Conakry
| Conakry Kɔnakiri |
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  Conakry |
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| Coordinates: 9°31′N 13°42′W | |
|---|---|
| Region | Conakry Region |
| Population (2008) | |
| - Total | 1,857,153 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+1) |
Conakry or Konakry (Malinké: Kɔnakiri) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Guinea's capital city is a port on the Atlantic Ocean.
Geography
According to a legend, the name of the city comes from the fusion of the name "Cona", a wine and cheese producer of the Baga people, and the word "nakiri", which means the other bank or side.[1]
Conakry is located the west of Guinea along the Atlantic coast. The old city of Conakry was built on Tombo Island, one of the Îles de Los, which are known for their beaches and forested interiors, and are popular with tourists. The new colonial city is located at Kaloum, and has spread up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula. A 984-foot (300-metre) causeway links the island to the peninsula.
The coastal region of Guinea has a tropical climate, with a rainy season lasting from April to November, relatively high and uniform temperatures, and high humidity. Conakry's year-round average high is 85°F, (29°C), and the low is 74°F (23°C). its average annual rainfall is 169 inches (4300mm).
Rivers and canals
Size – land area, size comparison
By the mid-1980s, fewer than 40 percent of Conakry's population had access to piped water. A 22-mile (36km) 1000mm diameter water pipeline was begun in 1992 between storage reservoir “Grande Chute” and treatment plant “Yessoulou” to supply drinking water supply of Conakry.
Today, the city has grown along the peninsula to form five main districts. From the tip in the south west, these are Kaloum (the city centre), Dixinn (including the University of Conakry and many embassies), Ratoma (known for its nightlife), Matam and finally Matoto, home to Gbessia Airport.
History
Hunters and gatherers occupied the Guinea area 30,000 years ago. The land composing present-day Guinea was part of a series of empires, beginning with the "Ghana Empire" which came into being around 900 C.E., followed by the Sosso kingdom in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Mali Empire took control of the region after the Battle of Kirina in 1235.
The Portuguese reached Guinea between 1460 and 1470, around the time the Songhai Empire was one of the largest African empires in history. The European slave trade started in the 16th century. An Islamic state was founded in the 18th century, bringing some stability to the region.
In 1885, the two island villages of Conakry and Boubinet had fewer than 500 inhabitants. Britain ceded Tombo Island to France in 1887.Guinea was created as a colony by France in 1890 with Noël Balley as the first governor. Conakry was founded on Tombo Island in the same year. In 1895, the country was incorporated into French West Africa.
Conakry became the capital of French Guinea in 1904 and prospered as an export port, particularly after a (now closed) railway to Kankan opened the large scale export of groundnut from the interior.
Industrialization began in the 1950s when iron mining was developed on the Kaloum Peninsula and bauxite was exploitated on the nearby Los Islands.
In the decades after independence, the population of Conakry exploded, from 50,000 inhabitants in 1958 to 600,000 in 1980, to over two million today.[2] Its small size and relative isolation from the mainland, while an advantage to its colonial founders, has created an infrastructural burden since independence.[3]
In 1970, conflict between Portuguese forces and the PAIGC in neighboring Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) spilled into the Republic of Guinea when a group of 350 Portuguese troops and Guinean dissidents landed near Conakry, attacked the city, and freed 26 Portuguese prisoners of war held by the PAIGC before retreating, failing to overthrow the government or kill the PAIGC leadership. [4] Periodic power and water cuts are a daily burden for Conakry's residents, dating back to early 2002. Government and power company officials blame the drought of 2001-2 for a failure of the hydro-electric supply to the capital, and a failure of aging machinery. Critics of the government cite mismanagement, corruption, and the withdrawal of the power agency's French partner at the beginning of 2002. As of 2007, much of the city has no traffic lighting overnight. [5]
Popular anger at shortages in Conakry were entwined with anti-government protests, strikes, and violence over 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 PM François Lounseny Fall in April 2004. Violence reached a peak in January-February 2007 in a general strike, which saw over a hundred deaths when the Army confronted protesters.
Government
Guinea is a republic in which the president, who is chief of state, is elected by popular vote for a seven-year term and has no limits to the number of terms he may serve. The the prime minister, whis head of government, is appointed by the president. The unicameral People's National Assembly consists of 114 members elected by a mixed system of direct popular vote and proportional party lists.
The city itself makes up one of the eight Regions of Guinea, the Conakry Region, includes 5 of the nation's 38 urban communes, and at the prefect level is designated the Conakry Special Zone.
Economy
Guinea possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources, yet remains an underdeveloped nation. The country has almost half of the world's bauxite reserves and is the second-largest bauxite producer. The mining sector accounts for over 70 percent of exports.
Conakry is Guinea's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. 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.
