Faranah, town, central Guinea, western Africa. The town is located on the Niger River and was founded in the 1890s as a French outpost in the campaign against Samory Touré, the Malinke warrior-leader. It is connected by road with Dabola and Kissidougou and is a trading centre for rice, cattle, and palm oil and kernels. It has a hospital and a Roman Catholic mission (1948). The surrounding region is inhabited by the Dialonke people. To the southwest of Faranah is a coffee- and oil palm-producing area of the Guinea Highlands, which contains the source of the Niger (there called the Dioliba) River. Pop. (1996) 34,472.