Guinea is a country in coastal West Africa. It borders Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to the north, Liberia and Sierra Leone to the south, Mali and Ivory Coast to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. As of 2025, Guinea has a population of 14 million. The capital city of Guinea is Conakry.
History
Prior to its colonization by France in the 19th century, Guinea was the site of many African Empires. One of these empires, the Wassoulou Empire, ruled a majority of modern-day Guinea and Ivory Coast. These empires helped spread Islam to Western Africa.
In 1898, France ceased control of the Wassoulou Empire’s land, proclaiming the colony of French Guinea. Later on, all French Colonies in West Africa were combined into French West Africa.
After the French Fifth Republic was proclaimed in 1958, all French colonies were given the choice of immediate independence or autonomy within France. Guinea held a referendum on September 28, 1958, in which, the people of Guinea voted unanimously for independence. Guinea became independent on October 2nd of that same year.
In 1960, Guinea’s president, Ahmed Sekou Touré, declared that the Democratic Party of Guinea was the only legal political party in his country.
Sekou Touré died in 1984. After his death, military colonel Lansana Conte seized power in a bloodless coup d’état. During his presidency, Conte denounced the human rights abuses under Sekou Touré’s presidency.
On December 23, 2008, Lansana Conte died. The following day, Dadis Camara seized control over the country. Camara frequently appeared on state television, where he can be seen yelling at the news journalists. After an attempted on his life, Camara resigned as president in 2009 and Alpha Conde became the first democratically-elected president in Guinea’s history.
In 2014, Guinea, alongside Liberia and Sierra Leone, were effected by an outbreak of Ebola. The epidemic lasted until 2015, at which point, 2,536 people had died from the disease.
In 2021, president Alpha Conde was deposed in a military coup. When the military junta came into power, Guinea’s borders were closed, civilian rule was suspended, and all television stations in the country were placed under military control.
After the coup happened, Guinea was kicked out of the African Union. The regime was also boycotted by the United States and China. As of 2025, Guinea is still under the control of the military dictatorship.