James Baquet

One year at Christmas, my next-older brother and I got a couple of special presents. He received a black-and-white “Dutch” rabbit, and I got a monochrome guinea pig. Now, the Dutch rabbit did not originate in Holland, but in Belgium by way of England. But at least it’s a rabbit. The guinea pig is not a pig of any kind — it’s a kind of rodent — and originates in South America, far away from the African country of Guinea.

The discombobulation doesn’t end here. There are four countries in the world with “Guinea” in their names: Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and faraway Papua New Guinea, as well as just plain Guinea, the country we’re discussing today. Furthermore, Guinea is the name of the region of Africa in which all three African countries named “Guinea” are located, and it’s a component in the names of no fewer than nine former colonies, with designations like British, Dutch, and German Guinea — all in the Pacific — and the African colonies of Danish, German (again), Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish, as well as French Guinea, which is now just “Guinea” and the subject of today’s column.

The Republic of Guinea (to give it its proper name, or, in French, Republique de Guinee) is also sometimes called Guinea-Conakry after its capital, to make clear which of the many Guineas is under consideration. Located north of — but not directly on — the Gulf of Guinea, it is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, Guinea-Bissau on the northwest, Senegal on the north, Mali on the north and east, Cote d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) on the east, Liberia on the south, and Sierra Leone on the southwest. It has a middling population of around 12.5 million (77th out of 196) and an identical area ranking.

French is the official language, with a number of vernacular languages recognized, including Fula, Mandinka, and Susu. About 85 percent of the people are Muslim, 8 percent Christian, and 7 percent following indigenous beliefs. It should be noted that many of the Muslims and Christians have also included some indigenous beliefs into their practice.

Independent since 1958, Guinea is a unitary presidential republic.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. confusion, upset

2. exactly the same as

3. of the local people

4. small animal like a rat or squirrel

5. religious habit

6. element, part

7. one-colored

8. average

9. native, aboriginal

10. through, via