+224 is the dialing code for Guinea.
Guinea on the West African coast has rich natural resources and the economy is mainly based on mineral mining. The country is estimated to have one third of the world’s assets on bauxite, which is raw material for aluminum. But the financial difficulties of authoritarian, military-assisted regimes for many decades have made the country exhaustive. In 2010, Guinea held its first democratic presidential election, but the road to a functioning democracy seems long.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Guinea, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
Guinea is on the surface slightly larger than Norrland. The country borders Liberia and Sierra Leone in the south, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal in the north and Ivory Coast and Mali in the east.
Nature is varied. Shallow rivers and fjords with mangrove swamps intersect the coast towards the Atlantic. However, many of the mangrove swamps have disappeared and been replaced by rice crops. Inside the coastal plain stands the mountain plateau Fouta Djallon, where the great West African rivers Niger, Gambia and Senegal have their sources.
The Sahel region’s savannahs are spreading in the northeast while tropical rainforests cover the country’s southeastern parts. At the far south is a mountain massif, the ore-rich Nimba. The mountain slopes have a rich plant and animal life and the mountain has been placed on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. There are several species that do not exist anywhere else, including chimpanzees that use stones as tools.
Country Facts
Geography
| Cultivated land | 58.1 % |
| Land area | 245857 km 2 |
Population and health
| Population development | 2.63 ‰ |
| Urban population (Urbanization) | 37.2 % |
| Death rate | 9.46 per 1000 residents |
| Life expectancy: Women | 61.66 years |
| Life expectancy: Men | 58.55 years |
| Birth rate | 25.74 births per 1000 residents |
| HDI index | 0.441 |
| Population | 11780162 |
| Infant mortality | 53.43 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
| Electricity, production | 971 million kWh |
| Energy consumption per resident | kg. oil per resident |
| Natural gas, production | million cubic meters |
| Crude oil, production | million tons |
Infrastructure
| Internet users | 1.7 per 100 residents |
| Mobile subscriptions | 76 per 100 residents |
| Passenger cars | 5 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
| Unemployment | % of the workforce |
| GDP | 1200 per resident |
| Primary occupations | 76 % |
| Secondary profession | 12 % |
| Tertiary professions | 12 % |
The climate is mainly tropical with abundant rainfall along the coast. There is the capital Conakry, which is known for its huge annual rainfall of over 4,000 mm, of which more than half fall in July and August.
In the hinterland, around the high plateau Fouta Djallon, the rainfall is more moderate, about 1,800 mm per year, despite the rainy season being longer, about seven months. In the savannah region, the rainy season is shorter. In the Guinée Forestière region in the southeast, the climate is subtropical. Temperatures are significantly higher along the coast than inland. During the dry season, the desert wind blows the harmattan inland.
FACTS – GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Surface
245 857 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish – 1 hour
Adjacent country (s)
Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone
Capital with number of residents
Conakry 1,767,000
Other major cities
Siguiri, Boké, Kindia, N’Zérékoré, Kankan
Highest mountain
Nimba (1752 meters above sea level)
Important rivers
Senegal, Niger
Average Precipitation/month
Conakry 1300 mm (July), 3 mm (Jan)
Average/day
Conakry 28 °C (April), 25 °C (Aug)
2016
December
Suspects of massacres are arrested in Senegal
December 20
Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, the man who shot the Camara dome in late 2009 (see December 2009), is arrested in Senegal. He is suspected of being involved in a massacre of 157 people in the fall of that year. He has lived in Senegal for five years under different identities and is expected to be extradited to Guinea.
October
Settlement of damages
October 11
The political parties agree to pay damages to the people affected by the violence ahead of the 2013 elections. One fund will be created to compensate those injured and the relatives of people killed, another to compensate people who have been plundered on their assets. The settlement takes place after a long dialogue between the political parties and representatives of civil society.
The parties also agree that local elections will be held in February 2017. No local elections have been held since 2005.
The government is criticized by human rights organizations
October 10
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticize the government for not doing enough to investigate twelve murders, multiple rapes and the looting that occurred around the 2015 elections. No one has been held responsible for these crimes and the victims and their families have received no damages. According to the organizations, both government and opposition supporters were behind the abuses. However, the government is commended for the measures it has taken to improve the discipline of the security forces.
Local Election Agreement 2017
October 6
After lengthy negotiations, the government and opposition will agree that local elections will be held in February 2017. It will be the first time in twelve years that the Guineans will be allowed to elect their local representatives.
September
Risking millions of fines for illegal fishing
September 8
Two Chinese fishing vessels fishing in Guinean waters without a permit run the risk of being fined over $ 3 million. The boats were discovered at the end of August / September together with twelve other fishing boats in a joint action against poaching, initiated by the EU, in which both Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Senegal participated.
The President in conversation with the opposition
2 September
President Condé meets Cellou Dalein Diallo for talks. According to the opposition leader, these should have been constructive, and the intention is that the two should meet regularly for deliberations.
August
At least half a million are protesting against the government
August 17th
The opposition is again gathering large crowds to protest the government. According to Cellou Dalein Diallo, there are 700,000 protesters, while the security forces speak of half a million participants. The protesters are urging President Condé to step down and demand new jobs. Dalein Diallo accuses the president of having failed the projects to start further iron extraction in Simandou, by not ensuring that new jobs are created. Unrest erupts in connection with the demonstration, a person who was merely a spectator of the manifestation shot to death.
July
Diplomatic relations are established with Israel
January 20th
After 49 years of interruption, Guinea and Israel reestablish diplomatic relations. The contacts were broken after the six-day war in Israel in 1967.
June
Risk of new unrest
June 30th
Concerns in the country are rising ahead of the local elections in October. Opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo announces new protests when the fasting month of Ramadan ends on July 5. His party UFDG also has plans to go to court to have it tested if the president is guilty of abuse of power, partly because of his refusal to set up a Supreme Court.
Free from Ebola
June 1st
The WHO says the latest outbreak of communicable disease is over.
May
New corruption scandal
May 16
Guinea is considering initiating legal proceedings against Global Witness. This after the international organization in a report claimed that President Condé received money from the mining company Sable Mining Africa Ltd, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands tax haven, during the 2010 election campaign. Global Witness has also accused the president’s son Alpha Mohammed Condé of receiving bribes that the mining company must have paid to extract iron in the Mount Nimba area. President Condé rejects the information in the report. Sable’s management also claims that there is nothing in the charges.
March
New deaths in Ebola
January 31
At least seven people are believed to have died of the disease in the southern parts of the country. Liberia closes its border with Guinea to prevent the infection from being carried there.
January
New government takes office
January 4th
The country’s new Prime Minister Mamady Youlas will take office. Several women are in high positions, Malado Kaba, who previously worked with development issues for the European Commission, becomes a new Minister of Finance, and the lawyer Makale Camara, becomes a new Foreign Minister (she was Minister of Agriculture during the junta era).