The New Africa Magazine/ Dr Filomena Mathins

The world has more Guineas than expected. What explains the prevalence
of the name?
Equatorial Guinea. Guinea-Bissau. Papua New Guinea. The Gulf of Guinea.
Guinea, Virginia Guinea, Nova Scotia.
Etymologists dispute the earliest origins of the word “Guinea”. Some trace it to
a word in Tuareg, a Berber language, for black people: aginaw. Others think it
is originally referred to Djenné, a trading city in modern-day Mali. In the 15th
century, Portuguese sailors used “Guiné” to describe an area near what is
today Senegal, and by the 18th century, Europeans used “Guinea” to refer to
much of the West African coastline.
At independence, many countries developed their own Guinea : French
Guinea became Guinea, Spanish Guinea became Equatorial Guinea, and
Portuguese Guinea became Guinea-Bissau. The region was a major source of
gold, hence the name “guinea” for the British gold coin.