ABSTRACT
The first of the former French colonies in Africa to vote for independence when given the choice in 1958, Guinea (formerly called French Guinea) lies along a 280 kilometre stretch of the Atlantic coast of West Africa south of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau and north of Sierra Leone and Liberia. It is bounded on the east by Cote d'Ivoire and Mali. A small country of some 7 million people, Guinea has a land area of 245,900 square kilometres (94,900 square miles). Its capital is the port city of Conakry.
