Guinea (Republic of Guinea)

Guinea Republic of Guinea
Status	Independent State
Capital	Conakry
Land Area	245 720km21
Location	Africa
Population	10.5m (2011)2
Life Expectancy	59.22yrs (2017)3
GNI	$1 058 (2017)4
ISO3166-1 Codes	GN, GIN, 3245
Internet Domain	.gn6
Currency	Franc (GNF)7
Telephone	+2248

1. Overview
2. Guinea National and Social Development
3. Population and Demographics
4. Politics and Freedom
5. Gender Equality
6. Religion and Beliefs
7. The Internet
8. Public Health Issues
9. More Charts and Comparisons to Other Countries
10. Links

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1. Overview

“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 led by Gen. Sekouba KONATE held democratic elections in 2010 and Alpha CONDE was elected president in the country's first free and fair elections since independence. CONDE in July 2011 survived an attack on his residence allegedly perpetrated by the military. In October 2012, he announced a cabinet reshuffle that removed three members of the military from their positions, making the current administration Guinea's first all-civilian government.”

CIA's The World Factbook (2013)₉

“Neglected infrastructure makes travelling here a challenge, but Guinea is a country of untapped potential, both for the traveller and for its resilient inhabitants. Imagine you´re travelling on a smooth highway, and then get tempted by a tiny, dusty turn-off into rugged terrain, where surprising beauty and treacherous vistas define the route. Guinea is that turn-off.

Guinea could be a West African paradise. With a strong self-reliant streak and with almost half of the world´s bauxite reserves, post-colonial Guinea had all the ingredients for success. As a traveller destination, its future looked similarly assured with a vibrant capital, world-class musical scene and beautiful scenery in the interior. Sadly it hasn´t quite worked out that way. Decades of dictatorial rule have left Guinea´s long-suffering people still dreaming of a prosperous future that should have begun decades ago.

Yet, this is a country blessed with amazing landscapes. Nature lovers can lose themselves on long hikes past plunging waterfalls, proud hills and tiny villages, or track ele-phants through virgin rainforest. And while Guinea is not famed for its beaches, those it does have are stunning, and often deserted.”

"The World" by Lonely Planet (2014)₁₀

2. Guinea National and Social Development

#human_development

UN HDI (2016)11
Pos.		Lower is better Rank11
1	Norway	1
2	Australia	2
3	Switzerland	2
	...
180	Sierra Leone	179
181	Mozambique	181
182	S. Sudan	181
183	Guinea	183
184	Burundi	184
185	Burkina Faso	185
186	Chad	186
187	Niger	187
	World Avg	94.3
q=188.

Social & Moral Development Index12
Pos.		Higher is better Points12
1	Denmark	84.0
2	Sweden	83.9
3	Finland	83.5
	...
163	Guinea-Bissau	43.8
164	Zambia	43.7
165	Cambodia	43.5
166	Guinea	42.8
167	Palau	42.8
168	Algeria	42.5
169	Mozambique	42.1
170	Sierra Leone	41.4
	World Avg	53.8
q=198.

The United Nations produces an annual Human Development Report which includes the Human Development Index. The factors taken into account include life expectancy, education and schooling and Gross National Income (GNI) amongst many others..

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life.

3. Population and Demographics

#demographics #Guinea #health #immigration #life_expectancy #overpopulation #population

Old-Age Dependency Ratio (2016)13
Pos.		Lower is better Per 10013
1	Uganda	04.3
2	Mali	04.5
3	Chad	04.7
	...
24	Burundi	05.9
25	Liberia	05.9
26	Iraq	06.0
27	Guinea	06.1
28	Guinea-Bissau	06.1
29	Lesotho	06.1
30	Kenya	06.1
31	S. Sudan	06.2
	World Avg	18.3
q=185.

Emigrants (2010)14
Pos.		%14
1	Dominica	104.8
2	Palestine	68.4
3	Samoa	67.3
	...
106	Ivory Coast	5.4
107	Switzerland	5.4
108	Malaysia	5.3
109	Guinea	5.2
110	Turkmenistan	5.0
111	Mozambique	5.0
112	Senegal	5.0
113	Iraq	4.9
	World Avg	11.5
q=192.

