Republic of Guinea

Guinea (Listeni /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea French: République de Guinée), is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (Guinée française), it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Conakry is the capital, the seat of the national government, and the largest city. Guinea has almost 246,000 square kilometres (94,981 sq mi). It forms a crescent by curving from its western border on the Atlantic Ocean toward the east and the south. Its northern border is shared with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali, the southern one with Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Niger River arises in Guinea and runs eastward. Guinea's 10 million people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. The most prominent groups are the Fula (French: Peul; Fula: Fulɓe), Mandinka, and Susu.