town, west-central Guinea. Located on the Conakry-Kankan railway and at the intersection of roads from Kindia, Dalaba, Dabola, and Faranah, Mamou was founded in 1908 as a collecting point on the railroad from Conakry (125 miles 【201 km】 southwest). It is the chief trading centre for the rice, cattle, citrus fruits, bananas, tomatoes, and mangoes raised in the surrounding agricultural area. Mamou exports bananas, fruit juices, and orange essence; its industries include a food-processing plant and the nation's first sawmill. The town has several hospitals (general, psychiatric, leprosy), a secondary school, a meteorological station, a central mosque, and a Roman Catholic mission (1948).

The surrounding area, forming part of the Fouta Djallon plateau, is mostly savanna. It is inhabited by the Fulani (Peul), Dialonke (Djallonke), and Limba peoples. Timbo, the seat of the Fulani almamys (Muslim political, religious, and military leaders) of the 18th- and 19th-century state of Fouta Djallon, lies 26 miles (42 km) northeast of Mamou. Pop. (1996) 49,479.