Guinea. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Guinea


SYLLABICATION:	Guin·ea
PRONUNCIATION:	gn
	1. A historical region of western and equatorial Africa extending along the coast from Gambia to Angola. Sections of the area from the Bight of Benin westward were known to early traders as the Slave, Gold, Ivory, and Grain Coasts. 2. A country of western Africa on the Atlantic Ocean. Inhabited by Fulani, Malinke, and Susu peoples, parts of present-day Guinea belonged to the medieval kingdom of Ghana and later to the Mali Empire. Explored by the Portuguese in the 15th century, it came under French control in the 19th century, becoming a French colony in 1893 and a part of French West Africa in 1895. Guinea gained its independence in 1958. Conakry is the capital and the largest city. Population: 6,501,000.
OTHER FORMS:	Guine·an —ADJECTIVE & NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.