Map of Guinea | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: Independent from France since 1958 Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. Lansana CONTE (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998. Unrest in Sierra Leone has spilled over into Guinea threatening stability and creating a humanitarian emergency.


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

Geographic coordinates: 11 00 N 10 00 W

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 245,857 km²
Land: 245,857 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries
Total: 3,399 km
Border countries: (6) Cote d'Ivoire 610 km; , Guinea-Bissau 386 km; , Liberia 563 km; , Mali 858 km; , Senegal 330 km; , Sierra Leone 652 km

Coastline: 320 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM

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

Terrain: generally flat coastal plain hilly to mountainous interior

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m

Natural resources: bauxite iron ore diamonds gold uranium hydropower fish

Land use
Arable land: 2%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 22%
Forests and woodland: 59%
Other: 17% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 930 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: hot dry dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season

Geography


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Population: 7,613,870 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 1.96% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 40% (1994 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Guinean
Adjective: Guinean

Ethnic groups: Peuhl 40% Malinke 30% Soussou 20% smaller ethnic groups 10%

Languages: French (official) each ethnic group has its own language

Religions: Muslim 85% Christian 8% indigenous beliefs 7%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 43.12% (male 1,637,000; female 1,645,786)
15-64 years: 54.19% (male 2,015,199; female 2,110,745)
65 years and over: 2.69% (male 84,586; female 120,554) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.96% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 39.78 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 17.53 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate
Note: as a result of civil war in neighboring countries, Guinea is host to almost half a million Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification; soil contamination and erosion; overfishing overpopulation in forest region
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 0.99 male/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male/female
Total population: 0.96 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 129.03 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 45.91 years
Male: 43.49 years
Female: 48.42 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.39 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.54% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 55,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 5,600 (1999 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 35.9%
Male: 49.9%
Female: 21.9% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Guinea
Conventional short form: Guinea
Local long form: Republique de Guinee
Local short form: Guinee
Former: French Guinea

Government type: republic

Capital: Conakry

Administrative divisions: 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

Dependent areas

Independence: 2 October 1958 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day 2 October (1958)

Constitution: 23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale)

Legal system: based on French civil law system customary law and decree; legal codes currently being revised; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Lansana CONTE (head of military government since 5 April 1984, elected president 19 December 1993)
Head of government: Prime Minister Lamine SIDIME (since 8 March 1999)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected president; election last held 14 December 1998 (next to be held NA December 2003); the prime minister is appointed by the president
Election results: Lansana CONTE reelected president; percent of vote - Lansana CONTE (PUP) 56.1%, Mamadou Boye BA (UNR-PRP) 24.6%, Alpha CONDE (RPG) 16.6%,

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 11 June 1995 (next scheduled for 26 November 2000 postponed indefinitely due to border fighting with rebels from Sierra Leone and Liberia)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PUP 71, RPG 19, PRP 9, UNR 9, UPG 2, PDG-AST 1, UNP 1, PDG-RDA 1, other 1

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Guinea or PDG-AST [Marcel CROS]; Democratic Party of Guinea-African Democratic Rally or PDG-RDA [El Hadj Ismael Mohamed Gassim GUSHEIN]; National Union for Progress or UNP [Paul Louis FABER]; Party for Unity and Progress or PUP [Lansana CONTE] - the governing party; Party for Renewal and Progress or PRP [Siradiou DIALLO]; Rally for the Guinean People or RPG [Alpha CONDE]; Union for Progress of Guinea or UPG [Jean-Marie DORE secretary-general]; Union for the New Republic or UNR [Mamadou Boye BA]; Union of Republican Forces or UFR [Sidya TOURE]

International organization participation: ACCT ACP AfDB CCC ECA ECOWAS FAO G-77 IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM ISO (correspondent) ITU MINURSO NAM OAU OIC OPCW UN UNAMSIL UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mohamed Aly THIAM
In the us chancery: 2,112 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 483-9,420
In the us fax: [1] (202) 483-8,688
From the us chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Timberlake FOSTER
From the us embassy: Rue Ka 038, Conakry
From the us mailing address: B. P. 603, Conakry
From the us telephone: [224] 41 15 20, 41 15 21, 41 15 23
From the us fax: [224] 41 15 22

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side) yellow and green; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Rwanda which has a large black letter R centered in the yellow band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Guinea possesses major mineral hydropower and agricultural resources yet remains a poor underdeveloped nation. The country possesses over 30% of the world's bauxite reserves and is the second largest bauxite producer. The mining sector accounted for about 75% of exports in 1999. Long-run improvements in government fiscal arrangements literacy and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. The government made encouraging progress in budget management in 1997-99 and reform progress was praised in the World Bank/IMF October 2000 assessment. However escalating fighting along the Sierra Leonean and Liberian borders will cause major economic disruptions. In addition to direct defense costs the violence has led to a sharp decline in investor confidence. Foreign mining companies have reduced expatriate staff while panic buying has created food shortages and inflation in local markets. Real GDP growth is expected to fall to 2% in 2001.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 22.3%
Industry: 35.3%
Services: 42.4% (1998 est.)

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

Industries: bauxite gold diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries

Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (1994)

Labor force: 3 million (1999)
By occupation agriculture: 80%
By occupation industry and services: 20% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 40% (1994 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.6%
Highest 10: 32% (1994)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $NA
Expenditures: $417.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (2000 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6% (2000 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $820 million (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: bauxite alumina gold diamonds coffee fish agricultural products
Partners: US Benelux Ukraine Ireland (1999)

Imports: $634 million (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: petroleum products metals machinery transport equipment textiles grain and other foodstuffs
Partners: France Belgium US Cote d'Ivoire (1999)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $3.6 billion (1999 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Guinean francs per US dollar - 1855.0 (October 2000) 1572.0 (2000) 1387.4 (1999) 1236.8 (1998) 1095.3 (1997) 1004.0 (1996)


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 750 million kWh (1999)
By source fossil fuel: 46.67%
By source hydro: 53.33%
By source nuclear: 0%
By source other: 0% (1999)

Electricity consumption: 697.5 million kWh (1999)

Electricity exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular: 2,868 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: poor to fair system of open-wire lines, small radiotelephone communication stations, and new microwave radio relay system
Domestic: microwave radio relay and radiotelephone communication
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet country code: .gn

Internet users: 5,000 (2000)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $56 million (FY96)
Percent of gdp: 1.4% (FY96)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 15 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 5
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 10
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 6
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports with paved runways
Total: 5
Over 3047 m: 1
2438 to 3047 m: 1
15-24 to 2437 m: 3 (2000 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways
Total: 10
15-24 to 2437 m: 6
914 to 1523 m: 3
Under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 1,086 km
Standard gauge: 279 km 1.435-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 807 km 1.000-m gauge (includes 662 km in common carrier service from Kankan to Conakry)

Roadways

Waterways: 1295 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft)

Merchant marine: none (2000 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs