My World Factbook
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Guinea has had a history of authoritarian rule since gaining its independence from France in 1958. Lansana CONTE came to power in 1984 when the military seized the government after the death of the first president, Sekou TOURE. Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. CONTE (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998 and again in 2003, though all the polls were marred by irregularities. History repeated itself in December 2008 when following President CONTE’s death, Capt. Moussa Dadis CAMARA led a military coup, seizing power and suspending the constitution. His unwillingness to yield to domestic and international pressure to step down led to heightened political tensions that culminated in September 2009 when presidential guards opened fire on an opposition rally killing more than 150 people, and in early December 2009 when CAMARA was wounded in an assassination attempt and evacuated to Morocco and subsequently to Burkina Faso. A transitional government led by General Sekouba KONATE held democratic elections in 2010 and Alpha CONDE was elected president in the country’s first free and fair elections since independence.
Government
conventional long form: Republic of Guinea
conventional short form: Guinea
local long form: Republique de Guinee
local short form: Guinee
former: French Guinea
republic
name: Conakry
geographic coordinates: 9 33 N, 13 42 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
33 prefectures and 1 special zone (zone special)*; Beyla, Boffa, Boke, Conakry*, Coyah, Dabola, Dalaba, Dinguiraye, Dubreka, Faranah, Forecariah, Fria, Gaoual, Gueckedou, Kankan, Kerouane, Kindia, Kissidougou, Koubia, Koundara, Kouroussa, Labe, Lelouma, Lola, Macenta, Mali, Mamou, Mandiana, Nzerekore, Pita, Siguiri, Telimele, Tougue, Yomou
2 October 1958 (from France)
Independence Day, 2 October (1958)
23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale)
based on French civil law system, customary law, and decree; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Alpha Conde (since 21 December 2010)
head of government: Prime Minister Mohamed Said FOFANA (since 24 December 2010)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
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elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (no term limits); candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected president; election last held on 27 June 2010 with a runoff election held on 7 November 2010
election results: Alpha CONDE elected president in a runoff election; percent of vote Alpha CONDE 52.5%, Cellou Dalein DIALLO 47.5%
unicameral People’s National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale Populaire (114 seats; members elected by a mixed system of direct popular vote and proportional party lists)
elections: last held on 30 June 2002 (legislative elections first due in 2007 have been rescheduled multiple times and are currently unscheduled)
election results: percent of vote by party - PUP 61.6%, UPR 26.6%, other 11.8%; seats by party - PUP 85, UPR 20, other 9
Court of First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Appeal or Cour d’Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme
Democratic Union of Guinea or UDG [Mamadou SYLLA]; Guinean Union for Democracy or UGD; New Democratic Forces or NDF [Muoctar DIALLO]; Party for Unity and Progress or PUP [Sekouba KONATE]; Rally for the Guinean People or RPG [Alpha CONDE]; Union for Progress and Renewal or UPR [Ousmane BAH]; Union for Progress of Guinea or UPG [Jean-Marie DORE, secretary-general]; Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea or UFDG [Cellou Dalein DIALLO]; Union of Republican Forces or UFR [Sidya TOURE]; United Front for Democracy and Change or FUDEC [Francois FALL]
National Confederation of Guinean Workers-Labor Union of Guinean Workers or CNTG-USTG Alliance (includes National Confederation of Guinean Workers or CNTG [Rabiatou Sarah DIALLO] and Labor Union of Guinean Workers or USTG [Dr. Ibrahima FOFANA]); Syndicate of Guinean Teachers and Researchers or SLECG [Dr. Louis M’Bemba SOUMAH]
ACP, AfDB, AU (suspended), ECOWAS (suspended), FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
chief of mission: Ambassador Mory Karamoko KABA
chancery: 2112 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 986-4300
FAX: [1] (202) 483-8688
chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia Newton MOLLER
embassy: Koloma, Conakry, east of Hamdallaye Circle
mailing address: B. P. 603, Transversale No. 2, Centre Administratif de Koloma, Commune de Ratoma, Conakry
telephone: [224] 65-10-40-00
FAX: [224] 65-10-42-97
three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), yellow, and green; red represents the people’s sacrifice for liberation and work; yellow stands for the sun, for the riches of the earth, and for justice; green symbolizes the country’s vegetation and unity
note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; the colors from left to right are the reverse of those on the flags of neighboring Mali and Senegal
name: “Liberte” (Liberty)
lyrics/music: unknown/Fodeba KEITA
note: adopted 1958
Military
National Armed Forces: Army, Navy (Armee de Mer or Marine Guineenne, includes Marines), Guinean Air Force (Force Aerienne de Guinee) (2009)
18-25 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; 18-month conscript service obligation (2009)
males age 16-49: 2,292,338
females age 16-49: 2,264,589 (2010 est.)
males age 16-49: 1,443,655
females age 16-49: 1,483,676 (2010 est.)
male: 114,353
female: 111,873 (2010 est.)
1.1% of GDP (2009)
country comparison to the world: 
127
Transnational Issues
conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in neighboring states have spilled over into Guinea resulting in domestic instability; Sierra Leone considers Guinea’s definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers excessive and protests Guinea’s continued occupation of these lands, including the hamlet of Yenga, occupied since 1998
refugees (country of origin): 21,856 (Liberia); 5,259 (Sierra Leone); 3,900 (Cote d’Ivoire)
IDPs: 19,000 (cross-border incursions from Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone) (2007)
current situation: Guinea is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the majority of victims are children, and internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking; within the country, girls are trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, while boys are trafficked for forced agricultural labor, and as forced beggars, street vendors, shoe shiners, and laborers in gold and diamond mines; some Guinean men are also trafficked for agricultural labor within Guinea; transnationally, girls are trafficked into Guinea for domestic servitude and likely also for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Guinea is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking over 2006; Guinea demonstrated minimal law enforcement efforts for a second year in a row, while protection efforts diminished over efforts in 2006; the government did not report any trafficking convictions in 2007; due to a lack of resources, the government does not provide shelter services for trafficking victims; the government took no measures to reduce the demand for commercial sexual exploitation (2008)
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
