Capital (regional pop., 1999 est.: 1,764,000), largest city, and chief Atlantic port of Guinea.
Located on Tombo Island and the Kaloum Peninsula, it was founded by the French in 1884. It became the capital successively of the protectorate of Rivières du Sud (1891), the colony of French Guinea (1893), and independent Guinea (1958). Tombo Island, the site of the original settlement, is linked to the peninsula by a causeway. The city was industrialized in the 1950s after iron mining and bauxite production had been developed. It is the seat of the University of Conakry (1962).