Conakry

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Capital and largest city of Guinea

title: "Conakry" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["conakry", "capitals-in-africa", "populated-coastal-places-in-guinea", "populated-places-in-guinea", "ports-and-harbours-of-guinea", "prefectures-of-guinea", "regional-capitals-in-guinea", "10th-century-establishments-in-africa", "populated-places-established-in-the-10th-century"] description: "Capital and largest city of Guinea" topic_path: "general/conakry" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conakry" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Capital and largest city of Guinea ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameConakry
native_name
settlement_typeCapital city
image_skylineUn aperçu de la ville de conakry.jpg
image_captionSkyline of Conakry
image_mapConakry in Guinea.svg
map_captionConakry Region in Guinea
pushpin_mapGuinea#Africa
pushpin_relief1
pushpin_label_positiontop
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameGuinea
subdivision_type1Region
subdivision_name1Conakry Region
leader_titleGovernor
leader_nameM'Mahawa Sylla
area_total_km2450
population_total1660973
population_as_of2014
population_footnotes
population_density_km2auto
population_demonymConakryka
timezoneGMT
utc_offset+00:00
coordinates
blank_name_sec1HDI (2023)
blank_info_sec10.689
· 1st of 8
image_flag
flag_size150px
elevation_ft29
::

| official_name = Conakry | native_name = | settlement_type = Capital city | image_skyline = Un aperçu de la ville de conakry.jpg | image_caption = Skyline of Conakry | image_map = Conakry in Guinea.svg | map_alt = | map_caption = Conakry Region in Guinea | pushpin_map = Guinea#Africa | pushpin_relief = 1 | mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_label_position = top | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Guinea | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Conakry Region | leader_title = Governor | leader_name = M'Mahawa Sylla | area_magnitude = | area_total_km2 = 450 | area_land_km2 = | area_water = | population_total = 1660973 | population_as_of = 2014 | population_footnotes = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = Conakryka | timezone = GMT | utc_offset = +00:00 | coordinates = | blank_name_sec1 = HDI (2023) | blank_info_sec1 = 0.689 · 1st of 8 | website = | footnotes = | image_flag = | flag_size = 150px | image_seal = Logo of Conakry.png | elevation_ft = 29

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 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.

The population of Conakry is difficult to ascertain. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs has estimated it at 2 million, or one-sixth of the country's population.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Konakry-Vue_générale.jpg" caption="The city in 1912"] ::

Conakry was originally settled on the small Tombo Island and later spread to the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula, a 36 km stretch of land 0.2 to 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. The city's small land area and relative isolation from the mainland, while an advantage to its colonial founders, has created an infrastructural burden since independence.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Conakry_-französischer_Gouverneurspalast-_1956.jpg" caption="Conakry – French Governor's Palace in 1956"] ::

In 1970, conflict between Portuguese forces and the belligerent PAIGC independence campaigners in neighbouring Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) spilled into the Republic of Guinea when a group of 350 Portuguese troops and Guinean loyalists landed near the capital Conakry, attacked the city and freed 26 Portuguese prisoners of war held by the PAIGC before retreating, having failed to overthrow the government or kill the PAIGC leadership.

Camp Boiro, a feared concentration camp during the rule of Sekou Toure, was located in Conakry.

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 1,100 mm in both July and August. As a result, Conakry's average annual rainfall totals nearly 3,800 mm. However, the dry season is still dry, with January and February only receiving 1 mm 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.

| width = auto | metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = Conakry (1991–2020) | Jan high C = 31.6 | Feb high C = 31.9 | Mar high C = 32.2 | Apr high C = 32.3 | May high C = 31.9 | Jun high C = 30.3 | Jul high C = 28.8 | Aug high C = 28.4 | Sep high C = 29.5 | Oct high C = 30.4 | Nov high C = 31.4 | Dec high C = 31.8 | year high C = 30.9

