Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau

Why people mix them up

One name is contained in the other. "Guinea" was the old European term for the whole West African coast, so several countries inherited it: Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and, on another continent, Papua New Guinea. Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are also direct neighbours on the Atlantic coast, which makes it easy to tap the wrong one. Guinea-Bissau added its capital's name after independence from Portugal in 1973 precisely to avoid being confused with its French-speaking neighbour.

How to tell them apart

• Guinea-Bissau is the small one in the north-west, squeezed between Senegal and Guinea; Guinea is much larger and curves around it to the south and east.
• Guinea is about seven times bigger: roughly 246,000 km² against 36,000 km², with about 14 million people against 2 million.
• Guinea speaks French and uses the Guinean franc; Guinea-Bissau speaks Portuguese and uses the West African CFA franc.
• Guinea's flag is red-yellow-green vertical stripes; Guinea-Bissau's has a red vertical band with a black star, next to yellow over green.
• Guinea's capital is Conakry; Guinea-Bissau's is Bissau, which is in the country's name.
• Guinea borders six countries, including Mali, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone; Guinea-Bissau borders only Senegal and Guinea.

Memory hook

Guinea-Bissau is the little one with the long name, pinned to the coast beside Senegal. Plain Guinea is the big crescent that hugs it from behind.

On the map

For Guinea-Bissau, find Senegal on the western bulge of Africa and tap the small country directly below it on the coast, with a ragged, island-studded shoreline. For Guinea, tap the larger country wrapped around Guinea-Bissau's southern and eastern sides, reaching inland towards Mali and down the coast to Sierra Leone. Guinea is the one that touches Sierra Leone and Liberia.