GUINEA                                                                          
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 245,860 km2; land area: 245,860 km2                                 
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon                                  
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 3,399 km total; Guinea-Bissau 386 km, Ivory Coast              
610 km, Liberia 563 km, Mali 858 km, Senegal 330 km, Sierra Leone 652 km        
                                                                                
Coastline: 320 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Climate: generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season                   
(June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to            
May) with northeasterly harmattan winds                                         
                                                                                
Terrain: generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous                     
interior                                                                        
                                                                                
Natural resources: bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium,                  
hydropower, fish                                                                
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 6%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and                    
pastures 12%; forest and woodland 42%; other 40%; includes irrigated            
NEGL%                                                                           
                                                                                
Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility               
during dry season; deforestation                                                
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 7,455,850 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 21 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 144 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 41 years male, 45 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 6.0 children born/woman (1991)                            
Nationality: noun--Guinean(s); adjective--Guinean                               
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Fulani 35%, Malinke 30%, Soussou 20%, small                   
indigenous tribes 15%                                                           
                                                                                
Religion: Muslim 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 7%                       
                                                                                
Language: French (official); each tribe has its own language                    
                                                                                
Literacy: 24% (male 35%, female 13%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 2,400,000 (1983); agriculture 82.0%, industry and                  
commerce 11.0%, services 5.4%; 88,112 civil servants (1987); 52% of             
population of working age (1985)                                                
                                                                                
Organized labor: virtually 100% of wage earners loosely affiliated              
with the National Confederation of Guinean Workers                              
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Guinea                                              
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: Conakry                                                                
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 29 administrative regions (regions                    
administratives, singular--region administrative); Beyla, Boffa,                
Boke, Conakry, Dabola, Dalaba, Dinguiraye, Dubreka, Faranah,                    
Forecariah, Fria, Gaoual, Gueckedou, Kankan, Kerouane, Kindia,                  
Kissidougou, Koundara, Kouroussa, Labe, Macenta, Mali, Mamou,                   
Nzerekore, Pita, Siguiri, Telimele, Tougue, Yomou                               
                                                                                
Independence: 2 October 1958 (from France; formerly French Guinea)              
                                                                                
Constitution: 23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale)                               
                                                                                
Legal system: based on French civil law system, customary law,                  
and decree; legal codes currently being revised; has not accepted               
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                                                     
                                                                                
National holiday: Anniversary of the Second Republic, 3 April                   
(1984)                                                                          
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, Transitional Committee for National                
Recovery (Comite Transitionale de Redressement National or CTRN)                
replaced the Military Committee for National Recovery (Comite                   
Militaire de Redressement National or CMRN); Council of Ministers               
(cabinet)                                                                       
                                                                                
Legislative branch: People's National Assembly (Assemblee                       
Nationale Populaire) was dissolved after the 3 April 1984 coup                  
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel)                                 
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--Gen. Lansana CONTE (since                
5 April 1984)                                                                   
Political parties and leaders: none; following the 3 April 1984                 
coup all political activity was banned                                          
                                                                                
Suffrage: none                                                                  
                                                                                
Elections: none                                                                 
                                                                                
Communists: no Communist party, although there are some                         
sympathizers                                                                    
                                                                                
Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CEAO (observer), ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ,              
G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,       
IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN,                        
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO                            
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant); Chancery at                     
2112 Leroy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-9420;             
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Dane F. SMITH, Jr.; Embassy at 2nd Boulevard and 9th             
Avenue, Conakry (mailing address is B. P. 603, Conakry); telephone (224)        
44-15-20 through 24                                                             
                                                                                
Flag: three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), yellow, and               
green; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the          
flag of Rwanda which has a large black letter R centered in the                 
yellow band                                                                     
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Although possessing many natural resources and                        
considerable potential for agricultural development, Guinea is one of the       
poorest countries in the world. The agricultural sector contributes about       
40% to GDP and employs more than 80% of the work force, while industry          
accounts for 27% of GDP. Guinea possesses over 25% of theworld's                
bauxite reserves; exports of bauxite and alumina accounted for                  
about 70% of total exports in 1989.                                             
                                                                                
GDP: $2.7 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 4.4%                       
(1989 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 28.2% (1989 est.)                             
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $394 million; expenditures $548 million, including             
capital expenditures of $254 million (1989 est.)                                
                                                                                
Exports: $645 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--alumina, bauxite, diamonds, coffee, pineapples,                    
bananas, palm kernels;                                                          
                                                                                
partners--US 33%, EC 33%, USSR and Eastern Europe 20%, Canada                   
                                                                                
Imports: $551 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport                   
equipment, foodstuffs, textiles and other grain;                                
                                                                                
partners--US 16%, France, Brazil                                                
External debt: $2.6 billion (1990 est.)                                         
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for 27% of GDP                 
                                                                                
Electricity: 113,000 kW capacity; 300 million kWh produced,                     
40 kWh per capita (1989)                                                        
                                                                                
Industries: bauxite mining, alumina, gold, diamond mining,                      
light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries                      
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 40% of GDP (includes fishing and                      
forestry); mostly subsistence farming; principal products--rice, coffee,        
pineapples, palm kernels, cassava, bananas, sweet potatoes, timber;             
livestock--cattle, sheep and goats; not self-sufficient in food grains          
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $227                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-87), $1,075 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $120 million;          
Communist countries (1970-88), $446 million                                     
                                                                                
Currency: Guinean franc (plural--francs);                                       
1 Guinean franc (FG) = 100 centimes                                             
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Guinean francs (FG) per US$1--24.39 (1989),                     
19.23 (1988), 17.54 (1987), 14.29 (1986), NA (1985)                             
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 1,045 km; 806 km 1.000-meter gauge, 239 km 1.435-meter               
standard gauge                                                                  
                                                                                
Highways: 30,100 km total; 1,145 km paved, 12,955 km gravel or                  
laterite (of which barely 4,500 km are currently all-weather roads),            
16,000 km unimproved earth (1987)                                               
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 1,295 km navigable by shallow-draft native craft              
                                                                                
Ports: Conakry, Kamsar                                                          
                                                                                
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
Airports: 16 total, 16 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways;                
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;                   
10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                   
                                                                                
Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire lines, small                       
radiocommunication stations, and new radio relay system; 10,000                 
telephones; stations--3 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 12,000 TV sets; 125,000 radio           
receivers; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station                              
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Navy (acts primarily as a coast guard), Air Force,              
Republican Guard, paramilitary National Gendarmerie, Surete Nationale           
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,695,832; 853,593 fit for                  
military service                                                                
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $27 million, 1.2% of GDP (1988)                           
