REPUBLIC OF GUINEA Official name: République de Guinée (Republic of Guinea) Location: West Africa International organisations: The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The African Union, The Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, The Organisation of Islamic Conference, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone Coastline: North Atlantic Ocean Land area: 245,857 Km2 Population: 7,700,000

Ethnicity: Almost of the entire population is of West African stock. The largest groups are the Peuhl (40%), Malinke (30%) and Soussou (20%).
Languages: French is the official language and the language of government and business. A large number of African languages are spoken.
Religion: Sunni Moslem 85%, Catholic Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 7%.
Form of government: Presidential republic. Guinea is divided into 33 prefectures and the Conakry special zone.
Capital: Conakry
Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Guinea came into effect on 23 December 1990. (This link also gives the text of the 1958 and 1982 Constitutions.)
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President.
Legislature: Guinea has a unicameral legislature. The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 114 members elected for four-year terms, 38 members elected from single-member constituencies and 76 by proportional representation.
Electoral authority: The conducts national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 6, Civil Liberties 5

Political history

The area which in now Guinea was governed by a number of Islamic rulers until it was brought under French control in the early 19th century. Guinea formally became a French colony in 1845. After the Second World War, Guinea became part of the Federation of French West Africa. In 1958, however, Guinea became the only French colony to reject membership of the French Community. Independence followed immediately, and the nationalist leader Ahmed Sékou Touré, became president.

Touré established a one-party socialist regime, which produced the usual results: by the time of Touré's death in 1984 Guinea was bankrupt and totally isolated, with a million Guineans living in exile. A military government, headed by General Lansana Conté, succeeded Touré. After nine years of military rule, a multi-party system was established and Conté was elected president in 1993, 1998 and 2003.

Guinean politics is dominated by President Conté's Party of Unity and Progress. Opposition parties include the Union for Progress and Renewal, the Union for the Progress of Guinea, and the Democratic Party of Guinea. Despite the formal appearance of multi-party politics, however, Conté has manipulated the constitution and the electoral process to perpetuate his own power.

Amnesty International's 2002 Report on Guinea noted that: "A new Constitution was approved after a referendum in November which was boycotted by the opposition. It removed the limitation of a presidential mandate to two terms in office, which will allow President Conté, who came to power in a coup in 1984, to stand for re-election. The new Constitution extended the presidential term from five to seven years. It also lifted an age limit of 70 for presidential candidates, which would have barred President Conté from standing for re-election when his term expires in 2003. Legislative elections, postponed from June 1999 and due to be held in December, were again postponed."