Location: Guinea is a former French overseas territory on the Atlantic coast of West Africa.

History: Under the constitution of the Fifth (French) Republic, Guinea voted for secession and proclaimed itself an independent republic on October 2, 1958. The first President was Sekou Toure. The army mutiny of February 1996 was suppressed by President Conte.

Crops & Minerals: Subsistence agriculture supports 80% of the population. Main crops: cassava, plantains, sugarcane, bananas and palm kernels. It exports coffee, honey, bananas, palm kernels, iron and aluminium ore. Guinea has probably the world's largest deposit of bauxite.

Ten percent of Guinea's population is composed of refugees from neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia. This is a burden on the weak economy.