Fertility Rate (2013)15
Pos.		2.0 is best15
1	N. Korea	2.00
2	Brunei	1.99
3	St Vincent & Grenadines	2.01
	...
160	Guinea-Bissau	4.92
161	Yemen	4.98
162	Equatorial Guinea	5.02
163	Guinea	5.08
164	Liberia	5.08
165	Benin	5.12
166	Angola	5.19
167	Rwanda	5.30
	World Avg	2.81
q=180.

Immigrants (2010)14
Pos.		%14
1	Qatar	86.5
2	Monaco	71.6
3	UAE	70.0
	...
86	Turkmenistan	4.0
87	Georgia	4.0
88	Lithuania	4.0
89	Guinea	3.8
90	Congo, (Brazzaville)	3.8
91	Malta	3.8
92	Hungary	3.7
93	S. Africa	3.7
	World Avg	9.2
q=192.

Life Expectancy (2015)16
Pos.		Higher is better Years16
1	Hong Kong	84.16
2	Japan	83.68
3	Italy	83.34
	...
166	Gambia	60.46
167	Togo	60.18
168	Benin	59.76
169	Guinea	59.22
170	Uganda	59.21
171	Zimbabwe	59.20
172	Congo, DR	59.06
173	Burkina Faso	59.01
	World Avg	71.27
q=190.

Population (2012)17
Pos.		The Overpopulation of the Earth17
1	China	1.4b
2	India	1.3b
3	USA	315.8m
	...
78	Portugal	10.7m
79	S. Sudan	10.7m
80	Czechia	10.6m
81	Guinea	10.5m
82	Haiti	10.3m
83	Bolivia	10.2m
84	Dominican Rep.	10.2m
85	Hungary	9.9m
	World Avg	36.0m
q=195.

Guinea's population is predicted to rise to 15.95 million by 2030. These millions of extra people will all need space to live, food to eat, energy to consume, and will increase the burden on the planet's resources. This country has a fertility rate of 5.08. The fertility rate is, in simple terms, the average amount of children that each woman has. The higher the figure, the quicker the population is growing, although, to calculate the rate you also need to take into account morbidity, i.e., the rate at which people die. If people live healthy and long lives and morbidity is low, then, 2.0 approximates to the replacement rate, which would keep the population stable. If all countries had such a fertility rate, population growth would end. The actual replacement rate in most developed countries is around 2.1.

• The Overpopulation of the Earth
• Abortion, Birth Control and Contraception

4. Politics and Freedom

#burundi #corruption #eritrea #france #freedom #Guinea #human_development #human_rights #indonesia #mass_media #peace #politics #slavery

Corruption (2012-2016)18
Pos.		Higher is better Avg Score18
1	Denmark	90.8
2	New Zealand	90.6
3	Finland	89.4
	...
148	Bangladesh	25.8
149	Papua New Guinea	25.6
150	Laos	25.4
151	Guinea	25.0
152	Central African Rep.	23.8
153	Tajikistan	23.6
154	Congo, (Brazzaville)	22.8
155	Congo, DR	21.6
	World Avg	43.05
q=176.

Global Peace Index (2012)19
Pos.		Lower is better19
1	Iceland	1.11
2	New Zealand	1.24
3	Denmark	1.24
	...
89	China	2.06
90	Dominican Rep.	2.07
91	Bangladesh	2.07
92	Guinea	2.07
93	Papua New Guinea	2.08
94	Trinidad & Tobago	2.08
95	Angola	2.11
96	Cameroon	2.11
	World Avg	2.02
q=157.

Nominal Commitment to HR (2009)20
Pos.		Higher is better Treaties20
1	Argentina	24
2	Chile	23
3	Costa Rica	23
	...
78	Turkmenistan	17
79	Turkey	17
80	Morocco	17
81	Guinea	17
82	Russia	17
83	Armenia	17
84	Egypt	16
85	Togo	16
	World Avg	15.1
q=194.

