Guinea

"Guinea", officially the "Republic of Guinea", is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea, it is today sometimes called "Guinea-Conakry" to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Forming a crescent as it curves from its western border on the Atlantic Ocean toward the east and the south, it shares its northern border with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali, and its southern border with Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Niger River's source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea.

The country is geographically divided into eight administrative regions, which are further subdivided into thirty-three prefectures. Conakry is the capital, largest city, and economic centre. Other major cities in the country include Kankan, Nzérékoré, Kindia, Labe, Guéckédou, Mamou and Boke.

Guinea's 10 million people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. The largest and most prominent groups are the Fula (40%), Mandingo (30%), and Susu (20%).

Christians, mostly Roman Catholic, make up about 10% of the population, and are mainly found in the southern Guinea forestiere region.

Guinea's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the world's second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds and gold.

French is the official language of Guinea, and is the main language of communication in schools, government administration, the media, and the country's security forces. More than twenty four indigenous languages are also spoken, of which the most common are Fula, Susu and Mandinka. Fula is widely used in the Fouta Djallon region in central Guinea, Mandinka in Eastern Guinea and part of the Guinea forestiere region, and Susu in the coastal region of northwestern Guinea.