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 1400s, it came under French control in the 1800s, becoming a part of French West Africa in 1895. Guinea gained its independence in 1958. Conakry is the capital and the largest city.