{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
Guinea's deep Muslim heritage arrived via the neighboring Almoravid Empire in the 11th century. Following Almoravid decline, Guinea existed on the fringe of several African kingdoms, all competing for regional dominance. In the 13th century, the Mali Empire took control of Guinea and encouraged its already growing Muslim faith. After the fall of the West African empires, various smaller kingdoms controlled Guinea. In the 18th century, Fulani Muslims established an Islamic state in central Guinea that provided one of the earliest examples of a written constitution and alternating leadership. European traders first arrived in the 16th century, and the French secured colonial rule in the 19th century.
In 1958, Guinea achieved independence from France. Sekou TOURE became Guinea’s first post-independence president; he established a dictatorial regime and ruled until his death in 1984, after which General Lansana CONTE staged a coup and seized the government. He too established an authoritarian regime and manipulated presidential elections until his death in 2008, when Captain Moussa Dadis CAMARA led a military coup, seized power, and suspended the constitution. In 2009, CAMARA was wounded in an assassination attempt and was exiled to Burkina Faso. In 2010 and 2013 respectively, the country held its first free and fair presidential and legislative elections. Alpha CONDE won the 2010 and 2015 presidential elections, and his first cabinet was the first all-civilian government in Guinean history. CONDE won a third term in 2020 after a constitutional change to term limits. In 2021, Col Mamady DOUMBOUYA led another successful military coup, establishing the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (CNRD), suspending the constitution, and dissolving the government and the legislature. DOUMBOUYA was sworn in as transition president and appointed Mohamed BEAVOGUI as transition prime minister. The National Transition Council (CNT), which acts as the legislative body for the transition, was formed in 2022 and consists of appointed members representing a broad swath of Guinean society.
" } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "11 00 N, 10 00 W" }, "Map references": { "text": "Africa" }, "Area": { "total ": { "text": "245,857 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "245,717 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "140 sq km" } }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "slightly smaller than Oregon; slightly larger than twice the size of Pennsylvania" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "4,046 km" }, "border countries": { "text": "Cote d'Ivoire 816 km; Guinea-Bissau 421 km; Liberia 590 km; Mali 1062 km; Senegal 363 km; Sierra Leone 794 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "320 km" }, "Maritime claims": { "territorial sea": { "text": "12 nm" }, "exclusive economic zone": { "text": "200 nm" } }, "Climate": { "text": "generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds" }, "Terrain": { "text": "generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Mont Nimba 1,752 m" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Atlantic Ocean 0 m" }, "mean elevation": { "text": "472 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish, salt" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "70% (2022 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 20.7% (2022 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 5.8% (2022 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 43.5% (2022 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "24.9% (2022 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "5.2% (2022 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "949 sq km (2017)" }, "Major rivers (by length in km)": { "text": "Niger river source (shared with Mali, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km; Gambie (Gambia) river source (shared with Senegal and The Gambia [m]) - 1,094 kmGovernment maintains control over broadcast media; single state-run TV station; state-run radio broadcast station also operates several stations in rural areas; a dozen private television stations; a steadily increasing number of privately owned radio stations, nearly all in Conakry, and about a dozen community radio stations; foreign TV programming available via satellite and cable subscription services
(2022)" }, "Internet country code": { "text": ".gn" }, "Internet users": { "percent of population": { "text": "34% (2022 est.)" } }, "Broadband - fixed subscriptions": { "total": { "text": "1,000 (2022 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "(2022 est.) less than 1" } } }, "Transportation": { "Civil aircraft registration country code prefix": { "text": "3X" }, "Airports": { "text": "16 (2025)" }, "Heliports": { "text": "1 (2025)" }, "Railways": { "total": { "text": "1,086 km (2017)" }, "standard gauge": { "text": "279 km (2017) 1.435-m gauge" }, "narrow gauge": { "text": "807 km (2017) 1.000-m gauge" } }, "Roadways": { "total": { "text": "44,301 km" }, "paved": { "text": "3,346 km" }, "unpaved": { "text": "40,955 km (2018)" } }, "Waterways": { "text": "1,300 km (2011) (navigable by shallow-draft native craft in the northern part of the Niger River system)" }, "Merchant marine": { "total": { "text": "2 (2023)" }, "by type": { "text": "other 2" } }, "Ports": { "total ports": { "text": "4 (2024)" }, "large": { "text": "0" }, "medium": { "text": "1" }, "small": { "text": "0" }, "very small": { "text": "3" }, "ports with oil terminals": { "text": "2" }, "key ports": { "text": "Benti, Conakry, Kamsar, Victoria" } } }, "Military and Security": { "Military and security forces": { "text": "Guinean (or National) Armed Forces (Forces Armées Guinéennes): Army (Armée de terre), Air Force (Armée de l'air), Navy (Armée de mer), Presidential Security Battalion (Battailon Autonome de la Sécurité Presidentielle, BASP), National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale) (2024)", "note": "note: the National Gendarmerie is overseen by the Ministry of Defense, while the National Police is under the Ministry of Security; the Gendarmerie and National Police share responsibility for internal security, but only the Gendarmerie can arrest police or military officials; Guinea's military and security forces are sometimes collectively referred to as the Defense and Security Forces" }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { "text": "2.2% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { "text": "1.8% of GDP (2022 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.5% of GDP (2021 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2020": { "text": "1.4% of GDP (2020 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2019": { "text": "1.6% of GDP (2019 est.)" } }, "Military and security service personnel strengths": { "text": "estimated 10-15,000 Armed Forces personnel (2024)" }, "Military equipment inventories and acquisitions": { "text": "the Guinean military's inventory consists almost entirely of Soviet-era weapons and equipment along with small amounts of secondhand material from China, France, Russia, and South Africa (2024)" }, "Military service age and obligation": { "text": "18 years of age for voluntary and selective conscripted service; 9-12 months of service (2023)" }, "Military - note": { "text": "the Guinean military is a small and lightly armed force that is responsible for territorial defense, but also has some domestic security responsibilities and has historically been involved in suppressing public protests; the military has undergone some attempts at reform since 2010, but in 2021 the Army’s special forces led a military overthrow of the government (2024)" } }, "Transnational Issues": { "Illicit drugs": { "text": "NA" } } }