28 Facts About Guinea

Guinea, officially known as the Republic of Guinea, is a West African country bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean.

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve is located in the southeast.

The reserve protects a forested mountain range that is home to a variety of native plants and animals, including chimps and the viviparous toad.

Conakry, the capital city on the coast, is home to the modern Grand Mosque and the National Museum, which houses regional artefacts.

Guinea's major languages are French, Pular, Maninka, and Sus.

Guinea is a West African country bordered by Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

Hunter-gatherer populations have lived in Guinea for at least 30,000 years. Farming has been practised for approximately 3,000 years.

Between the 13th and 15th centuries, Guinea was part of the Mali Empire, which ruled over a large portion of western Africa.

Guinea is the name of four countries in the world: Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau in Africa, and Papua New Guinea in Oceania and Asia.

Despite its popularity, it is unknown where the name originated. Some attribute it to the Tuareg word aginaw. Others believe it once referred to Djenné, a Mali trading city. Portuguese sailors used the term "Guiné" to describe what is now Senegal in the 15th century, and by the 18th century, Europeans used the term "Guinea" to refer to much of West Africa.

Europeans began arriving in Guinea in the 15th century (first the Portuguese, then the British and French), where they established a slave trade that lasted until the mid-nineteenth century.

Mory Kanté is a Guinean singer-songwriter. Kanté is best known for his 1987 single Yéké Yéké, which became the first African single to sell over a million copies.

Guinea became a French colony in 1891, then a member of the French West African Federation in 1906, before achieving independence in 1956 under the presidency of Ahmed Sekou Toure.

French Guinea became Guinea, Portuguese Guinea became Guinea-Bissau, and Spanish Guinea became Equatorial Guinea in West Africa.

The region also gave rise to the name "guinea" for the British gold coin, as significant amounts of gold were mined there.

The Guinean flag is red, yellow, and green with vertical stripes. Red represents sacrifice and labour; yellow represents mineral wealth, the tropical sun, and justice; and green represents agricultural wealth and solidarity.

Guinea has experienced sustained instability since independence as a result of a 20-year experiment with socialism known as "communocracy," military coups, ethnic tensions, and electoral fraud.

Guinea is the source of three major West African rivers: the Gambia, Niger, and Sénégal.

Despite having a wealth of natural resources, including a significant portion of the world's bauxite reserves, as well as significant amounts of iron, gold, and diamonds, Guinea is one of the world's least-developed countries. 

Guinea has some of the worst air pollution in the world. According to a recent study, it has the world's seventh-highest air pollution death rate.

From 2013 to 2016, West Africa experienced a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus, with Guinea being one of the worst affected countries, with over 2,500 deaths.

The Centre d'Art Acrobatique Keita Fodeba in Conakry is well-known for producing some of Africa's best acrobats and contortionists, who go on to perform all over the world.

Guinea shares only one UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, with Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The reserve is abundant in both flora and fauna.

The Nimba Range, a chain of mountains that culminates at Mount Nimba, is located within the reserve. It is the highest mountain in both Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire, standing at 1,752m (5,748ft).

Chimpanzees were first observed using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions in Guinea's Nimba Mountains. In 2009, they were seen processing Treculia fruits with both stone and wooden cleavers, as well as stone anvils.

Talbotiella cheekii, a new species of tree, was discovered in Guinea in 2017. The tree can grow up to 24m tall and has fruit in "exploding pods," which is incredible for an undiscovered species.

Guinea is one of only four countries in the world with no fixed telephone lines. Guinea-Bissau, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the others.

When it comes to treating illness, traditional healers remain extremely popular in Guinea. Traditional healers are thought to be the first point of contact for approximately 80% of sick Guineans.