Beyla

Beyla, town, southeastern Guinea, western Africa, in the Guinea Highlands. The town was founded by Dyula traders in the early 13th century as a collecting point for slaves and kola nuts and is now the chief trading centre for rice, cattle, tobacco, coffee, and palm oil and kernels. It is connected by road with Nzérékoré (south) and Kankan (north). Beyla is the site of a hospital and a tobacco and match factory. There is some alluvial diamond mining west of the town around Bounoudou. The region is mainly inhabited by the Muslim Malinke-Konianke people. The nearby Simandou Mountains contain iron-ore deposits. Pop. (1996) 11,566.