French domination was assured by the defeat in 1898 of the armies of Samori Touré, Mansa (or Emperor) of the Ouassoulou state and leader of Malinké descent, which gave France control of what today is Guinea and adjacent areas.įrance negotiated Guinea's present boundaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the British for Sierra Leone, the Portuguese for their Guinea colony (now Guinea-Bissau), and Liberia. Guinea's colonial period began with French military penetration into the area in the mid-19th century. The traders used the regional slave practices. It moved to Ivory Coast before being conquered by the French.Įuropean traders competed for the cape trade from the 17th century onward and made inroads earlier. The Wassoulou or Wassulu Empire (1878–1898) was led by Samori Toure in the predominantly Malinké area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali (Wassoulou). Fulani Muslims migrated to Futa Jallon in Central Guinea, and established an Islamic state from 1727 to 1896, with a written constitution and alternate rulers. The Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively and it split into smaller kingdoms.Īfter the fall of some of the West African empires, various kingdoms existed in what is now Guinea. The empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi 3 years later. It continued to prosper until a civil war, over succession, followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The Songhai Empire expanded its power from about 1460 and eventually surpassed the Mali Empire in both territory and wealth. After his reign, the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa (Emperors), including Kankou Moussa who made a hajj to Mecca in 1324. The Sosso Empire (12th to 13th centuries) flourished in the resulting void, and the Mali Empire came to prominence when Soundiata Kéïta defeated the Sosso ruler Soumangourou Kanté at the Battle of Kirina, in c. It was in this period that Islam first arrived in the region by way of North African traders. The earliest, the Ghana Empire, grew on trade and ultimately fell after repeated incursions of the Almoravids. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of some West African empires. Main articles: Imamate of Futa Jallon and Wassoulou Empire The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

It is the world's second largest producer of bauxite, and has deposits of diamonds and gold. Guinea's economy is mostly dependent on agriculture and mineral production. More than 24 indigenous languages are spoken and the largest are Susu, Pular, and Maninka, which dominate respectively in Maritime Guinea, Fouta Djallon, and Upper Guinea, while Guinée forestière is ethnolinguistically diverse. French, the official language of Guinea, is a language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. The country is divided into four geographic regions: Maritime Guinea on the Atlantic coast, the Fouta Djallon or Middle Guinea highlands, the Upper Guinea savanna region in the northeast, and the Guinée forestière region of tropical forests. In 2021, a military faction overthrew president Alpha Condé and suspended the constitution. In 2011, the United States government claimed that torture by security forces and abuse of women and children (including female genital mutilation) were ongoing human rights issues. As it continued to hold multi-party elections, the country continued to face ethnic conflicts, corruption, and abuses by military and police. In 2010, after decades of authoritarian rule, it held its first democratic election.

It has a history of military coups d'état. įormerly French Guinea, it achieved independence in 1958. It has a population of 13.5 million and an area of 245,857 square kilometres (94,926 sq mi). It is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry after its capital Conakry, to distinguish it from other territories in the eponymous region such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Cote d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sierra Leone and Liberia to the south. Guinea ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ n i/ ( listen)), officially the Republic of Guinea ( French: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa.

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