Personal, Civil & Economic Freedom (2014)21
Pos.		Lower is better Rank21
1	Hong Kong	1
2	Switzerland	2
3	New Zealand	3
	...
146	Chad	146
147	Pakistan	146
148	Zimbabwe	148
149	Guinea	149
150	Angola	150
151	Congo, DR	151
152	Algeria	152
153	Myanmar (Burma)	153
	World Avg	79.7
q=159.

Press Freedom (2013)22
Pos.		Lower is better22
1	Finland	638
2	Netherlands	648
3	Norway	652
	...
82	Togo	2845
83	Greece	2846
84	Kosovo	2847
85	Guinea	2849
86	Bulgaria	2858
87	Madagascar	2862
88	Gabon	2869
89	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)	2872
	World Avg	3249
q=178.

Slavery (2018)23
Pos.		Lower is better % Victims23
1	Japan	0.03
2	Canada	0.05
3	Taiwan	0.05
	...
137	Philippines	0.77
138	Libya	0.77
139	Nigeria	0.77
140	Guinea	0.78
141	Greece	0.79
142	Congo, (Brazzaville)	0.80
143	Macedonia	0.87
144	Swaziland	0.88
	World Avg	0.65
q=167.

The taking of slaves has been an unwholesome feature of Human cultures since prehistory₂₄. Private households and national endeavours have frequently been augmented with the use of slaves. The Egyptian and Roman empires both thrived on them for both purposes. Aside from labourers they are often abused sexually by their owners and their owners' friends₂₅. The era of colonialism and the beginnings of globalisation changed nothing: the imprisonment and forced movements of labour continued to destroy many lives except that new justifications were invented based on Christian doctrine and the effort to convert non-Christians. By 1786 over 12 million slaves had been extracted from Africa and sent to colonial labour camps, with a truly atrocious condition of life₂₆. But they were not the only ones to blame; in Africa internal nations such as the Asantes sold and bought tens of thousands of slaves₂₇.

The abolition of the slave trade was a long and slow process. Until a relatively modern time, even philosophers, religious leaders and those concerned with ethics justified, or ignored, the problem of slavery₂₈. The first abolitionists were always the slaves themselves. Their protests and rebellions caused the industry to become too expensive to continue. After that, it was the economic costs of maintain slave colonies that led the British to reject and then oppose the slave trade globally. Finally, the enlightenment-era thinkers of France encouraged moral and ethical thinking including the declaration of the inherent value of human life and human dignity₂₉. A long-overdue wave of compassionate and conscientious movements swept across the West, eliminating public support for slavery, until the industries and churches that supported it had no choice but to back down.

'Modern slavery' includes forced labour (often of the under-age), debt bondage (especially generational), sexual slavery, chattel slavery and other forms of abuse, some of which can be surprisingly difficult to detect, but often target those fleeing from warzones and the vulnerable.₃₀. Some industries (diamond, clothing, coal) from some countries (Burundi₂₃, Eritrea₂₃, Indonesia₃₁) are a particular concern. The Walk Free Foundation, say that in 2016, 40.3 million people were living in modern slavery₃₂.

5. Gender Equality

#Guinea #politics #women

Year Women Can Vote33
Pos.		Lower is better Year33
1	New Zealand	1893
2	Australia	1902
3	Finland	1906
	...
118	Chad	1958
119	Nigeria	1958
120	Burkina Faso	1958
121	Guinea	1958
122	Madagascar	1959
123	Tunisia	1959
124	Tanzania	1959
125	Tonga	1960
	World Avg	1930
q=189.

The 1950s saw a late rush of 43 countries, including Guinea and many developing nations, move to cease preventing women from voting.

See:

• "Religion Versus Womankind" by Vexen Crabtree (2007)

6. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #god #hinduism #islam #judaism #religion

Disbelief In God (2007)34
Pos.		Higher is better34
1	Vietnam	81
2	Japan	65
3	Sweden	64
	...
107	Malaysia	0
108	Haiti	0
109	Iraq	0
110	Guinea	0
111	Ghana	0
112	Jordan	0
113	Gambia	0
114	Kenya	0
	World Avg	9.9
q=137.

