Guinea

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Country summary

Capital

Conakry

Borders

Cote d'Ivoire 610 km, Guinea-Bissau 386 km, Liberia 563 km, Mali 858 km, Senegal 330 km, Sierra Leone 652 km

Government type

republic

Population

10,057,975 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

2.572% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

57.09 years[1]

Unemployment

NA% est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

134[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

154[3]

Doing Business ranking

102[4]


Guinea has had a history of authoritarian rule since gaining its independence from France in 1958. Lansana CONTE came to power in 1984 when the military seized the government after the death of the first president, Sekou TOURE. Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. CONTE (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998 and again in 2003, though all the polls were marred by irregularities. History repeated itself in December 2008 when following President CONTE's death, Capt. Moussa Dadis CAMARA led a military coup, seizing power and suspending the constitution. His unwillingness to yield to domestic and international pressure to step down led to heightened political tensions that culminated in September 2009 when presidential guards opened fire on an opposition rally killing more than 150 people, and in early December 2009 when CAMARA was wounded in an assassination attempt and evacuated to Morocco and subsequently to Burkina Faso. A transitional government has been installed.[1]

For the currency, see Guinea (currency).

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Guinean franc (ISO code: GNF)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $NA (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 3 461 3 112 2 892 3 053 3 445 3 597 2 941 2 821 4 209 3 799
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 11.972
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 13.464
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Guinea", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Guinea", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. Transparency International. "Guinea", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. Doing Business. "Guinea", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 366. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. World Bank. "Guinea: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  7. World Bank. "Guinea: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. World Bank. "Guinea: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  9. World Bank. "Guinea: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

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