Republic of Guinea

National name: République de Guinée

President: Lansana Conté (1984)

Prime Minister: Cellou Dalein Diallo (2004)

Total area: 94,927 sq mi (245,861 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 9,690,222 (growth rate: 2.6%); birth rate: 41.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 90.0/1000; life expectancy: 49.5; density per sq mi: 102

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Conakry, 1,767,200

Monetary unit: Guinean franc

Languages: French (official), native tongues (Malinké, Susu, Fulani)

Ethnicity/race: Peuhl 40%, Malinke 30%, Susu 20%, smaller tribes 10%

Religions: Islam 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous 7%

Literacy rate: 36% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $20.78 billion; per capita $2,200. Real growth rate: 2%. Inflation: 25%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 4%. Agriculture: rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber. Labor force: 3 million (1999); agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% (2000 est.). Industries: bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries. Natural resources: bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish. Exports: $612.1 million f.o.b. (2005 est.): bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products. Imports: $680 million f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs. Major trading partners: France, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, Ukraine, Côte d'Ivoire, China, South Africa (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 26,200 (2003); mobile cellular: 111,500 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 4 (one station is inactive), FM 1 (plus 7 repeaters), shortwave 3 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 6 low-power stations (2001). Internet hosts: 380 (2004). Internet users: 40,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 837 km (2004). Highways: total: 30,500 km; paved: 5,033 km; unpaved: 25,467 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 1,295 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) (2003). Ports and harbors: Kamsar. Airports: 16 (2004 est.).

International disputes: conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in neighboring states has spilled over into Guinea, resulting in domestic instability; Sierra Leone pressures Guinea to remove its forces from the town of Yenga occupied since 1998.


 

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