Mamou is a city and sub prefecture in a valley of the Fouta Djallon

Fouta Djallon

Fouta Djallon is a highland region in the centre of Guinea, West Africa. The indigenous name is Fuuta-Jaloo...

 area of Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

. Population 76,269 (2008 est).

History

It grew around the railway line from Conakry

Conakry

Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...

 to Kankan

Kankan

Kankan is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population at 207,790 . The city is located on the Milo River in eastern Guinea and lying about 345 miles east of Conakry....

 and soon became the local administrative headquarters. Its main industry used to be until the 1990s decade meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

processing, while it also acts as an important transport hub. All vehicles going to the Fouta Jallon, the forest region or Haute Guinée have to travel through Mamou.