Conakry Kɔnakiri
Conakry, Guinea
Conakry Map of Guinea showing the location of Conakry.
Coordinates: 9°31′N 13°42′W / 9.517°N 13.7°W / 9.517; -13.7
Country	Guinea
Region	Conakry Region
Population (2008)
• Total	1,931,184 [2]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+1)

Conakry (Sosso: Kɔnakiri) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500.^[1] Originally situated on Tombo Island, one of the Îles de Los, it has since spread up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula.

The population of Conakry is difficult to ascertain, although the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs has estimated it at 2 million.^[2] Conakry is thought to contain almost a quarter of the population of Guinea.

History[link]

According to a legend, the name of the city comes from the fusion of the name "Cona", a wine producer of the Baga people, and the word "nakiri", which means in Sosso the other bank or side.^[3]

Streetmap of the city centre of Conakry, 1981

Conakry was originally settled on tiny Tombo Island and later spread to the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula, a 36-kilometer (22 mi) long stretch of land 0.2 to 6 kilometers (660 to 20,000 ft) 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 (now closed) railway to Kankan opened the large scale export of groundnut from the interior.

In the decades after independence, the population of Conakry exploded, from 50,000 inhabitants in 1958 to 600,000 in 1980, to over two million today.^[4] Its small land area and relative isolation from the mainland, while an advantage to its colonial founders, has created an infrastructural burden since independence.^[5]

Monument du 22 Novembre 1970 commemorating the victims of the 1970 Portuguese invasion

In 1970, conflict between Portuguese forces and the PAIGC in neighbouring Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) spilled into the Republic of Guinea when a group of 350 Portuguese troops and Guinean dissidents landed near Conakry, attacked the city, and freed 26 Portuguese prisoners of war held by the PAIGC before retreating, failing to overthrow the government or kill the PAIGC leadership.^[6]

Camp Boiro, a feared concentration camp during the Marxist-Leninist era, was located in Conakry.^[7]

According to human rights groups, 157 people died when the military junta opened fire against tens of thousands protesters in the city in on September 28, 2009.^[8]

Government and administration[link]

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.^[9] From the tip in the southwest, these are:

• Kaloum – the city centre
• Dixinn – including the University of Conakry and many embassies
• Ratoma – known for its nightlife
• Matam
• Matoto – home to Conakry International Airport.

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 prefect level, the city is designated as the Conakry Special Zone, though the prefecture and regional government are one and the same. At 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[link]

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 housing materials. An average Guinean in Conakry will get a monthly wage of about 300 000 GNF or about $45.

Infrastructural crisis[link]

Periodic power and water cuts are a daily burden for Conakry's residents, dating back to 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 mis-management, corruption, and the pull out of the power agency's French partner at the beginning of 2002. As of 2007, much of the city has no traffic lighting in the overnight hours.^[10] Popular anger at shortages in Conakry was entwined with anti-government protests, strikes, and violence over 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^[11]

Climate[link]

According to Köppen climate classification, Conakry features a tropical monsoon climate. Conakry features a wet season and a dry season. Like a good portion of West Africa, Conakry's dry season is influenced by the harmattan between December and April. As a result relatively little precipitation falls in the city during these months. However, unlike a good portion of West Africa, Conakry's wet season sees an extraordinary amount of precipitation. As a result, Conakry averages nearly 3,800 mm (149 in.) of precipitation per year, earning the city a tropical monsoon climate classification.

Notable landmarks[link]

See also[link]

• 2007 Guinean general strike
• 2009 Guinea protest

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Thomas O'Toole, Janice E. Baker. Historical Dictionary of Guinea. Scarecrow Press (2005). ISBN 0-8108-4634-9
• 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.
• HISTOIRE DE CONAKRY, 1463 to present, by Luc MOGENET, 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.

External links[link]

• http://www.guineeconakry.info/: Conakry - based news portal
• Le Jour Guinée (French)
• http://www.conakrycity.com
• Guineevision (French)
• Office National du Tourisme, République du Guinée.
• l’Université Kofi Annan de Guinée (UNIKAG)
• Satellite image of Conakry and the Kaloum Peninsula, from the European Space Agency's Envisat: image description at http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMAV21XDYD_index_1.html.