Data from the Pew Forum, a professional polling outfit, states that in 2010 the religious makeup of this country was as follows in the table below₃₅:

Christian	10.9%
Muslim	84.4%
Hindu	0.1%
Buddhist	0.1%
Folk Religion	2.7%
Jew	0.1%
Unaffiliated	1.8%

The CIA World Factbook has slightly different data, and states simply: Muslim 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 7%₃₆.

Links:

• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems
• Secularisation Theory: Will Modern Society Reject Religion? What is Secularism?

7. The Internet

#Guinea #internet #the_internet

Internet Users (2016)37
Pos.		Higher is better37
1	Iceland	100%
2	Faroe Islands	99%
3	Norway	98%
	...
194	Myanmar (Burma)	3%
195	Sierra Leone	2%
196	Niger	2%
197	Guinea	2%
198	Somalia	2%
199	Burundi	2%
200	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)	1%
201	Eritrea	1%
	World Avg	48.1%
q=201.

Internet access has become an essential research tool. It facilitates an endless list of life improvements, from the ability to network and socialize without constraint, to access to a seemingly infinite repository of technical and procedural information on pretty much any task. The universal availability of data has sped up industrial development and personal learning at the national and personal level. Individuals can read any topic they wish regardless of the locality of expert teachers, and, entire nations can develop their technology and understanding of the world simply because they are now exposed to advanced societies and moral discourses online. Like every communications medium, the Internet has issues and causes a small range of problems, but these are insignificant compared to the advantages of having an online populace.

8. Public Health Issues

#alcohol #Guinea #health #parenting #population #smoking #vaccines

Adolescent Birth Rate (2015)38
Pos.		Lower is better Per 100038
1	N. Korea	0.5
2	S. Korea	1.6
3	Switzerland	2.9
	...
178	Chad	133.5
179	Ivory Coast	135.5
180	Malawi	136.2
181	Mozambique	139.7
182	Guinea	140.6
183	Angola	164.3
184	Mali	174.6
185	Niger	202.4
	World Avg	47.9
q=185.

Alcohol Consumption (2010)39
Pos.		Lower is better Per Capita39
1	Libya	0.1
2	Pakistan	0.1
3	Kuwait	0.1
	...
13	Senegal	0.6
14	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)	0.6
15	Indonesia	0.6
16	Guinea	0.7
17	Afghanistan	0.7
18	Jordan	0.7
19	Myanmar (Burma)	0.7
20	Bhutan	0.7
	World Avg	6.2
q=191.

Food Aid, Health Contributions & WHO Compliance (2017)40
Pos.		Lower is better Rank40
1	Sweden	1
2	Ireland	2
3	Denmark	3
	...
57	Slovenia	57
58	Morocco	58
59	Cyprus	59
60	Guinea	60
61	Sierra Leone	61
62	Honduras	62
63	Lebanon	63
64	Lithuania	64
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Infant Immunizations 2011-2015 (2015)41
Pos.		Higher is better Avg %41
1	Hungary	99.0
2	China	99.0
3	Uzbekistan	98.9
	...
183	Papua New Guinea	66.3
184	Haiti	65.7
185	Vanuatu	65.5
186	Guinea	63.3
187	Syria	62.4
188	Ukraine	55.2
189	Chad	52.5
190	Nigeria	50.0
	World Avg	88.3
q=194.

Smoking Rates (2014)42
Pos.		Lower is better42
1	Guinea	15
2	Solomon Islands	26
3	Kiribati	28
4	Uganda	41
5	Rwanda	53
6	Samoa	54
7	Congo, DR	74
8	Ethiopia	76
9	Vanuatu	76
10	Guyana	77
11	Suriname	79
12	Malawi	80
	World Avg	819
q=182.

9. More Charts and Comparisons to Other Countries