Description: Why are so many countries called Guinea? (Short Animated Documentary), A Super Quick History of Guinea, Geography Now! Guinea, Guinea's President Who Stood Up to France | Ahmed Sékou Touré, 'Auschwitz of Africa' The Insane Dictator Of Equatorial Guinea
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The modern state of Guinea did not come into existence until 1958, but the history of the area stretches back well before European invasion. Its current boundaries were determined during the colonial period by the Berlin Conference (1884-1885) and the French, who ruled Guinea until 1958.
What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires. The Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids . It was in this period that Islam first arrived in the region.
The Sosso kingdom (12th to 13th centuries) briefly flourished in the void but the Islamic Mandinka Mali Empire came to prominence when Soundiata Kéïta defeated the Sosso ruler, Soumangourou Kanté at the semi-historical Battle of Kirina in c. 1235. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa (Emperors), the most famous being Kankou Moussa , who made a famous hajj to Mecca in 1324. Shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century.