
Guinea is divided into four main regions: Maritime Guinea, also known as Lower Guinea or the Basse-Coté lowlands; the cooler, mountainous Fouta Djallon that run roughly north-south through the middle of the country; the Sahelian Haute-Guinea to the northeast; and the forested jungle regions in the southeast, which has several ethnic groups. Guinea's mountains are the source for the Niger, the Gambia, and the Senegal Rivers, as well as numerous rivers flowing to the sea on the west side of the range in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. The highest point in Guinea is Mount Nimba at 1,752 m. Although the Guinean and Ivorian sides of the Nimba Massif are a UNESCO Strict Nature Reserve, the portion of the so-called Guinean Backbone continues into Liberia, where it has been mined for decades. Guinea's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and mineral production. The wildlife of Guinea is very diverse due to the wide variety of different habitats. The southern part of the country lies within Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot, while the north-east is characterized by dry savanna woodlands. Unfortunately, declining populations of large animals are restricted to uninhabited distant parts of parks and reserves.