Guineans in France  Guineans in France consist of migrants from Guinea and their descendants living and working in France. They are one of the diasporas from Black Africa in French banlieue. During the 1960s, Black Africans began to immigrate to France in large numbers. These immigrants mostly came from the Senegal Valley (Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea) and were composed mainly of male workers. By the 1970s, the population of Guineans in France had more than doubled because immigration laws permitting family reunifications. The growth of this population slowed significantly during the 1990s, but has increased in the 21st century, with immigrants now increasingly settling outside the Île-de-France to cities like Lyon or Marseille.