Country Facts - Guinea

The People

Ethnic Composition

Peuhl	40%
Malinke	30%
Soussou	20%
Other	10%

Religious Composition

Muslim	85%
Christian	8%
Indigenous beliefs	7%

Languages Spoken

French is the official language of Guinea, but each tribe has its own language.

Education and Literacy

Guinea's overall adult literacy is around 35.9 percent. Among males it is 49.9 percent and females 21.9 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 3 million (1999)
By occupation:

Agriculture	80%
Industry	10%
Services	10%

Geography

Land Mass Total

94,925 sq mi (245,857 sq km)

Land

94,925 sq mi (245,857 sq km)

Water

0 sq mi (0 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 2,112 mi (3,399 km)
Border countries: Cote d'Ivoire 379 mi (610 km), Guinea-Bissau 239 mi (386 km), Liberia 349 mi (563 km), Mali 533 mi (858 km), Senegal 205 mi (330 km), Sierra Leone 405 mi (652 km)

Coastline

198 mi (320 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds.

Terrain

Flat coastal plain, hilly toward mountainous interior.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Mount Nimba 5,748 ft (1,752 m)

Natural Resources

Bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish

Land use

Arable land	4%
Permanent crops	2%
Other	94%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season

Environment - current issues

Deforestation; inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification; soil contamination and erosion; overfishing, overpopulation in forest region; poor mining practices have led to environmental damage

Geography Note

The Niger and its important tributary the Milo have their sources in the Guinean highlands.

Demographics

Population

7,775,065 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	42.8%	male 1,660,795	female 1,669,850
15-64 years:	54.5%	male 2,067,991	female 2,165,625
65 years and over:	2.7%	male 86,968	female 123,836

(2002)

Growth Rate

2.23% (2002)

Life Expectancy

46.28 years
female: 48.82 years
male: 43.81 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$1,970 (2001)

Infant Mortality

127.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	0.99 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.7 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.96 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)
Note: as a result of civil war in neighboring countries, Guinea is host to approximately 150,000 Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees.

Economy & Trade

Guinea possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources, yet remains an underdeveloped nation. The country possesses over 30 percent of the world's bauxite reserves and is the second largest bauxite producer. The mining sector accounted for about 75 percent of exports in 1999. Long-run improvements in government fiscal arrangements, literacy, and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. The government made encouraging progress in budget management in 1997-99, and reform progress was praised in the World Bank/IMF October 2000 assessment. However, escalating fighting along the Sierra Leonean and Liberian borders has caused major economic disruptions. In addition to direct defense costs, the violence has led to a sharp decline in investor confidence. Foreign mining companies have reduced expatriate staff, while panic buying has sporadically created food shortages and inflation in local markets. Multilateral aid -- including Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief -- and single-digit inflation has permitted 3.3-percent growth in 2002. Expectations for 2003 aim at 4.7 percent, with an even more dramatic increase of 6.7 percent for 2004. Donor assistance to Guinea has primarily flowed towards investment plans to reconstruct or expand infrastructure and rural development. Steps have also been taken to improve the management capacity of public administration.

Unemployment

N/A

Inflation Rate

6% (2000)

Industries

Bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries

Exports

US$694.5 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports

US$555.2 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$15 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Belgium, US, Ireland, Russia

Top Import Partners

France, US, Belgium, Cote d'Ivoire

Top Exports

Bauxite, alumina, diamonds, gold, coffee, fish, agricultural products.

Top Imports

Petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs.

Debt - external

US$3.6 billion (1999)

Economic aid

US$359.2 million (1998)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	Monday to Thursday 8a.m. to 4:30p.m. Friday 8a.m. to 1p.m.	Closed
Retail	8:30a.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 8:30a.m. to 6p.m.
Banks	8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 2:30p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed
Government	8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 2:30p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Islamic New Year²	March 5	February 22	February 10
Easter³	April 20	April 11	March 27
Anniversary of Second Republic	April 3	April 3	April 3
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (Mawlid an Nabi)*¹	May 14	May 2	April 21
Anniversary of Women's Revolt	August 27	August 27	August 27
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Start of Ramadan*²	October 27	October 15	October 4
End of Ramadan (Eid Al Fitr)*³	November 26	November 14	November 3
Christmas Day**¹	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Culmination of the Haj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	The lunar Islamic Hijara calendar is made up of 12 months, each month alternating between 29 and 30 days per month, culminating in a total of 354 days per year. The Hijra calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and annually moves 11 days backward through the seasons.
³	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
*¹	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*²	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
*³	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for 3 days.
**¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press