Guinea's per capita GDP was estimated at $1100 in 2007. An average Guinean in Conakry will get a monthly wage of about $45.
Financial and business services sector Tourism
Manufacturing in the city includes fruit canning, fish packing, printing, automobile assembly, and producing aluminum utensils and plastics.
Highways, as well as a 411-mile (661-kilometre) railroad from Kankan, and a 90-mile (145-kilometre) branch line from Fria, all lead to Conakry's deepwater harbour, which can berth vessels of 36-foot (11-meter) draft. Gbessia International Airport, which services a number of West and North African airlines, as well as Brussels Airlines, Air France and Royal Air Maroc, is located 9.5 miles (15km) northeast of the city.
Demographics
The population of Conakry is difficult to ascertain, although a 2008 estimate put it at 1,857,153 inhabitants.[6] Conakry is 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.
The population of Guinea comprises about 24 ethnic groups. The Soussou, comprising 20 percent, live in and around the capital Conakry, Forécariah, and Kindia. The Peuhl make up 40 percent of the population, the Malinke 30 percent, and smaller ethnic groups 10 percent. French is the official language, although each ethnic group has its own language. Muslims make up 85 percent of the population, Christian 8 percent, indigenous beliefs 7 percent.
Conakry is the seat of the University of Conakry, founded in 1962, and is the location of teacher-training, vocational, nursing, midwifery, and military schools.
Of interest
Attractions in the city include the Guinea National Museum, several markets, the Guinea Palais du Peuple, Conakry Grand Mosque which was built by Sekou Toure, the city's nightlife and the nearby Iles de Los.
The city is noted for its botanical garden. The Polytechnical Institute of Conakry is also located in Conakry.
The street numbering scheme of Conakry labels all roads with a two-letter code for the urban district, followed by a three digit number: odd for north-south streets and even for east-west, e.g. KA002 for a northbound street in the Kaloum district.
Looking to the future
Long-run improvements in government fiscal arrangements, literacy, and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. Investor confidence has been sapped by rampant corruption, a lack of electricity and other infrastructure, a lack of skilled workers, and the political uncertainty due to the failing health of President Lansana CONTE.
- 2007 Guinean general strike
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ Histoire de Conakry - (French)
- ↑ Patrick Manning. Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1880-1995, Cambridge (1998)
- ↑ For the urban infrastructure and its history, see [ http://www.worldbank.org/urban/forum2002/docs/diallo-pres.pdf. M. Dian DIALLO. Street Addressing And Basic Services In Conakry, Guinea]. Presented at the Urban Forum/ World Bank - Washington DC - April 2 - 4 2002.
- ↑ "Cloudy Days in Conakry", Time Magazine, 1970-12-07.
- ↑ Conakry's dark streets turning orange. James Copnall, BBC News, Guinea . 23 November 2006.
- ↑ World Gazetteer, Retrieved on June 16 2008
- Thomas O'Toole, Janice E. Baker. Historical Dictionary Of Guinea. Scarecrow Press (2005). ISBN 0810846349
- Odile Goerg. Chieftainships between Past and Present: From City to Suburb and Back in Colonial Conakry, 1890s-1950s. Africa Today, Summer 2006, Vol. 52, No. 4, Pages 2-27
- FallingRain Map - elevation = 28m
- Conakry the Capital: history of the city at site of expat artist.
- HISTOIRE DE CONAKRY, 1463 to present, by Luc MOGENET, reprinted at guineeconakry.info (no date)
- Kids in Guinea Study Under Airport Lamps, RUKMINI CALLIMACHI The Associated Press, Thursday, July 19, 2007.
- Archdiocese of Conakry: history and structure (at catholic-hierarchy.org)
- Guinea's Telecommunication Infrastructure, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), 1999 figures.
External links
- World Fact Book 2008 Guinea Retrieved September 2, 2008.
- http://www.portautonomedeconakry.com/: official site of the Conakry Port Authority.
- http://www.guineeconakry.info/: Conakry - based news portal
- Office de Promotion des Investissements Privés, République du Guinée.
- Office National du Tourisme, République du Guinée.
- l’Université Kofi Annan de Guinée (UNIKAG)
- Satellite image of Conakry and the Kaloum Peninsula, from the European Space Agency's Envisat: image description at http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMAV21XDYD_index_1.html.
- Q&A: Guinea emergency, BBC World Service. 13 February 2007.
- Youths Chase Staff From State Electricity Offices, Protesting Power Cuts, Oct 25, 2007 (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX).
- IRIN In-Depth, Guinea: Living on the edge. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, January 2005.
- GUINEA: Power cuts stop for football, 26 January 2006 (IRIN)
- Guinea protests over power-cuts, Alhassan Sillah: BBC, Conakry, 31 January, 200
- Conflict history: Guinea. International Crisis Group, updated 11 May 2007.
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