| Jan mean C = 26.9 | Feb mean C = 27.6 | Mar mean C = 28.2 | Apr mean C = 28.4 | May mean C = 28.3 | Jun mean C = 27.0 | Jul mean C = 25.9 | Aug mean C = 25.7 | Sep mean C = 26.3 | Oct mean C = 26.8 | Nov mean C = 27.7 | Dec mean C = 27.6 | year mean C = 27.2

| Jan low C = 22.3 | Feb low C = 23.2 | Mar low C = 24.1 | Apr low C = 24.6 | May low C = 24.6 | Jun low C = 23.6 | Jul low C = 23.1 | Aug low C = 23.1 | Sep low C = 23.2 | Oct low C = 23.2 | Nov low C = 24.1 | Dec low C = 23.3 | year low C = 23.5

| precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 2.5 | Feb precipitation mm = 1.4 | Mar precipitation mm = 3.4 | Apr precipitation mm = 17.9 | May precipitation mm = 112.5 | Jun precipitation mm = 433.6 | Jul precipitation mm = 1082.6 | Aug precipitation mm = 1142.1 | Sep precipitation mm = 555.2 | Oct precipitation mm = 293.2 | Nov precipitation mm = 80.0 | Dec precipitation mm = 5.5 | year precipitation mm = 3729.9

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 0.3 | Feb precipitation days = 0.2 | Mar precipitation days = 0.5 | Apr precipitation days = 2.0 | May precipitation days = 8.5 | Jun precipitation days = 19.2 | Jul precipitation days = 26.4 | Aug precipitation days = 28.2 | Sep precipitation days = 23.0 | Oct precipitation days = 17.0 | Nov precipitation days = 5.2 | Dec precipitation days = 0.4 | year precipitation days = 130.9

| Jan humidity = 71 | Feb humidity = 70 | Mar humidity = 68 | Apr humidity = 70 | May humidity = 74 | Jun humidity = 81 | Jul humidity = 85 | Aug humidity = 87 | Sep humidity = 85 | Oct humidity = 81 | Nov humidity = 79 | Dec humidity = 73 | year humidity = 77 | Jan sun = 223 | Feb sun = 224 | Mar sun = 251 | Apr sun = 222 | May sun = 208 | Jun sun = 153 | Jul sun = 109 | Aug sun = 87 | Sep sun = 135 | Oct sun = 189 | Nov sun = 207 | Dec sun = 214 | year sun = 2222

| source = NOAA (humidity, sun 1961–1990){{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Guinea/CSV/CONAKRY_61832.csv |title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Conakry |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = January 4, 2024}}

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Los_Islands,_Guinea.jpg" caption="Conakry Peninsula and [[Îles de Los"] ::

Population

| 1958 | 78,388 | 1983 | 710,372 | 1996 | 1,092,631 | 2014 | 1,660,973 |align = none | footnote = source:

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. From the tip in the southwest, these are:

The five urban communes make up the Conakry Region, one of the eight Regions of Guinea, which is headed by a governor. At the second-tier prefecture level, the city is designated as the Conakry Special Zone, though the prefecture and regional government are one and the same. At an estimated two million inhabitants, it is far and away 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.

Economy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Conakry-ville2.JPG" caption="A street scene in Conakry"] ::

Conakry is Guinea's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic centre. 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. Manufactures include food products and cement, metal manufactures, and fuel products.

Markets

Infrastructure crisis

Periodic power and water cuts have been a daily burden for Conakry's residents since early 2002. Government and power company officials blame the drought of February 2001 for a failure of the hydro-electric supply to the capital, and a failure of aging machinery for the continuation of the crisis. Critics of the government cite mismanagement, corruption and the withdrawal of the power agency's French partner at the beginning of 2002. , much of the city has no traffic lighting in the overnight hours.

