Visitor Focus: Republic of Guinea

In May, the website had a visitor from the troubled republic of Guinea. In 1958, Guinea became the first French African colony to gain independence, but the people have hardly enjoyed the fruits of liberty. Since 1958, Guinea has had only two leaders, heavy-handed dictator Ahmed Sékou Touré until 1984 and Lansana Conté, who grabbed power through a military coup d'état after Touré's death. Conté's reign has been characterized by continued corruption and human rights violations.

At 94,919 square miles, Guinea is roughly the size of the United Kingdom and slightly smaller than the US states of Michigan or Oregon. There are 200 miles (320 km) of coastline. The total land border is 2,112 miles (3,399 km). The country is divided into four main regions: the Basse-Cote lowlands in the east along the coast, populated mainly by the Susu ethnic group; the cooler, mountainous Fouta Djalon that run roughly north-south through the middle of the country, populated by Peuls, the Sahelian Haute-Guinea to the northeast, populated by Malinkes, and the forested jungle regions in the southeast, with several ethnic groups. Guinea's mountains are the source for the Niger, the Gambia, and Senegal Rivers, as well as the numerous rivers flowing to the sea on the west side of the range in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.

Bauxite prcossing in the Guinean port city of Kamsar

Guinea possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources, yet remains an 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. Guinea is not receiving multilateral aid. The IMF and World Bank cut off most assistance in 2003. Growth rose slightly in 2004, primarily due to increases in global demand and commodity prices on world markets.

The five FM and three shortwave radio and six broadcast TV stations, as well as the country's largest and only daily newspaper, are state-controlled and offer little coverage of the opposition and scant criticism of the government. After much international and opposition lobbying, the government agreed to open up the airwaves and licensed private radio broadcasters in early 2006.
However, a media crackdown followed President Conte's declaration of a "state of siege" amid violent protests against his rule in February 2007. The controls led to the closures of some private FM stations, the interruption of an FM relay from Radio France Internationale and tighter military control over the national broadcaster. Many cyber-cafes were shut down. A restrictive press law allows the government to censor publications. More than a dozen private newspapers publish either weekly or sporadically and are critical of the government. High printing costs also severely restrict publishing.

With a per capita GNP of $2,000, forty-seven percent of Guinea's population lives under the poverty line. Even so, Guinea ranks near the middle of all nations in terms of income equality. Guinea's Gini index is 40.3, 45th highest among one hundred ranked countries. At 35.9%, Guinea's literacy rate is among the lowest in the world, trailed only by Benin, Sierra Leon, Burkina Faso, and Niger. The country's life expectancy of 49.5 ranks 185th of 212, infant mortality is the 19th highest.

In terms of technology, there are 189,000 cellular phones in use vs. 26,200 landlines. There are 46,000 internet users (2005 estimate) and the country internet code is .gn.

The African Travel Association touts Guinea, with its lofty mountains and high plateaus, as "The Switzerland of Africa." Guinea is also sometimes called the Water Tower of Western Africa because many rivers take their origin (River Gambie, Senegal, Niger, etc.) from it. These rivers and churning rapids, hurtling down the mountains create beautiful waterfalls. The Loos Islands, an archipelago located near Conakry, is called as Guinea's Tropical Paradise.

Villa Elijah

If you're interested in visiting Guinea, the cheapest Philadelphia to Conakry fare this summer is $1,035, and a night at Villa Elijah on the island of Roume in the Loos Islands runs about €25 per person.

Welcome Guinean!
Explore tourism in Guinea
Sources: CIA World Factbook at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/, Country ranks at http://www.photius.com/rankings/, City population figures at http://www.citypopulation.de/