Air quality comparison · Guinea, 488 km apart
Conakry vs Kankan Air quality index (AQI) today
Conakry has cleaner air than Kankan right now: AQI 94 (Moderate) against 96 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Conakry averaged AQI 56 against 67, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Kankan has lost more forest since 2001. Kankan has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Conakry94Kankan96
Head to head
Conakry vs Kankan at a glance
Conakry is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Kankan on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Conakry | Kankan | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 94 (better) | 96 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 32.4 (better) | 36.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 56 (better) | 67 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1 ha (better) | 61 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 9.1% | 10.0% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 33.6K (better) | 62.8K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Conakry and Kankan right now?
Conakry has cleaner air than Kankan right now: AQI 94 (Moderate) against 96 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Conakry's PM2.5 is about 2.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Kankan's PM2.5 is about 2.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Conakry is read from a nearby ground station and Kankan is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
ConakryKankan
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Conakry: Ground station · CSIG, 5.4 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, CSIG.
Kankan: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Conakry averaged AQI 56 against 67, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Conakry5Kankan2
- Average AQI
- Conakry56Kankan67
- Worst day, AQI
- Conakry74Kankan75
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Conakry | Kankan |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 29 | 63 |
| Nov 5 | 42 | 75 |
| Nov 6 | 57 | 58 |
| Nov 7 | 62 | 57 |
| Nov 8 | 74 | 73 |
| Nov 9 | 66 | 75 |
| Nov 10 | 62 | 68 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Conakry and Kankan today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Conakry and Kankan compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Conakry's air is cleaner than 24% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Kankan's is cleaner than 23%. Within Guinea, that is 44% and 22% of its 10 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Conakry
- Beats 24%
- Kankan
- Beats 23%
More tree cover than…
- Conakry
- Beats 19%
- Kankan
- Beats 21%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Conakry or Kankan?
Kankan has lost more: about 61 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1 ha around Conakry. 61 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2001, with under 1 ha lost.
Worst year: 2010, with 19 ha lost.
| Conakry | Kankan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1 ha (better) | 61 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 1 ha (better) | 61 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (69%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (98%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Conakry
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Kankan
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Conakry or Kankan?
Kankan has more tree cover: 10.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.1% around Conakry, or about 31,416 trees against 14,609.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Conakry | Kankan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 14.6K | 31.4K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 33.6K (better) | 62.8K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 321K kg | 691K kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Conakry vs Kankan: your questions answered
Is Conakry cleaner than Kankan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Conakry reads AQI 94 against 96, a gap of 2 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Conakry averaged AQI 56 against 67, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Conakry and Kankan today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Conakry reads AQI 94 and Kankan reads AQI 96.
Which has lost more forest, Conakry or Kankan?
Kankan has lost more: about 61 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1 ha around Conakry. 61 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Conakry or Kankan?
Kankan has more tree cover: 10.0% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.1% around Conakry, or about 31,416 trees against 14,609. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Conakry and Kankan need?
Conakry needs about 33,552 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Kankan about 62,832 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Conakry and Kankan measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Conakry is read from a nearby ground station and Kankan is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Conakry vs Kankan comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 7, 2026 and Aug 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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