Coordinates: 09°30′33″N 13°42′44″W / 9.50917°N 13.71222°W / 9.50917; -13.71222

• Moussa Dadis Camara speaks to Radio France Internationale after Conakry massacre

v t e Prefectures of Guinea Boké Region Boffa · Boké · Fria · Gaoual · Koundara Conakry Region Conakry Faranah Region Dabola · Dinguiraye · Faranah · Kissidougou Kankan Region Kankan · Kérouané · Kouroussa · Mandiana · Siguiri Kindia Region Coyah · Dubréka · Forécariah · Kindia · Télimélé Labé Region Koubia · Labé · Lélouma · Mali · Tougué Mamou Region Dalaba · Mamou · Pita Nzérékoré Region Beyla · Guéckédou · Lola · Macenta · Nzérékoré · Yomou

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Mamady Keïta
Born	August 1950 Balandougou, Guinea
Residence	San Diego, California
Nationality	Guinean
Occupation	Djembefola

Mamady Keïta (surname sometimes also spelled Keita; b. Balandougou, Siguiri Prefecture, Kankan Region, Guinea, August 1950) is a master drummer from the West African nation of Guinea. He specializes in the goblet-shaped hand drum called djembe. He is also the founder of the Tam Tam Mandingue school of drumming. He is a member of the Manding ethnic group.

Early life[link]

Keïta was born in the small village of Balandougou, Guinea, in the northeastern prefecture of Siguiri, near the border of Mali. His initiation to the djembe started at the early age of seven, under Karinkadjan Kondé, elder master djembefola of Balandugu, who initiated him to the secrets of the djembe. Keïta was educated in the traditions of his village, learning the history and music of the Malinke people. At the age of twelve, he became a member of the first regional federal ballet of Siguiri after Balanka Sidiki, a recruiter for the group, came to Balandugu looking for performers.

At the time, Guinea was governed by Sékou Touré, who put special emphasis on Guinean culture through live performances and a system of local, regional, and national competitions that recruited the greatest artists of the land. During the National Festival in 1964, Keïta, then aged fourteen, along with fifty other percussionists and numerous other artists, was selected by Guinea's Minister of Culture to form Le Ballet National Djoliba (The Djoliba National Ballet), which was intended to serve as a showcase for Touré's revolution in Guinea. After nine months of training, he was one of only five percussionists retained.

Career[link]

In 1964, Keïta left Balandugu to become a member of the Djoliba Ballet, in which he served as lead drummer and soloist until 1979. The group practiced in a special stage constructed for this purpose at the residence of Sékou Touré. In 1979, Keïta became the artistic director of the troupe, a position he held until 1986. During his time, he went on numerous tours throughout the world, performing in West, Central, and East Africa, China, Egypt, Germany, Scandinavia, France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia, and the Soviet Union.

In 1986, wishing to leave the cocoon formed by the ballet and become a more independent musician, Keïta joined Souleymane Koli's troupe, Koteba, in Abidjan, and he stayed with it for a year and a half. In 1991, Keïta decided it was time to go his own way and he established his own percussion school which he called Tam Tam Mandingue, literally "drums of the Manding." The school rapidly acquired international renown and opened branches in all over the world.^[1] In 2008 he became the patron of Sewa Beats, a company that specializes in corporate learning through rhythm and music.

Keïta resides in San Diego, California, United States, with his wife Monette Marino-Keïta.

Discography[link]

• 1989 - Wassolon
• 1992 - Nankama
• 1995 - Mögöbalu
• 1996 - Hamanah
• 1998 - Afö
• 2000 - Balandugu Kan
• 2001 - Mamady Lèè
• 2002 - A Giatè
• 2004 - Djembe Master
• 2004 - Sila Laka
• 2005 - Live @ Couleur Café
• 2007 - Mandeng Djara
• 2010 - Hakili

Films[link]

• 1964 - Africa Dance (with Harry Belafonte).
• 1987 - La Vie Platinee. Directed by Manuel Teran.
• 1991 - Djembefola. Directed by Laurent Chevallier.
• 1998 - Mögöbalu. Directed by Laurent Chevallier.
• 2003 - Djembe Kan (2003). Directed by Monette Marino. Publisher: Tam Tam Mandingue USA.
• 2005 - Mamady Keïta and Sewa Kan: Live @ Couleur Café. Publisher: Fenix Music
• 2012 - "Messengers of Tradition". Publisher: Tam Tam Mandingue USA.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mamady Keita official site
• Tam Tam Mandingue page
• Mamady Keita Homepage
• Sewa Beats Homepage