Background: Independent from France since 1958 Guinea has been under military rule ever since.

Area
Total: 245,860 km²
Land: 245,860 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 320 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: none

Climate:

Terrain: generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior

Natural resources: bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish

Land use: arable land: 6%; permanent crops: NEGL%; meadows and pastures 12%; forest and woodland 42%; other 40%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Population: 7,783,926 (July 1992), growth rate - 1.5% (1992)

Nationality: noun - Guinean(s; adjective - Guinean

Ethnic groups: Fulani 35%, Malinke 30%, Soussou 20%, small indigenous tribes 15%

Languages: French (official; each tribe has its own language

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

Birth rate: 46 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 21 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: -40 migrants/1000 population (1992)

Environment
Current issues: hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; deforestation

Infant mortality rate: 143 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 41 years male, 45 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 6.0 children born/woman (1992)

Literacy: 24% (male 35%, female 13%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Guinea

Government type: republic

Capital: Conakry

Administrative divisions:

Independence: 2 October 1958 (from France; formerly French Guinea)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Second Republic, 3 April (1984)

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

Suffrage: none

Executive branch:

Legislative branch: People's National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale Populaire) was dissolved after the 3 April 1984 coup;
Note: framework for a new National Assembly established in December 1991 (will have 114 seats)

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel)

International organization participation:
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Ansoumane CAMARA; Chancery at 2,112 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20,008; telephone (202) 483-9,420
US:

Flag description:

Economy overview: Although possessing many natural resources and considerable potential for agricultural development, Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world. The agricultural sector contributes about 40% to GDP and employs more than 80% of the work force, while industry accounts for 27% of GDP. Guinea possesses over 25% of the world's bauxite reserves; exports of bauxite and alumina accounted for about 70% of total exports in 1989.
GDP: exchange rate conversion - $3.0 billion, per capita $410; real growth rate 4.3% (1990 est.)

Agriculture products: accounts for 40% of GDP (includes fishing and forestry; mostly subsistence farming; principal products - rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava, bananas, sweet potatoes, timber; livestock - cattle, sheep and goats; not self-sufficient in food grains

Industries: bauxite mining, alumina, gold, diamond mining, light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate NA%; accounts for 27% of GDP

Labor force: 2,400,000 (1983); agriculture 82.0%, industry and commerce 11.0%, services 5.4%; 88,112 civil servants (1987); 52% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: virtually 100% of wage earners loosely affiliated with the National Confederation of Guinean Workers

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $449 million; expenditures $708 million, including capital expenditures of $361 million (1990 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $788 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
Commodoties: alumina, bauxite, diamonds, coffee, pineapples, bananas, palm kernels
Partners: US 33%, EC 33%, USSR and Eastern Europe 20%, Canada

Imports: $692 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
Commodoties: petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, and other grain
Partners: US 16%, France, Brazil

Exchange rates: Guinean francs (FG) per US$1 - 675 (1990), 618 (1989), 515 (1988), 440 (1987), 383 (1986)

Electricity
Production: 113,000 kW capacity; 300 million kWh produced, 40 kWh per capita (1989)

Airports:

Waterways: 1,295 km navigable by shallow-draft native craft