BOKE

town and port, western Guinea. It lies along the Nuez River, near the Atlantic coast. The nation's most important bauxite-producing area lies north of Sangardi, 50 miles (80 km) east-northeast of Bok. Once a collecting point for slaves, the town of Bok became a French trading post in 1865 and exported peanuts (groundnuts), coffee, and wild rubber from 1870 to 1914. Navigation impediments and the development of Conakry's port greatly reduced Bok's importance as a port, however. The town is now the chief market centre (rice, fish, cattle, oranges, and palm oil and kernels) for the region's Landuma, Fulani, Nalu, Mikifore, and Baga peoples. Pop. (1983 prelim.) 33,205.