Portal:Guinea

The Guinea Portal

Flag of Guinea Coat of arms of Guinea

Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, 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, Ivory Coast 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 the 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.

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The 2009 Guinean protests were an opposition rally in Conakry, Guinea on 28 September 2009, with about 50,000 participants demonstrating against the junta government that came to power after the 2008 Guinean coup d'état in December. The protest march was fueled by the indication of junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara that he would break his pledge to not run in the next presidential vote, due in January 2010. The government had already banned any form of protests until 2 October. When the demonstrators gathered in a large stadium, the security forces opened fire on them. At least 157 demonstrators were killed, 1,253 were injured, and 30—including Cellou Dalein Diallo, the leader of the opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UDFG)—were arrested and taken away in lorries.

On the same day in 2018, six human rights organizations demanded justice for the perpetrators. The organizations were the Association of Victims, Parents and Friends of the 28 September Massacre (AVIPA), the Guinean Human Rights Organization (OGDH), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. (Full article...)

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... that in the 1850s, El Hadj Umar Tall founded a short-lived Islamic empire covering modern day Guinea, Senegal, and Mali?

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... that a banker was named the prime minister of Equatorial Guinea after his predecessor resigned during an economic crisis?
... 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 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 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?

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

Image 1President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by Communist states and, in 1961, visited Yugoslavia. (from Guinea)
Image 2Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 3The Grand Mosque of Conakry was built under Ahmed Sékou Touré with funding from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. (from Guinea)
Image 4Malinke fisher women on the Niger River, Niandankoro, Kankan Region, in eastern Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 5The Grand Mosque of Conakry was built under Ahmed Sékou Touré with funding from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. (from Guinea)
Image 6A map showing Guinea's cities and administrative divisions (from Guinea)
Image 7The 2019–2020 Guinean protests against the rule of Alpha Condé (from Guinea)
Image 8President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017 (from Guinea)
Image 9President Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by Communist states and, in 1961, visited Yugoslavia. (from Guinea)
Image 10Badiar National Park (from Guinea)
Image 11Kissidougou market (from Guinea)
Image 12A map showing Guinea's cities and administrative divisions (from Guinea)
Image 13Regions of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 14A market stall selling vegetables in Dinguiraye Prefecture, Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 15Köppen climate classification of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 16Malinke fisher women on the Niger River, Niandankoro, Kankan Region, in eastern Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 17A market stall selling vegetables in Dinguiraye Prefecture, Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 18Dame de Mali [fr] (from Guinea)
Image 19Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 20U.S. President Jimmy Carter welcoming Ahmed Sékou Touré outside the White House, Washington, D.C., 1979 (from Guinea)
Image 21Köppen climate classification of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 22President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017 (from Guinea)
Image 23U.S. President Jimmy Carter welcoming Ahmed Sékou Touré outside the White House, Washington, D.C., 1979 (from Guinea)
Image 24Dame de Mali [fr] (from Guinea)
Image 25The 2019–2020 Guinean protests against the rule of Alpha Condé (from Guinea)
Image 26Kissidougou market (from Guinea)
Image 27Regions of Guinea (from Guinea)
Image 28Badiar National Park (from Guinea)