Guinea: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Guinea is a country in West Africa on the Atlantic coast, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. Its capital, Conakry, is a port city built partly on a narrow peninsula. Guinea is often called the water tower of West Africa, because great rivers such as the Niger, the Senegal and the Gambia begin in its highlands. It also has some of the world's largest deposits of bauxite, the rock used to make aluminium.

On My Earth Toy you can visit the Grand Mosque of Conakry, one of the largest mosques in West Africa, with a golden dome and four tall minarets that stand out over the city.

Geography and nature

Guinea has four main regions: a rainy coast with mangroves, the Fouta Djallon highlands of plateaus and waterfalls, the dry savanna of Upper Guinea, and green forests in the southeast. Mount Nimba, 1,752 metres tall, is the highest point and sits on the border with Côte d'Ivoire; its nature reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Near the town of Bossou, wild chimpanzees are famous for using stones as hammers to crack open nuts. The rainy season lasts from about June to November.

People, languages and culture

French is the official language, while Pular (Fula), Maninka and Susu are spoken by many people. About 85 percent of Guineans are Muslim, and most of the rest are Christian. Guinea has a rich music tradition played on the djembe drum, the kora harp and the balafon, a wooden xylophone. Griots, storytellers and musicians, keep family histories and old legends alive by singing them from memory.

History in a nutshell

From the 13th century, much of Guinea was part of the great Mali Empire. In the 18th century, Fula Muslims founded a state in the Fouta Djallon. France took control in the 19th century and made Guinea part of French West Africa. In a 1958 referendum, Guinea voted to leave the French community and became independent on 2 October 1958, with Ahmed Sékou Touré as its first president. Since then the country has gone through periods of military rule as well as elections.