CIA - The World Factbook

Guinea has had a history of authoritarian rule since gaining its independence from France in 1958. Lansana CONTE came to power in 1984 when the military seized the government after the death of the first president, Sekou TOURE. Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. CONTE (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998 and again in 2003, though all the polls were marred by irregularities. History repeated itself in December 2008 when following President CONTE's death, Capt. Moussa Dadis CAMARA led a military coup, seizing power and suspending the constitution. His unwillingness to yield to domestic and international pressure to step down led to heightened political tensions that culminated in September 2009 when presidential guards opened fire on an opposition rally killing more than 150 people, and in early December 2009 when CAMARA was wounded in an assassination attempt and evacuated to Morocco and subsequently to Burkina Faso. A transitional government led by General Sekouba KONATE held democratic elections in 2010 and Alpha CONDE was elected president in the country's first free and fair elections since independence.

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone

slightly smaller than Oregon

generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds

generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior

bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish, salt

hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season

deforestation; inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification; soil contamination and erosion; overfishing, overpopulation in forest region; poor mining practices have led to environmental damage

the Niger and its important tributary the Milo have their sources in the Guinean highlands

10,324,025 (July 2010 est.)

37.21 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

10.72 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

5.15 children born/woman (2010 est.)

Peuhl 40%, Malinke 30%, Soussou 20%, smaller ethnic groups 10%

Muslim 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 7%

French (official); note - each ethnic group has its own language

33 prefectures and 1 special zone (zone special)*; Beyla, Boffa, Boke, Conakry*, Coyah, Dabola, Dalaba, Dinguiraye, Dubreka, Faranah, Forecariah, Fria, Gaoual, Gueckedou, Kankan, Kerouane, Kindia, Kissidougou, Koubia, Koundara, Kouroussa, Labe, Lelouma, Lola, Macenta, Mali, Mamou, Mandiana, Nzerekore, Pita, Siguiri, Telimele, Tougue, Yomou

2 October 1958 (from France)

Independence Day, 2 October (1958)

23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale)

based on French civil law system, customary law, and decree; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

18 years of age; universal

unicameral People's National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale Populaire (114 seats; members elected by a mixed system of direct popular vote and proportional party lists)

Court of First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Democratic Union of Guinea or UDG [Mamadou SYLLA]; Guinean Union for Democracy or UGD; New Democratic Forces or NDF [Muoctar DIALLO]; Party for Unity and Progress or PUP [Sekouba KONATE]; Rally for the Guinean People or RPG [Alpha CONDE]; Union for Progress and Renewal or UPR [Ousmane BAH]; Union for Progress of Guinea or UPG [Jean-Marie DORE, secretary-general]; Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea or UFDG [Cellou Dalein DIALLO]; Union of Republican Forces or UFR [Sidya TOURE]; United Front for Democracy and Change or FUDEC [Francois FALL]

National Confederation of Guinean Workers-Labor Union of Guinean Workers or CNTG-USTG Alliance (includes National Confederation of Guinean Workers or CNTG [Rabiatou Sarah DIALLO] and Labor Union of Guinean Workers or USTG [Dr. Ibrahima FOFANA]); Syndicate of Guinean Teachers and Researchers or SLECG [Dr. Louis M'Bemba SOUMAH]

ACP, AfDB, AU (suspended), ECOWAS (suspended), FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), yellow, and green; red represents the people's sacrifice for liberation and work; yellow stands for the sun, for the riches of the earth, and for justice; green symbolizes the country's vegetation and unity

Guinea is a poor country that possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources. The country has almost half of the world's bauxite reserves. The mining sector accounts for more than 70% of exports. Long-run improvements in the management of the economy, literacy, and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. Investor confidence has been sapped by rampant corruption, a lack of electricity and other infrastructure, a lack of skilled workers, and the political uncertainty resulting from the death of President Lansana CONTE in December 2008. International donors, including the G-8, the IMF, and the World Bank, cut their development programming significantly in response to the coup, and international partners have said that a resumption of aid will be contingent on a successful democratic transition with a democratically elected president and a functioning National Assembly. Growth rose slightly in 2006-08, primarily due to increases in global demand and commodity prices on world markets, but bauxite and alumina exports were negatively affected by the global economic downturn and the economy in 2009 contracted. International investors expressed renewed interest in Guinea's iron ore mines in 2010.

$10.6 billion (2010 est.)

$10.3 billion (2009 est.)

$10.67 billion (2008 est.)

$4.344 billion (2010 est.)

4.392 million (2007 est.)

14.6% of GDP (2010 est.)

NA% (31 December 2009)

22.25% (31 December 2005)

NA% (31 December 2008)

$496.2 million (31 December 2010 est)

$459.7 million (31 December 2009 est)

$830 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$761.9 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$734.4 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$674.2 million (31 December 2009 est.)

rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber

bauxite, gold, diamonds, iron; alumina refining; light manufacturing, and agricultural processing

790.5 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

9,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

8,674 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$434 million (2010 est.)

-$538 million (2009 est.)

$1.468 billion (2010 est.)

$1.18 billion (2009 est.)

bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products

India 19.68%, Spain 13.18%, Russia 7.24%, Germany 6.86%, Ireland 5.87%, US 5.71%, Ukraine 5.6% (2009)

$1.551 billion (2010 est.)

$1.236 billion (2009 est.)

petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs

China 8.67%, Netherlands 6.67%, France 4.33%, UK 4.22% (2009)

$NA (31 December 2010 est.)

$51 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$3.072 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$3.222 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Guinean francs (GNF) per US dollar - 6,100 (2010), 5,500 (2009), 5,500 (2008), 4,122.8 (2007), 5,350 (2006)

5.607 million (2009)

government maintains control over broadcast media; single state-run TV station; state-run radio broadcast station also operates several stations in rural areas; about 20 privately-owned radio stations, nearly all in Conakry, and about a dozen community radio stations; foreign television programming available via satellite and cable subscription services (2008)

1,300 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) (2008)

National Armed Forces: Army, Navy (Armee de Mer or Marine Guineenne, includes Marines), Guinean Air Force (Force Aerienne de Guinee) (2009)

18-25 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; 18-month conscript service obligation (2009)

conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in neighboring states have spilled over into Guinea resulting in domestic instability; Sierra Leone considers Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers excessive and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands, including the hamlet of Yenga, occupied since 1998