Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) 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 2025 Guinea census was 3,407,327, or around one-sixth of the country's population.

History

thumb|left|The city in 1912

Conakry was originally settled on the small Tombo Island and later spread to the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula, a stretch of land wide. The city was essentially founded after Britain ceded the island to France in 1887. 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 Guinea gained independence in 1958, the population of Conakry boomed, from 50,000 inhabitants in 1958 to 600,000 in 1980 to more than 2 million today.

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.

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 in both July and August. As a result, Conakry's average annual rainfall totals nearly . However, the dry season is still dry, with January and February only receiving 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.

200px|thumb|right|Conakry Peninsula and [[Îles de Los]]

Population

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.

Markets

  • Marché Madina
  • Marché du Niger

Transportation

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

Architecture

  • Presidential Palace
  • Palais du Peuple

Hospitals

  • Donka Hospital
  • Ignace Deen Hospital
  • Clinique Ambroise Paré
  • Clinique Pasteur

Culture

300px|thumb|right|Courtyard at [[Sandervalia National Museum]]

thumb|300px|[[Stade du 28 Septembre]]

  • Sandervalia National Museum
  • National Library of Guinea and National Archives of Guinea
  • Monument du 22 Novembre 1970

Places of worship

thumb|304x304px|[[Grand Mosque of Conakry|The Grand Mosque of Conakry]]

St. Mary's Cathedral|thumb

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.

Universities and education

  • Collège Gbessia Centre
  • Collège-Lycée Sainte-Marie
  • Gamal Abdel Nasser University (Institut Polytechnique de Conakry)
  • Institut Géographique National (Guinea)
  • Université Kofi Annan
  • Lycée français Albert Camus

Parks and gardens

  • Jardin 2 Octobre
  • Conakry Botanical Garden

Notable people

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  • Hadji Barry, professional footballer
  • Moussa Cissé, NBA basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks
  • Mamadi Diakite, former NBA basketball player for the New York Knicks
  • Maciré Sylla, singer, dancer, author and composer
  • M'Mahawa Sylla is a Guinean army officer.
  • Mamadou Diallo, footballer
  • Mohamed Yattara, footballer

See also

  • 2007 Guinean general strike
  • 2009 Guinea protest
  • Île Tamara Lighthouse

References

  • Dave, Nomi (2019) The Revolution's Echoes: Music, Politics & Pleasure in Guinea. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Thomas O'Toole, Janice E. Baker. (2005) Historical Dictionary of Guinea. Scarecrow Press.
  • Philipps, Joschka (2013) Ambivalent Rage: Youth Gangs and Urban Protest in Conakry, Guinea. Harmattan Guinée.
  • Cohen, Adrienne ( 2019) "Performing Excess: Urban Ceremony and the Semiotics of Precarity in Guinea-Conakry." Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute. 89 (4): 718–738.
  • 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
  • Conakry the Capital: history of the city at site of expat artist.
  • , reprinted at guineeconakry.info (no date)
  • Kids in Guinea Study Under Airport Lamps, RUKMINI CALLIMACHI The Associated Press, Thursday, 19 July 2007.
  • Archdiocese of Conakry: history and structure (at catholic-hierarchy.org)
  • Guinea's Telecommunication Infrastructure, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), 1999 figures.

Notes

  • : Conakry-based news portal
  • Le Jour 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.
  • Moussa Dadis Camara speaks to Radio France Internationale after Conakry massacre