The Republic of
Guinea is bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Guinea’s main attraction to tourists is its relatively undisturbed countryside. Its landscape varies from
mountains to
plains and from
savannah to
forest and the three great rivers of West Africa (the Gambia, the Senegal and the Niger) all originate here.
The capital,
Conakry, is located on the island of Tumbo and connected to the Kaloum Peninsula by a 300m- (984ft-) long pier. The city is well laid out, its alleys
shaded by
mangrove and
coconut palm trees. Guinea has a strong
music tradition and Conakry, in particular, is a dynamic center for music. The singing of the Kindia people is especially renowned.
In 1958, when it declared
independence from France and voted in a staunchly socialist one-party government, Guinea became an isolated and secretive country. However, after the death of the dictator Sekou Touré in 1984, Guinea began, slowly, to allow tourists through its once stubbornly closed doors. Even so, it is still one of the least visited countries in Africa and it can be difficult, despite declarations to the contrary, to acquire visas.
GeographyThe Republic of Guinea is located in West Africa and bordered to the northwest by Guinea-Bissau, the north by Senegal and Mali, the east by Côte d’Ivoire, the south by Liberia and the southwest by Sierra Leone. Guinea’s many rivers supply water to much of West Africa. The River Niger flows north from the southern highlands into Mali before turning south again through Niger and Nigeria. The coastal plain is made up of mangrove swamps, while inland are the Fouta Djalon hills which form several distinct ranges and plateau over the whole of western Guinea. In the northeast, savannah plains of the Sahel region stretch into Mali. To the south are mountains known as the Guinea Highlands.
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