Facing the Atlantic Ocean, Guinea is a West African country with a narrow coastal plain and interior highlands that are forested in the southeast. After independence from France in 1958, repressive socialist rule plunged the country into economic ruin. A 1984 coup brought in a military government until 1990, after which Guinea began the transition to a multiparty democratic system. Liberalized commercial policies, plus diamonds and gold, diversify an economy overly dependent on the bauxite industry.