Languages of Guinea


The Republic of Guinea is a multilingual country, with over 40 languages spoken. The official language is French, which was inherited from colonial rule.
Several indigenous languages have been given the status of national languages: Fula ; Malinké ; Susu; Kissi; Kpelle and Loma.

Government and institutions

is the language of state and of official institutions. It is used as a second language by 15% to 25% of the population and a negligible amount of the population as a first language. At the end of the Ahmed Sékou Touré regime, French was the only language used in business and schools.

By region

Fula is mostly spoken in Middle Guinea, where the major city is Labé. It dominates in the Labé and Mamou regions where it is spoken by 94.5% and 92.4% of the populations respectively.
Malinké is mostly spoken in Upper Guinea, where Kankan is the major city. It dominates the Kankan Region where it is spoken by 87.1% of the population. The Kankan variety of the language was used by Solomana Kante for the development of N'Ko, a standardized unified written Manding language, which is increasingly used in literacy education and publishing books and newspapers in Guinea and neighboring countries.
Susu is mostly spoken in Guinée maritime, where the capital is Conakry. It dominates the Kindia Region where it is spoken by 54.9% of the population and the plurality of Conakry also speaks it.
Koniaka, Kissi and Kpelle are spoken in Guinée Forestière. More specifically, Kpelle is spoken in Nzérékoré and Yomou. Kissi is spoken in Guéckédou and Kissidougou. Kono is a language used in the south of Guinea, mostly in Lola.

Conakry

According to a report by Alpha Mamadou Diallo, the first language of inhabitants of the city of Conakry in decreasing order was: Susu 42%, Pular 20%, Maninka 19%, Kissi 4%, Guerzé 4%, French 2% and Toma 2%.