We live in a small village in Guinea, West Africa, in the heart of the territory
occupied by the Landuma tribe. 
Most of the following information on the country in which we live comes from Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia's article on Guinea. You can learn much more about Guinea by using your favorite search engine (mine is Google) and typing Guinea in the search window. In addition to articles on Guinea, you can also look up articles on the Landuma tribe, on the past presidents of Guinea, Sékou Touré and Lansana Conté, and on the capital of Guinea, Conakry.
Land and Resources
Guinea has four major topographic regions. Lower Guinea, the coastal plain, extends about 50 km (about 30 mi) inland from the shoreline. Beyond the coastal plain is middle Guinea, the Fouta Djallon (Futa Jallon), a mountainous plateau region with an average elevation of about 910 m (about 3000 ft). Upper Guinea is gently undulating savanna country broken by occasional rocky outcrops with an average elevation of 300 m (1000 ft). In the extreme southeast are forested highlands.
Climate
The dominant factor in the considerable climatic variation is altitude. Rainfall is highest and range of temperature lowest in lower Guinea. Conakry, the capital, has an annual rainfall of 4300 mm (about 170 in) and an annual average temperature of 27° C (about 81° F). The rainy season occurs from April or May to October or November. April is the hottest month and July or August the wettest.
Natural Resources
The mineral wealth of Guinea makes the economy of this country potentially one of the strongest in Africa. More than one-quarter of the known world reserves of high-grade bauxite ore is found in Guinea. Sizable deposits of iron ore exist; other known mineral resources include diamonds, gold, petroleum, uranium, cobalt, nickel, and platinum. Guinea also has great potential for hydroelectric power.
Population
The ethnic makeup of the people of Guinea is diverse with over 40 indigenous tribal groups. The most numerous of the groups (about 35 percent of the population) are the Fulani, who are concentrated mainly in the Fouta Djallon. The other principal groups comprise people of the Mande group. They include the Malinke (about 30 percent) of northeastern Guinea and the Susu (about 20 percent), who inhabit the coastal area. The estimated population in 1995 was 6,700,000, giving an overall population density of about 27 persons per sq km (about 71 per sq mi). About 70 percent of the population live in rural areas. The capital is Conakry, a seaport on the Atlantic Ocean (population, 1983, greater city, 705,280).
Religion and Language
Christians form a very small portion of the total population. It has been estimated that only one half of one percent of the population of Guinea are evangelical Christians.
French is the official language, though the majority of the population speak only tribal languages. The country has eight national languages: Malinke, Susu, Fulani, Kissi, Basari, Loma, Koniagi, and Kpelle.
Education
Education is free and officially compulsory for all children between the ages of 7 and 12, but in the early 1990s only about 37 percent of eligible children actually attended school; the adult literacy rate is about 24 percent. Higher education is provided by universities at Conakry and Kankan and by 21 other institutions.
Economy
Guinea is a very poor country. The average person in Guinea earns only about $300 per year. The chief economic activity of Guinea is agriculture; nearly 80 percent of the people are dependent on subsistence farming. The principal food crops in the early 1990s were rice, cassava, plantains, vegetables, and citrus fruits. Chief export crops were pineapples, peanuts, palm kernels, and coffee. Livestock included cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry.
Mining operations in the early 1990s annually yielded 16 million metric tons of bauxite, which accounted for 55 percent of export earnings, and 135,000 carats of high-quality diamonds.
Guinea has about 1045 km (about 650 mi) of railroads. The major line links Conakry and Kankan. Other lines link the ports, Conakry and Kamsar, to bauxite mines. Guinea has some 29,750 km (about 18,500 mi) of roads, about 15 percent of which are paved. Conakry has an international airport.
History
Parts of northern and eastern Guinea were within the empires of Mali and Songhai. In the 1880s Samory Touré, a Mandingo adventurer, used modern weapons to seize control over much of the interior.
In 1891 Guinea was declared a French colony separate from Senegal. Samory provided the only concerted resistance to French occupation of coastal and highland Guinea until he was finally defeated in 1898. In 1906 Guinea became part of the French West African Federation, headed by a governor-general. French rule was generally moderate, with local rulers retaining much authority.
In the years that followed, Conakry became an important port city. Many Guineans were employed there and allowed to organize their own trade unions. Sékou Touré, a great-grandson of Samory and the head of the powerful General Union of Workers of Black Africa, led the agitation in the 1950s for more African representation in government.
In the September 1958 plebiscite, Guinea was the only territory to reject the constitution of the Fifth French Republic. This caused immediate severance of political and economic ties with France. Guinea achieved independence on October 2, 1958, with Touré as president of the new nation.
Once independent, Guinea turned to the Eastern European countries for assistance. Touré established a one-party state and imposed a strict socialist system. After surviving several assassination attempts, Touré accused French officials of plotting his overthrow and broke off relations with France in November 1965. Guinea's relations with Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Senegal, and Burkina Faso continued to be stormy until 1978. Touré's self-imposed diplomatic isolation and ill-planned economic ventures bankrupted the state and forced him to begin liberalizing the government. In 1982 a new constitution was issued that strengthened the power of the ruling Democratic Party of Guinea. After Touré died in March 1984, however, a military coup led by Colonel Lansana Conté ousted the interim government. Conté became president and leader of the Military Committee for National Rectification. He freed political prisoners, began to dismantle the socialist system, reduced the power of the army, and improved relations with France and neighboring states. In 1990 a new constitution was adopted authorizing a transitional committee to establish the framework for a civilian government. In December 1993 President Conté was confirmed in office in Guinea's first multiparty elections.
More Information on Guinea
This map of Africa shows the
location of the country of Guinea. You can find a more detailed
map of Guinea
and links to much more information on Guinea at the
University of Pennsylvania web site. The
World Factbook
entry for Guinea also has tons of information.
