Interviewer instructions
Territorial administrative units
The Republic of Guinea is subdivided into highly structured territorial administrative units, called the Administrative Region, the Prefecture, the Sub-prefecture, the Commune, the District and the Neighborhood (Quartier). The Administrative Region is the largest administrative division in the country. There are a total of 8 of them. They are directed by a Governor. All of the services of the state are represented at the headquarters of the Administrative Region. The Administrative Region is subdivided into Prefectures. It should, however, be pointed out that the Administrative Region of Conarky, the capital of the country, is, unlike other Regions, sub-divided into Communes, which have the standing and prerogatives of a Prefecture in terms of the organization of the data collectors.
The prefectures are territorial administrative subdivisions, which are directly dependent on the administrative region. The prefecture is directed by a prefect. There are 33 prefectures in all. Each prefecture is subdivided into a certain number of sub-prefectures, each one of which is directed by a sub-prefect. The sub-prefecture is subdivided into districts. The sub-prefecture corresponding to the headquarters of the prefecture is established in common (with the prefecture). As for the commune, it is subdivided into neighborhoods. The neighborhood or the district is the smallest administrative bodies in the country. The neighborhood is under the responsibility of a neighborhood leader, whereas the district is directed by the President of the district. The district is made up essentially of rural areas (villages, hamlets) where the great majority of the farmers live. The neighborhood is generally subdivided into sectors. The territorial administrative communities which have been kept as territorial units for the census are: the administrative region, the prefecture, the commune and the sub-prefecture. For the specific needs of the data collection process in the field, the sub-prefectures and the communes have been subdivided into homogeneous territorial units and called census zones.
In rural areas, a census area may correspond to part or all of a district, just as it can overlap 2 or 3 districts within the same prefecture. In an urban setting, the status of a census zone is also variable from one commune to the next.