Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace. The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia
8 30 N, 11 30 W
Africa
total: 71,740 sq km ; land: 71,620 sq km ; water: 120 sq km
slightly smaller than South Carolina
total: 958 km ; border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
402 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; contiguous zone: 24 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ; continental shelf: 200 nm
tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)
coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m ; highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m
diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite
arable land: 7.95% ; permanent crops: 1.05% ; other: 91% (2005)
300 sq km (2003)
160 cu km (1987)
Total: 0.38 cu km/yr (5%/3%/92%) ; Per capita: 69 cu m/yr (2000)
dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms
rapid population growth pressuring the environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing, and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil exhaustion; civil war depleted natural resources; overfishing
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands ; signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm (195 inches) a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa
6,144,562 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,349,878/female 1,400,297) ; 15-64 years: 52% (male 1,531,763/female 1,664,996) ; 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 92,360/female 105,268) (2007 est.)
total: 17.5 years ; male: 17.2 years ; female: 17.7 years (2007 est.)
2.292% (2007 est.)
45.41 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
22.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population ; note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 0.964 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 158.27 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 175.39 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 140.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 40.58 years ; male: 38.36 years ; female: 42.87 years (2007 est.)
6.01 children born/woman (2007 est.)
7% (2001 est.)
170,000 (2001 est.)
11,000 (2001 est.)
noun: Sierra Leonean(s) ; adjective: Sierra Leonean
20 African ethnic groups 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century), refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians
Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30%
English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic ; total population: 35.1% ; male: 46.9% ; female: 24.4% (2004 est.)
degree of risk: very high ; food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever ; vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever are high risks in some locations ; water contact disease: schistosomiasis ; aerosolized dust or soil contact disease: Lassa fever (2007)

conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone ; conventional short form: Sierra Leone ; local long form: Republic of Sierra Leone ; local short form: Sierra Leone
constitutional democracy
name: Freetown ; geographic coordinates: 8 30 N, 13 15 W ; time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western*

27 April 1961 (from UK)
Independence Day, 27 April (1961)
1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times
based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government ; head of government: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007) ; cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president ; elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 August 2007 and 8 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012) ; election results: second round results; percent of vote - Ernest Bai KOROMA 54.6%, Solomon BEREWA 45.4%
unicameral Parliament (124 seats; 112 members elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; to serve five-year terms) ; elections: last held on 11 August 2007 (next to be held in 2012) ; election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 59, SLPP 43, PMDC 10
Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court
All People's Congress or APC [Ernest Bai KOROMA]; Peace and Liberation Party or PLP [Darlington MORRISON]; People's Movement for Democratic Change or PMDC [Charles MARGAI]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [Solomon BEREWA]; numerous others
trade unions and student unions
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue
chief of mission: Ambassador Ibrahim M. KAMARA ; chancery: 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 ; telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263 ; FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas N. HULL ; embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown ; mailing address: use embassy street address ; telephone: [232] (22) 515 000 or [232] (76) 515 000 ; FAX: [232] (22) 225471





Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its physical and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. Nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining.
$4.882 billion (2007 est.)
$1.351 billion (2007 est.)
6.8% (2007 est.)
$800 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 49% ; industry: 31% ; services: 21% (2001 est.)
1.369 million (1981 est.)
agriculture: NA% ; industry: NA% ; services: NA%
NA%
70.2% (2004)
lowest 10%: 0.5% ; highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)
62.9 (1989)
1% (2002 est.)

revenues: $96 million ; expenditures: $351 million (2000 est.)

rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish
diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair
NA%
245 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 100% ; hydro: 0% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
227.9 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0.7008 bbl/day (2005 est.)
8,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
431.1 bbl/day (2004)
8,864 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$216 million f.o.b. (2006)
diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish
Belgium 52.1%, US 19.1%, Netherlands 6.8% (2006)
$560 million f.o.b. (2006)
Cote d'Ivoire 9.3%, US 7.7%, China 7.7%, Brazil 6.9%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 5.5%, South Africa 4.5%, India 4.3%, France 4.2% (2006)


$1.61 billion (2003 est.)


$NA
leone (SLL)
SLL
leones per US dollar - NA (2007), 2,961.7 (2006), 2,889.6 (2005), 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003)
calendar year
$343.4 million (2005 est.)
24,000 (2002)
113,200 (2003)
general assessment: marginal telephone service ; domestic: the national microwave radio relay trunk system connects Freetown to Bo and Kenema ; international: country code - 232; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2000)
AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (2001)
1.12 million (1997)
2 (1999)
53,000 (1997)
.sl
46 (2007)
1 (2001)
10,000 (2005)

10 (2007)
total: 1 ; over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
total: 9 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 7 ; under 914 m: 2 (2007)
2 (2007)


total: 11,300 km ; paved: 904 km ; unpaved: 10,396 km (2002)
800 km (600 km year round) (2005)
total: 113 ships (1000 GRT or over) 314,549 GRT/419,409 DWT ; by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 85, chemical tanker 4, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 7, roll on/roll off 4 ; foreign-owned: 47 (Belgium 1, China 8, Greece 1, Romania 2, Russia 5, Syria 8, Turkey 7, Ukraine 8, UAE 7) (2007)
Freetown, Pepel, Sherbro Islands

Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF): Army (includes Air Wing, Navy (Maritime Wing)) (2007)
18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)
males age 18-49: 1,086,091 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 539,697 (2005 est.)

2.3% (2006)

as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has maintained over 4,000 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone since 1999; Sierra Leone considers excessive Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands including the hamlet of Yenga occupied since 1998
refugees (country of origin): 59,952 (Liberia) (2006)


