Guinea, << GIHN ee >> is a region on the west coast of Africa. Its exact boundaries have never been clearly defined. But it is commonly thought of as the area extending along the Atlantic Ocean between Gambia on the north and Gabon on the south. The Niger River divides it into Upper Guinea and Lower Guinea.
The name Guinea came into use in the 1400’s. The name may have come from a Berber word meaning the land of the blacks. Early European traders named different parts of the Upper Guinea coast for their colonial trade. These included the Grain Coast, which included present-day Liberia; Cote d’Ivoire; the Gold Coast, which is now part of Ghana; and the Slave Coast, which included present-day Benin and Nigeria.
Three independent countries in the region use the name Guinea today. They are Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and the Republic of Guinea. Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish colony called Spanish Guinea, and, later, Spanish Equatorial Region. Guinea-Bissau was an overseas territory of Portugal called Portuguese Guinea. The Republic of Guinea was formerly the colony of French Guinea.
