Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea. It is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbor Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea.
The country is named after the Guinea region, the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. The word comes directly from the Portuguese 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.
Early 15th century Portuguese explorers discovered bananas in Western Africa and took them to the Canary Islands. The word “banana” is the native word for the fruit in Guinea.
France colonized the land that is now Guinea in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa.
Guinea declared its independence from France on October 2, 1958. Guinea proclaimed itself a sovereign and independent republic, with Sékou Touré as president.
The flag of Guinea was adopted on November 10, 1958. The colors of the flag were adapted from those of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, the dominant movement at the time of independence. Red symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who died from slavery and wars, yellow represents the sun and the riches of the country, and green the country's vegetation.
The country is named after the Guinea region, the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. The word comes directly from the Portuguese 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.
Early 15th century Portuguese explorers discovered bananas in Western Africa and took them to the Canary Islands. The word “banana” is the native word for the fruit in Guinea.
France colonized the land that is now Guinea in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa.
Guinea declared its independence from France on October 2, 1958. Guinea proclaimed itself a sovereign and independent republic, with Sékou Touré as president.
The flag of Guinea was adopted on November 10, 1958. The colors of the flag were adapted from those of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, the dominant movement at the time of independence. Red symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who died from slavery and wars, yellow represents the sun and the riches of the country, and green the country's vegetation.
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| Flag of Guinea |
On September 28, 2009, tens of thousands of people gathered to protest against the military junta in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea. The Junta, which that had come to power in a coup the previous year had banned protests, but the demonstrators defied the ban and gathered at the Stade du 28 Septembre.
The security forces responded with brutal force, opening fire on the crowd and killing at least 157 people. Hundreds more were injured, and many women were raped. The massacre was widely condemned by the international community, and the junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was eventually forced to step down.
The September 28 massacre was a dark chapter in Guinea's history, but it also served as a catalyst for change. The Guinean people were galvanized by the events of that day, and they eventually forced the junta to hold democratic elections.
In March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a major Ebola outbreak in Guinea. Researchers traced the outbreak to a two-year old child who died December 2013.The disease then rapidly spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone and became the largest documented outbreak to date.
Flag of Equatorial Guinea
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