ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Guinea. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Guinea. Guinea's economy has suffered from a world drop in the price of bauxite. The country is the world's largest producer of the mineral and is also rich in gold, diamonds, and iron ore. Guinean politics and parties are largely defined along ethnic lines. Violations included arbitrary detention by Guinean authorities and vigilantes, as well as beating, torture, and sexual assault. All broadcasting, as well as the country's largest and only daily newspaper, are state-controlled, and offer little coverage of the opposition and scant criticism of government policy.
