Guinea

Guinea
Guinea i/ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (French: Guinée française), it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea.[7] Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres (94,927 sq mi).[1]

Guinea is a republic. The president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the legislative body of the country, and its members are directly elected by the people. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest and final court of appeal in the country.[8] Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population.[9] Guinea's people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the official language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, in the media, and among the country's security forces, but more than twenty-four indigenous languages are also spoken.

Guinea's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and mineral production.[10] It is the world's second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds and gold.[11]

Human rights in Guinea remain controversial. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, and abuse of women and children (e.g. female genital mutilation) were ongoing abuses of human rights.[12]

The country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a traditional name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the forested tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. The English term Guinea comes directly from the Portuguese word Guiné, which emerged in the mid-15th century to refer to the lands inhabited by the Guineus, a generic term for the black African peoples below the Senegal River, as opposed to the 'tawny' Zenaga Berbers, above it, whom they called Azenegues or Moors.

The country is currently at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak giving it a bleak prospect for the upcoming years in terms of humanitarian situation and GDP growth.