Why it looks like this

Conakry began on tiny Tombo Island and spread inland along the Kaloum peninsula — a strip of land so narrow that the city could only grow lengthwise. Camayenne is one of its dense central districts, on the corniche facing the sea.

The geography shows in the network: a few long parallel roads carry all the traffic up and down the peninsula, with short cross-streets running quickly to water on either side.