Guinea

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Guinea fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. Sosso Kingdom1200 to 1235

   The Sosso king Sumanguru Kanté overran the Mande lands of upper Guinea in the early thirteenth century. Sundiata Keita rallied the Mande clans and defeated him at Kirina around 1235, founding the Mali Empire.

2. 🇬🇼 Kingdom of Kaabu1850 to 1867

   Fouta Djallon, the Fula imamate of the highlands, waged holy war on Kaabu, the Mandinka kingdom to its north west. In 1867 its armies besieged the Kaabu capital, Kansala, whose last ruler blew up his own powder store rather than surrender.

3. 🇫🇷 French Third Republic1882 to 1958

   France fought Samori Touré from 1882 to 1898 and broke Fouta Djallon at Porédaka in 1896, then ruled Guinea as a colony. When Guinea voted no in 1958, France pulled out its staff and equipment almost overnight.

4. 🇵🇹 Portuguese Estado Novo1963 to 1974

   Guinea hosted the PAIGC guerrillas fighting Portuguese rule next door in Guinea-Bissau. In November 1970 Portugal struck back with a seaborne raid on Conakry that freed Portuguese prisoners but failed to overthrow Sékou Touré.

5. Revolutionary United Front1991 to 2001

   The Sierra Leonean rebel movement, backed by Charles Taylor, fought a war that drove refugees into Guinea. In 2000 and 2001 it joined attacks on Guinean border towns, before Guinea's army drove the fighters back across the border.

6. 🇱🇷 Liberia under Charles Taylor1999 to 2003

   Guinea backed the LURD rebels fighting Charles Taylor, while Taylor backed raids into Guinea's forest region. The proxy war ended when LURD advanced on Monrovia and Taylor went into exile in August 2003.

Today

Guinea now

Guinea's deep Muslim heritage arrived via the neighboring Almoravid Empire in the 11th century. Following Almoravid decline, Guinea existed on the fringe of several African kingdoms, all competing for regional dominance. In the 13th century, the Mali Empire took control of Guinea and encouraged its already growing Muslim faith. After the fall of the West African empires, various smaller kingdoms controlled Guinea.

Capital

Conakry

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Bah Oury

Head of state

Mamadi Doumbouya

Languages

languages of Guinea, French

Area

245,857 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population14.4 million2023 · 3.0 million in 1950
• Life expectancy60.7 years2023 · 35.6 years in 1950
• GDP per person$1,8092022 · $520 in 1950
• Living in cities39%2025 · 8% in 1950
• Literacy40%2018
• Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending2.0% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.