Conakry

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Conakry

Conakry

Conakry is the national capital, largest city and main Atlantic port of Guinea. The city sits on Tombo Island and the Camayenne Peninsula. It was founded in 1884 by the French and named after a local village inhabited by the Susu people. Originally settled on the small island of Tombo, Conakry later expanded to the neighboring Kaloum peninsula, a 36 kilometer long, 0.2-6-kilometer-wide stretch of land. Essentially, the city was established after Britain gave the island to France in 1887. In 1904, Conakry became the capital of French Guinea and flourished as an export port, especially after the now-closed railway line to Kankan opened up the interior of the country to large-scale groundnut exports. In the 1950s, Conakry became industrialized with the developing iron mining industry on the Kaloum Peninsula and the extraction of bauxite from the nearby Los Islands. Conakry is the educational center of the country and home to the University of Conakry. There are teacher training, vocational training, nursing, midwifery and military schools. The museum, library and national archives of Conakry were established in 1960. The Botanical Garden of Camayenne was created by the French. Among the city's outstanding buildings are the National Assembly building, the Palais du Peuple, the sports stadium of the Stade du 28-Septembre, the monument to the anti-colonial martyrs, the central mosque and the Roman Catholic cathedral. The city has several distinct quarters, such as the Centre, the Boulbinet with its picturesque fishing port, and the administrative sections.