Guinea

Where is Guinea located and what are its international boundaries? Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country situated in West Africa with an area of 245,857 square kilometres. It shares land boundaries with the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Ivory Coast to the southeast, and Sierra Leone and Liberia to the south.

How is the terrain of the country divided? The landscape of Guinea is divided into four distinct geographic regions. These comprise Maritime Guinea along the Atlantic coast, the Fouta Djallon or Middle Guinea highlands, the Upper Guinea savannah region located in the northeast, and the Guinée forestière region characterized by tropical forests. Additionally, the southern portion of the country sits within the Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity hotspot, while the northeast features dry savannah woodlands.

What are the principal administrative divisions and population centers? The country is structured into eight administrative regions that are further subdivided into 33 prefectures. Its capital city, Conakry, serves as a special zone on the coast and had a population of 1,675,069 in 2014 before it was considerably expanded through the transfer of about 300,000 people from the Kindia Region. The broader national population surpassed 17.5 million people at the census held on 1 July 2025.

Which physical features and coordinates define its territory? Positioned in Africa with the ISO codes GN and GIN, the national territory spans a latitude of 9.53795 and a longitude of -13.67729. The southern part of the country contains tropical forest habitats, whereas the northern and northeastern zones transition into savannah woodlands. Across these diverse landscapes, animal populations have experienced declines and now remain restricted to uninhabited, distant parts of parks and reserves.