[7] Its small land area and relative isolation from the mainland, while an advantage to its colonial founders, has created an infrastructural burden since independence.

[11] Originally situated on Tombo Island, one of the Îles de Los, it has since spread up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula.

Compared to most of West Africa, Conakry's wet season sees an extraordinary amount of rainfall, averaging more than 1,100 millimetres (43 in) in both July and August.

The city's economy revolves largely around the port, which has modern facilities for handling and storing cargo, through which alumina and bananas are shipped.

Critics of the government cite mismanagement, corruption and the withdrawal of the power agency's French partner at the beginning of 2002.

[18] Popular anger at shortages in Conakry was entwined with anti-government protests, strikes, and violence against the rule of President Lansana Conté and the successive prime ministers Cellou Dalein Diallo and Eugène Camara appointed to fill the post after the resignation of Prime Minister François Lonseny Fall in April 2004.

Violence reached a peak in January–February 2007 in a general strike, which saw over one hundred deaths when the Army confronted protesters.

There are also Christian churches and temples, including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry's Cathédrale Sainte-Marie, the Église Protestante Évangélique de Guinée (Alliance World Fellowship), and the Assemblies of God.