Conakry Explained

Official Name:Conakry
Settlement Type:Capital city
Pushpin Map:Guinea Conakry#Guinea#Africa
Pushpin Relief:1
Mapsize:300
Pushpin Map Caption:Map showing the location of Central Conakry on Tombo Island, with the growing city spreading up the Kaloum Peninsula.
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Guinea
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Conakry Region
Leader Title:Governor
Leader Name:M'Mahawa Sylla
Area Total Km2:450
Population Total:1660973
Population As Of:2014
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Demonym:Conakryka[2]
Timezone:UTC
Utc Offset:±0
Coordinates:9.5092°N -13.7122°W
Blank Name Sec1:HDI (2019)
Blank Info Sec1:0.572[3]
Flag Size:150px

Conakry (pronounced as /fr/; Susu: Kɔnakiri; ;) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.[4]

The current population of Conakry is difficult to ascertain, although the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs has estimated it at two million, accounting for one-sixth of the entire population of the country.

History

See also: Timeline of Conakry. Conakry was originally settled on the small Tombo Island and later spread to the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula, a 36km (22miles) stretch of land 0.2to wide. The city was essentially founded after Britain ceded the island to France in 1887.[5] In 1885 the two island villages of Conakry and Boubinet had fewer than 500 inhabitants. Conakry became the capital of French Guinea in 1904 and prospered as an export port, particularly after a railway (now closed) to Kankan opened up the interior of the country for the large-scale export of groundnut.

In the decades after independence, the population of Conakry boomed, from 50,000 inhabitants in 1958 to 600,000 in 1980, to over two million today. Its small land area and relative isolation from the mainland, while an advantage to its colonial founders, has created an infrastructural burden since independence.

In 1970, conflict between Portuguese forces and the belligerent PAIGC independence campaigners in neighbouring Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) spilled into the Republic of Guinea when a group of 350 Portuguese troops and Guinean loyalists landed near Conakry, attacked the city and freed 26 Portuguese prisoners of war held by the PAIGC before retreating, having failed to overthrow the government or kill the PAIGC leadership.

Camp Boiro, a feared concentration camp during the rule of Sekou Toure, was located in Conakry.[6]

According to human rights groups, 157 people died during the 2009 Guinea protest when the military junta opened fire against tens of thousands of protesters in the city on 28 September 2009.[7]

Geography

Originally situated on Tombo Island, one of the Îles de Los, it has since spread up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula.

Climate

According to Köppen climate classification, Conakry features a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am). Conakry features a wet season and a dry season. Like most of West Africa, Conakry's dry season is dominated by the harmattan wind between December and April. As a result, almost no rain falls in the city during these months.

Compared to most of West Africa, Conakry's wet season sees an extraordinary amount of rainfall, averaging more than 1100mm in both July and August. As a result, Conakry's average annual rainfall totals nearly 3800mm. However, the dry season is still dry, with January and February only receiving 1mm of rainfall on average. Sunshine is lower in the wet season than the dry season, with August receiving the least sunshine and March receiving the most.

Government and administration

Conakry is a special city with a single region and prefecture government. The local government of the city was decentralized in 1991 between five municipal communes headed by a mayor. From the tip in the southwest, these are:

The five urban communes make up the Conakry Region, one of the eight Regions of Guinea, which is headed by a governor. At the second-tier prefecture level, the city is designated as the Conakry Special Zone, though the prefecture and regional government are one and the same. At an estimated two million inhabitants, it is far and away the largest city in Guinea, making up almost a quarter of the nation's population and making it more than four times bigger than its nearest rival, Kankan.

Economy

Conakry is Guinea's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic centre. The city's economy revolves largely around the port, which has modern facilities for handling and storing cargo, through which alumina and bananas are shipped. Manufactures include food products and cement, metal manufactures, and fuel products.[8]

Markets

Infrastructure crisis

Periodic power and water cuts have been a daily burden for Conakry's residents since early 2002. Government and power company officials blame the drought of February 2001 for a failure of the hydro-electric supply to the capital, and a failure of aging machinery for the continuation of the crisis. Critics of the government cite mismanagement, corruption and the withdrawal of the power agency's French partner at the beginning of 2002., much of the city has no traffic lighting in the overnight hours.

Popular anger at shortages in Conakry was entwined with anti-government protests, strikes, and violence against the rule of President Lansana Conté and the successive prime ministers Cellou Dalein Diallo and Eugène Camara appointed to fill the post after the resignation of Prime Minister François Lonseny Fall in April 2004. Violence reached a peak in January–February 2007 in a general strike, which saw over one hundred deaths when the Army confronted protesters.[10]

Transportation

Conakry is serviced by Conakry International Airport which has flights to several cities in West Africa and Europe.

