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Kissidougou is a city in southern Guinea. It is the capital of in the Kissidougou Prefecture. It had a population of 66,018 in 1996 (census). After some month of war in fall and winter 2000, many people from the city of Guéckédou went to Kissidougou and stayed, so the population is estimated to be of about 80,000. Founded in the eighteenth century, th city is known for the coffee plantations and large expanses of forest nearby. Other attractions in the city include a museum, a football team and a major bridge.

Refugee Crisis

Throughout the 1990s, the government of Guinea in cooperation with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), During the 1990s the Guinean Government and the UNHCR provided international protection and assistance to Sierra Leonians and Liberian refugees residing along Guinea’s southern border. In December 2000 and January 2001, a series of cross border attacks resulted in a massive shift in refugee and Guinean populations. Many refugees and Guineans fled the fighting to the Kissidougou and N’Zérékoré Prefectures in the Forest Region of Guinea. In February 2001, relocation of the Gueckédou and Faranah camps began with the transfer of temporary refugee settlements to new camps in the Albadariah sub-prefecture of Kissidougou. This massive influx of Sierra Leonian refugees placed great stress on the government of Guinea as well as international aid organizaitons in providing a stable, secure environment for the refugees. There were widespread accounts of sexual violence throughout the camps, despite the best efforts of the international relief organizations.[1]

Throughout 2001, there were more than 400,000 refugees in Guinea, many in Kissidougou. The security situation was extremely unstable and it was extremely difficult for the international aid organizations to provide the necessary relief.[2]

Kissidougou City

Although the market is open 7 days a week, it is especially big on tuesdays. The word Kissidougou means a place of refuge in the language of the Kissi, the largest ethnic group. There are of course many other ethnic groupes living in Kissidougou, for example the malinké and pular.

Also, many Toma people live in this region, between Kissidougou and Macenta.

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The market of Kissidougou on some day of the week, not tuesday.