Popular anger at shortages in Conakry was entwined with anti-government protests, strikes, and violence against 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 Prime Minister François Lonseny Fall in April 2004. Violence reached a peak in January–February 2007 in a general strike, which saw over one hundred deaths when the Army confronted protesters.For the relations between the 2007 crisis and infrastructure in Conakry, see:

Transportation

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

Architecture

Hospitals

Culture

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Statut_au_musse_de_conakry.jpg" caption="Courtyard at [[Sandervalia National Museum"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Over_conakry_(3326330162).jpg" caption="[[Stade du 28 Septembre"] ::

Places of worship

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Mosquée_Fayçal_corrigée.jpg" caption="The Grand Mosque of Conakry"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Cathédrale_Sainte-Marie_de_Conakry.jpg" caption="St. Mary's Cathedral"] ::

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

Parks and gardens

Notable people

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

References

  1. "Etat et Structure de la Population Recensement General de la Population et de l'habitation 2014".
  2. [https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/no_106_janv-mars_2009_cle446315.pdf du ministère des affaires étrangères] (in French)
  3. "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab".
  4. "GeoHive – Guinea population statistics". geohive.com.
  5. Cybriwsky, Roman Adrian. (2013). "Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture". ABC-CLIO.
  6. Gomez, Alsény René. (2010). "La Guinée peut-elle être changée?". Editions L'Harmattan.
  7. (29 September 2009). "Guinea massacre toll put at 157". BBC News.
  8. "Conakry Climate Normals 1961–1990". [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]].
  9. "Conakry population statistics".
  10. www.semantico.com. "Europa World Online : Log In".
  11. (30 December 2003). "The rough guide to West Africa". Rough Guides.
  12. (2003). "In Praise of Black Women: Modern African women". Univ of Wisconsin Press.
  13. Davidson, Basil. (1989). "The fortunate isles: a study in African transformation". Africa World Press.
  14. (2007). "GUINEA Dying for Change Brutality and Repression by Guinean Security Forces in Response to a Nationwide Strike". Human Rights Watch.
  15. Rev Fr Gynecol Obstet, Diallo MS, Diallo TS, Diallo FB, Diallo Y, Camara AY, Onivogui G, Keita N, Diawo SA. (1995) Mar;90(3):138-41., ''[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7784781 Anemia and pregnancy. Epidemiologic, clinical and prognostic study at the university clinic of the Ignace Deen Hospital, Conakry (Guinee)] {{Webarchive. link. (18 August 2018 '', Clinique universitaire de Gynécologie-Obstétrique, Hôpital Ignace Deen, Conakry Guinée.)
  16. (15 July 2008). "Africa". Lonely Planet.
  17. (1995). "Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: Africa". Gale Research.
  18. Bâ, Ardo Ousmane. (1986). "Camp Boiro". L'Harmattan.
  19. Bartke, Wolfgang. (1975). "China's economic aid". Holmes & Meier Publishers.
  20. J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1279
  21. Devey, Muriel. (2009). "La Guinée". KARTHALA Editions.
  22. K G Saur Books. (31 December 2006). "International directory of arts". K.G. Saur.
  23. Böhme, Rolf. (December 1991). "Inventory of World Topographic Mapping: South America, Central America, and Africa". Published on behalf of the International Cartographic Association by Elsevier Applied Science Publishers.
  24. "Etudes en Guinee". Projet EtudiantGuinée.
  25. Europa Publications. (9 December 2003). "Africa South of the Sahara 2004". Psychology Press.
  26. (1993). "The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  27. [https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2824.htm "Background Note: Guinea"] {{Webarchive. link. (4 June 2019 . Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State, January 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007; [http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&geo=-89 World Gazetteer] {{dead link). (July 2021)
  28. Patrick Manning. Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1880–1995, Cambridge (1998)
  29. 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] {{Webarchive. link. (6 September 2021 . Presented at the Urban Forum/ [[World Bank]] – Washington, D.C. – 2–4 April 2002.)
  30. (7 December 1970). "Cloudy Days in Conakry".
  31. "Guineeconakry.info – Conakry (la capitale)".
  32. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6166264.stm Conakry's dark streets turning orange. James Copnall, BBC News] {{Webarchive. link. (14 April 2012 , Guinea . 23 November 2006.)

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conakrycapitals-in-africapopulated-coastal-places-in-guineapopulated-places-in-guineaports-and-harbours-of-guineaprefectures-of-guinearegional-capitals-in-guinea10th-century-establishments-in-africapopulated-places-established-in-the-10th-century