Guinea Highlands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Map of the Niger River basin and part of the Guinea highlands towards the southwest

The Guinea Highlands is a densely forested mountainous plateau extending from the southern Fouta Djallon highlands in southeastern Guinea through to northern Sierra Leone and Liberia, and northwestern Côte d'Ivoire .

They form the source of the Niger River, the longest river in western Africa. In Guinea they are known as Dorsale Guinéenne and historically have been isolated. The highest mountain in the region is Mount Nimba which is 1,752 metres (5,748 ft). They mostly however lie between 300 and 500 metres (980 and 1,640 ft) above sea level.[1] Geologically the composition of the sediments in the highlands though are the same as in Upper Guinea and include granites, schists, and quartzites.[2]

The highland region is also linked to the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, in the Adamawa Region, Cameroon Highlands of Cameroon and the Mandingue Plateau near Bamako in Mali.

Yomou is the chief market town for the densely forested region of the Guinea Highlands. Main commodities sold in the town include rice, cassava, coffee, palm oil and kernels.[3] The region is mainly inhabited by the Guerze (Kpelle) and Mano (Manon) peoples.

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved on June 18, 2008
  2. ↑ Africa Travel Guide, Retrieved on June 18, 2008
  3. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved on June 18, 2008

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.