Map of Sierra Leone | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

Background


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 402 km

Maritime claims: Territorial sea:200 nm

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December; winter dry season (December to April)

Terrain: coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east

Elevation

Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite

Land use: arable land: 25%; permanent crops: 2%; meadows and pastures 31%; forest and woodland 29%; other 13%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 4,274,543 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)

Nationality: noun--Sierra Leonean(s; adjective--Sierra Leonean

Ethnic groups: native African 99% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%; Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%; 13 tribes

Languages: English (official; regular use limited to literate minority; principal vernaculars are Mende in south and Temne in north; Krio is the language of the resettled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is lingua franca

Religions: Muslim 30%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%, other or none 30%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 46 births/1000 population (1991)

Death rate: 20 deaths/1000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1991)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: extensive mangrove swamps hinder access to sea; deforestation; soil degradation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 151 deaths/1000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 42 years male, 48 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 6.1 children born/woman (1991)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 21% (male 31%, female 11%) age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic (1990 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone

Government type: republic under presidential regime

Capital: Freetown

Administrative divisions: 4 provinces; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western

Dependent areas

Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)

National holiday: Republic Day, 27 April (1961)

Constitution: 14 June 1978

Legal system: based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Gen. Joseph Saidu MOMOH (since 28 November 1985; First Vice President Abu Bakar KAMARA (since 4 April 1987; Second Vice President Salia JUSU-SHERIFF (since 4 April 1987)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Police

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador George CAREW; Chancery at 1701 19th Street NW, Washington DC 20,009; telephone (202) 939-9,261; US--Ambassador Johnny YOUNG; Embassy at the corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Street, Freetown; telephone [232] (22) 26,481

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue Sierra Leone Sierra LeoneSierra Leone

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The economic and social infrastructure is not well developed. Subsistence agriculture dominates the economy, generating about one-third of GDP and employing about two-thirds of the working population. Manufacturing accounts for less than 10% of GDP, consisting mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Diamond mining provides an important source of hard currency. The economy suffers from high unemployment, rising inflation, large trade deficits, and a growing dependency on foreign assistance. The government in 1990 was attempting to get the budget deficit under control and, in general, to bring economic policy in line with the recommendations of the IMF and the World Bank.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for over 30% of GDP and two-thirds of the labor force; largely subsistence farming; cash crops--coffee, cocoa, palm kernels; harvests of food staple rice meets 80% of domestic needs; annual fish catch averages 53,000 metric tons

Industries: mining (diamonds, bauxite, rutile), small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear), petroleum refinery

Industrial production growth rate: - 19% (FY88 est.), accounts for 8% of GDP

Labor force: 1,369,000 (est.), agriculture 65%, industry 19%, services 16% (1981; only about 65,000 earn wages (1985; 55% of population of working age

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $134 million; expenditures $187 million, including capital expenditures of $32 million (FY91 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $138 million (f.o.b., 1989)
Commodities: rutile 50%, bauxite 17%, cocoa 11%, diamonds 3%, coffee 3%
Partners: US, UK, Belgium, FRG, other Western Europe

Imports: $183 million (c.i.f., 1989)
Commodities: capital goods 40%, food 32%, petroleum 12%, consumer goods 7%, light industrial goods
Partners: US, EC, Japan, China, Nigeria

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $632 million (1990 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: leones per US$1--196.0784 (January 1991), 144.9275 (1990), 58.1395 (1989), 31.2500 (1988), 30.7692 (1987), 8.3963 (1986), 4.7304 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 83,000 kW capacity; 180 million kWh produced, 45 kWh per capita (1989)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: $6 million, 0.7% of GDP (1988 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 12 total, 8 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs