Guinea Highlands

Guinea Highlands, mountainous plateau extending from the southern Fouta Djallon highlands through southeastern Guinea, northern Sierra Leone and Liberia, and northwestern Côte d’Ivoire. The plateau is composed of granitic gneisses and quartzite and averages more than 1,500 feet (460 metres) in elevation. It is well watered, with precipitation typically occurring throughout most of the year, and is covered with humid savanna and variegated rainforest in which a variety of types of trees—including ebony, mahogany, and teak—are found. Several mountain ranges rise above its surface, including the Nimba Range, which runs along the Guinea–Côte d’Ivoire–Liberia border; the highest point in the range is Mount Nimba, 5,748 feet (1,752 metres). Other mountain ranges on the plateau are in Sierra Leone, where the highest peaks are found: Mount Loma Mansa (Bintimani), 6,391 feet (1,948 metres), in the Loma Mountains and Sankanbiriwa, 6,080 feet (1,853 metres), in the Tingi Mountains.

The Niger River, the longest and most important river of western Africa, originates in the Guinea Highlands. It rises in Guinea near the Sierra Leone border at an elevation of 2,500 feet (750 metres) and less than 200 miles (320 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. Several of its major tributaries, including the Milo, the Sankarani, and the Bagoé rivers, also originate in the Guinea Highlands. The highlands form the divide between the streams that flow northward to the Niger and those that flow southward to the Atlantic coast.

The plateau is inhabited by several groups, including the Kpelle (Guerze), Malinke, and Kisi peoples. Several crops are cultivated in the area, such as rice, fonio (a crabgrass cereal), corn (maize), oil palm, coffee, and kola nuts. The highlands have known mineral reserves. Large iron-ore deposits in the Nimba Range have been worked since the early 1960s, and diamond mining also occurs in the area. Important trading centres in the highlands include the Guinean towns of Yomou, Macenta, Guéckédou, Beyla, and Nzérékoré.

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Protected areas in the Guinea Highlands include the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve and the Ziama Massif Biosphere Reserve. The Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, which has an area of some 70 square miles (180 square km), contains a diverse array of flora and fauna, including many endemic or threatened species. The Guinean sector of the reserve was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981; the Côte d’Ivoirian sector, in 1982. The Ziama Massif Biosphere Reserve is known for being home to more than 1,300 species of plants and more than 500 species of animals. The 460-square-mile (1,190-square-km) Guinean reserve was designated for inclusion in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1980.