Fouta Djallon

Fouta Djallon, also Futa Djallon, highland region in western Guinea. It rises on the west and north by a series of fault steps with deeply incised valleys; the eastern slopes being gentler and the valleys shallower. It is composed of westward-sloping Palaeozoic sandstone covering Precambrian rocks to a depth of 760 m (2,500 ft), with intrusive gabbro and dolerite occurring as sills or dykes. Some 13,000 sq km (5,000 sq mi) are higher than 915 m (3,000 ft). The Massif du Tamgué, rising to 1,538 m (5,048 ft), is the highest point in the Fouta Djallon.

Upland open forests have given way to a forest-savannah mosaic, and grassland. Gallery forests are found along some watercourses. The climate is transitional between the monsoonal regime of the coast and the southern savannah climate. Rainfall averages between 1,525 and 2,030 mm (60 and 80 in); the region has an average temperature of 20° C (68° F). The climate is considerably milder and less humid than that of the Atlantic coast. The Sénégal, Gambia, and Niger rivers originate in the Fouta Djallon, as do locally prominent rivers such as the Konkouré. Important pre-colonial towns include Mali, Labé, and Pita; colonial creations include Kindia, Mamou, and Dabola.

Valuable deposits of bauxite include those near Fria, Debélé, Tougué, and Dabola. In addition to subsistence crops such as millet, commercial growing of peanuts, sweet potatoes, yams, maize, coffee, citrus, jasmine, pineapples, and bananas also takes place. Semi-nomadic Fulani, the dominant ethnic group in the Fouta Djallon, maintain herds of cattle. Other groups include the Susu, Landoma and Cocoli (Tyapi), Nalu, Diakhanké, and the Djalonke after whom the region is named.

Acheulian artefacts document a human presence during the Palaeolithic (see Stone Age: The Paeolithic Period). During the historical period, the region was occupied chiefly by hunters and farmers of Mande origin. The Fulani later entered the region, living in a symbiotic relationship with the farmers, and by the mid-16th century, were established throughout the highlands. In the late 17th century, a new wave of Fulani immigrants entered the region, introducing Islam and establishing the first predominantly Fulani state, the imamate at Timbo. Holy wars resulted in the expansion of Islam. Civil wars and anarchy weakened the Fulani states, facilitating the colonial conquest. The region fell under French control in the late 1880s.