Architecture

Hospitals

Culture

Places of worship

Islamic mosques in the city include the Grand Mosque of Conakry. There are also Christian churches and temples, including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry's Cathédrale Sainte-Marie, the Église Protestante Évangélique de Guinée (Alliance World Fellowship), and the Assemblies of God.[19] [20]

Universities and education

Parks and gardens

Notable people

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Etat et Structure de la Population Recensement General de la Population et de l'habitation 2014. 27 March 2020. Direction Nationale de la Statistique de Guinée. dmy. https://web.archive.org/web/20191124062531/http://www.stat-guinee.org/images/Publications/INS/RGPH3/RGPH3_etat_structure.pdf. 24 November 2019. dead.
  2. https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/no_106_janv-mars_2009_cle446315.pdf du ministère des affaires étrangères
  3. Web site: Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab . hdi.globaldatalab.org . en . 13 September 2018 . 23 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180923120638/https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/ . live .
  4. Web site: GeoHive – Guinea population statistics . geohive.com . 5 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151124030052/http://www.geohive.com/cntry/guinea.aspx . 24 November 2015.
  5. Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 89
  6. Book: Gomez, Alsény René . La Guinée peut-elle être changée? . Editions L'Harmattan . 2010 . 978-2-296-11963-5.
  7. News: Guinea massacre toll put at 157 . BBC News . 29 September 2009 . 21 March 2012 . 2 October 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091002232605/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8280603.stm . live .
  8. Web site: Europa World Online : Log In . www.semantico.com . www.europaworld.com . en . 29 January 2018 . 6 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906184935/https://www.europaworld.com/LOGIN?sessionid=a23f52ba54e8679cfd4873a85087c7e1&authstatuscode=400 . live .
  9. Book: Hudgens . Jim . Trillo . Richard . The rough guide to West Africa . registration . 16 March 2011 . 30 December 2003 . Rough Guides . 978-1-84353-118-0 . 558.
  10. For the relations between the 2007 crisis and infrastructure in Conakry, see:
  11. Book: Schwarz-Bart . Simone . Schwarz-Bart . André . In Praise of Black Women: Modern African women . 16 March 2011 . 2003 . Univ of Wisconsin Press . 978-0-299-17270-1 . 121 . 28 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160528235537/https://books.google.com/books?id=HD7U2a1Sp-0C&pg=PA252 . live .
  12. Book: Davidson, Basil . The fortunate isles: a study in African transformation . registration . 16 March 2011 . 1989 . Africa World Press . 978-0-86543-122-5 . 104.
  13. Book: GUINEA Dying for Change Brutality and Repression by Guinean Security Forces in Response to a Nationwide Strike . 16 March 2011 . Human Rights Watch . 17 . GGKEY:1UZAQCJ7E3A . 2007 . 6 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160506023746/https://books.google.com/books?id=nUmNSsrjqsYC&pg=PA17 . live .
  14. Rev Fr Gynecol Obstet, Diallo MS, Diallo TS, Diallo FB, Diallo Y, Camara AY, Onivogui G, Keita N, Diawo SA. (1995) Mar;90(3):138-41., Anemia and pregnancy. Epidemiologic, clinical and prognostic study at the university clinic of the Ignace Deen Hospital, Conakry (Guinee) , Clinique universitaire de Gynécologie-Obstétrique, Hôpital Ignace Deen, Conakry Guinée.
  15. Book: Young . Isabelle . Gherardin . Tony . Africa . 16 March 2011 . 15 July 2008 . Lonely Planet . 978-1-74059-143-0 . 411 . 16 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160516234525/https://books.google.com/books?id=EVE_P8TmoboC&pg=PA411 . live .
  16. Book: Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: Africa . registration . 16 March 2011 . 1995 . Gale Research . 978-0-8103-9880-1 . 189.
  17. Book: Bâ, Ardo Ousmane . Camp Boiro . 16 March 2011 . 1986 . L'Harmattan . 978-2-85802-649-4 . 29 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160529033752/https://books.google.com/books?id=tGQFAQAAIAAJ . live .
  18. Book: Bartke, Wolfgang . China's economic aid . registration . 16 March 2011 . 1975 . Holmes & Meier Publishers . 978-0-8419-0179-7 . 119.
  19. J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1279
  20. Book: Devey, Muriel . La Guinée . 16 March 2011 . 2009 . KARTHALA Editions . 978-2-8111-0037-7 . 230 . 19 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160519185340/https://books.google.com/books?id=FM_DmrQkR4UC&pg=PA230 . live .
  21. Book: O'Toole . Thomas . Baker . Janice E. . Historical dictionary of Guinea . 16 March 2011 . 2005 . Scarecrow Press . 978-0-8108-4634-0 . 112 . 28 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160428185241/https://books.google.com/books?id=kIiHwg3Y5u4C&pg=PA112 . live .
  22. Book: K G Saur Books . International directory of arts . 16 March 2011 . 31 December 2006 . K.G. Saur . 978-3-598-23113-1 . 28 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160528221752/https://books.google.com/books?id=AXzrAAAAMAAJ . live .
  23. Book: Böhme, Rolf . Inventory of World Topographic Mapping: South America, Central America, and Africa . 16 March 2011 . December 1991 . Published on behalf of the International Cartographic Association by Elsevier Applied Science Publishers . 978-1-85166-661-4 . 344 . 7 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160507210016/https://books.google.com/books?id=8o4YAQAAMAAJ . live .
  24. Web site: Etudes en Guinee . Projet EtudiantGuinée . fr . 16 March 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726035758/http://etudiantguinee.org/doc%20ETUDES%20EN%20GUINEE.pdf . 26 July 2011.
  25. Book: Europa Publications . Africa South of the Sahara 2004 . 16 March 2011 . 9 December 2003 . Psychology Press . 978-1-85743-183-4 . 520 . 28 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160528213506/https://books.google.com/books?id=jj4J-AXGDaQC&pg=PA520 . live .
  26. Book: The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia . registration . 16 March 2011 . 1993 . Encyclopædia Britannica . 978-0-85229-571-7 . 512.

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