People, Language, and Society
The population of Guinea is about 12,000,000 people, called Guineans. The ethnic breakdown is Fulani (32.1 percent), Malinke (29.8 percent), Susu (19.8 percent), Guerze (6.2 percent, Kissi (4.7 percent), Toma (2.8 percent), and other (4.6 percent). The main languages of these groups are Fula, Malinké, Susu, and other native languages. However, the official language is French. The religions are Muslim (89.1 percent), Christian (6.8 percent), animist (1.6 percent), and none (2.14 percent).
TourismGuinea attracts mostly French tourists because of its previous French rule. The French are also attracted to this country because of the shared language. There are small areas of American, British, and Australian tourists in the capital of Conakry, but it is a much smaller industry because of the lack of English speakers.
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Government
The country, previously known as French Guinea, is now formally known as the Republic of Guinea. It is a presidential republic, after their independence from France on October 2, 1958. It has universal suffrage starting at 18 years of age. The government is made up of the chief of state (president), the head of government (prime minister) and the cabinet that is appointed by the president. The president is elected by an absolute majority popular vote for a five year term, and a president can be eligible for up to two terms. They also have a legislative branch and a judicial branch.
TradeAlthough Guinea has large reservoirs of precious minerals, its small economy imports many more goods than it exports. The top exports of Guinea are Aluminium Ore ($1.74B), Gold ($553M), Petroleum Gas ($266M), Non-fillet Frozen Fish ($40.1M) and Rubber ($34M). Its most common export destinations are China, India, Jordan, Ireland, and Spain. (Jurgen, 2017).
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Challenges
Some environmental issues that Guinea has been dealing with are high levels of deforestation, non-potable water, desertification including soil contamination and erosion, overfishing, water pollution, and improper waste disposal.
Unfortunately, the country still partakes in “female genital cutting” which contributes to high infant and maternal mortality rates” (World Fact Book, 2019). It's fertility rate is still high, because women tend to have around five children. There is a preference for large families. These large families result in the largest age group being 0-14 years of age, about 41.4 percent. However, because of a lack of good jobs, about 60 percent of this population is unemployed. People who live in Guinea have very few health care options, and because of this, the total life expectancy is about 62.1 years. |