Kankan

Kankan (Maninka: Kánkàn) is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 193,830 people as of 2014. The city is located on the Milo River in eastern Guinea and lying about 345 miles east of Conakry.

The population of the city is largely from the Mandinka ethnic group. Kankan serves as the capital and largest city of Kankan Prefecture and Kankan Region.

History

Kankan was founded by the Mandinka people in the 17th century after which it became an important trading centre, particularly for kola nuts, and the capital of the Baté Empire. The population of the city is predominantly from the Mandinka ethnic group and their language is widely spoken throughout the city.

The French explorer René Caillié spent a month in Kankan in 1827 on his journey from Boké, in present day Guinea, to Djenné and Timbuktu in Mali. He arrived with a caravan transporting kola nuts. He described the visit in his book Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo. The town had a population of 6,000 inhabitants and was an important commercial centre with a market held three times a week. Instead of having a surrounding mud wall, the town was defended by a quickset hedge. The chief of the town refused Caillié permission to travel along the river to the north as the town of Kankan was fighting for control of the Bouré gold producing area around Siguiri and the Tinkisso River. Instead Caillié left the town heading east in the direction of Minignan in the Ivory Coast.