with France in 1978 allowed them to get aid packages for infrastructure projects, in addition to financial collaboration from Arab countries to start several industrial projects.
After Touré’s death, a military coup brought the Military Committee of National Recovery (CMRN) to power under Col. Lansana Conté, which was replaced by a transitional government in 1991. Conté reinforced private enterprise and relations with the Western Block and in 1989, under domestic and foreign pressure, Conté announced that civilian rule would be restored and the transition to democratic forms. In 1993, Conté won the presidency in the country’s first multiparty presidential election, which was boycotted by some opposition groups and marred by accusations of fraud. In the latest years Guinea has been enormously harmed by military conflicts in the neighbouring countries, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, being forced to receive thousands of refugees, implying an important effort for the country’s economy.
