Statistical information Sierra Leone 1992
Sierra Leone in the World
Background
Sierra Leone - Geography 1992
top of pageLocation
Geographic coordinates
Map reference
Area
Total: 71,740 km²
Land: 71,620 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries: 958 km total; Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
Coastline: 402 km
Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 200 nm
Disputes: none
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
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
Sierra Leone - People 1992
top of pagePopulation: 4,456,737 (July 1992), growth rate -0.2% (1992)
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
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
Age structure
Dependency ratios
Median age
Population growth rate
Birth rate: 46 births/1000 population (1992)
Death rate: 20 deaths/1000 population (1992)
Net migration rate: -28 migrants/1000 population (1992)
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: 148 deaths/1000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth: 43 years male, 48 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate: 6.1 children born/woman (1992)
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.)
English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic (1990 est.)
School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Youth unemployment
Sierra Leone - Government 1992
top of pageCountry name
Conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
Government type: military government
Capital: Freetown
Administrative divisions:
Western Area and 3 provinces; Eastern,
Northern, Southern
Northern, Southern
Dependent areas
Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)
National holiday: Republic Day, 27 April (1961)
Constitution: 1 October 1991; amended September 1991
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: National Provisional Ruling Council
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives (suspended after coup of 29 April 1992)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (suspended after coup of 29 April 1992)
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
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:
Ambassador (vacant); Chancery at 1701 19th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20,009; telephone (202) 939-9,261
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) 226-481; FAX 232 (22) 225,471
Stevens Street, Freetown; telephone 232 (22) 226-481; FAX 232 (22) 225,471
Diplomatic representation
Flag description
: three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blueNational symbols
National anthem
National heritage
Sierra Leone - Economy 1992
top of pageEconomy 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, which accounts for roughly 10% of GDP, consists 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. Since March 1991, however, military incursions by Liberian rebels in southern and eastern Sierra Leone have severely strained the economy and have undermined efforts to institute economic reforms.
Subsistence agriculture dominates the economy, generating about one-third of
GDP and employing about two-thirds of the working population. Manufacturing, which accounts for roughly 10% of GDP, consists 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. Since March 1991, however, military incursions by Liberian rebels in southern and eastern Sierra Leone have severely strained the economy and have undermined efforts to institute economic reforms.
GDP: exchange rate conversion - $1.4 billion, per capita $330; real growth rate 3% (FY91 est.)
Real gdp purchasing power parity
Real gdp growth rate
Real gdp per capita ppp
Gross national saving
Gdp composition by sector of origin
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: NA
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
Organized labor: 35% of wage earners
Labor force
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.)
Public debt
Taxes and other revenues
Revenue
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
Current account balance
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., 1990)
Commodoties: rutile 50%, bauxite 17%, cocoa 11%, diamonds 3%, coffee 3%
Partners: US, UK, Belgium, FRG, other Western Europe
Imports: $146 million (c.i.f., 1990)
Commodoties: 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
Stock of direct foreign investment at home
Stock of direct foreign investment abroad
Exchange rates: leones (Le) per US$1 - 476.74 (March 1992), 295.34 (1991), 144.9275 (1990), 58.1395 (1989), 31.2500 (1988), 30.7692 (1987)
Sierra Leone - Energy 1992
top of pageElectricity access
Electricity production: 85,000 kW capacity; 185 million kWh produced, 45 kWh per capita (1991)
Electricity consumption
Electricity exports
Electricity imports
Electricity installed generating capacity
Electricity transmission distribution losses
Electricity generation sources
Petroleum
Refined petroleum
Natural gas
Carbon dioxide emissions
Energy consumption per capita
Sierra Leone - Communication 1992
top of pageTelephones fixed lines
Telephones mobile cellular
Telephone system
Broadcast media
Internet country code
Internet users
Broadband fixed subscriptions
Sierra Leone - Military 1992
top of pageMilitary expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $6 million, 0.7% of GDP (1988 est.)
Military and security forces
Military service age and obligation
Space program
Terrorist groups
Sierra Leone - Transportation 1992
top of pageNational air transport system
Civil aircraft registration country code prefix
Airports:
12 total, 7 usable; 4 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
with runways over 3,659 m; 1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Airports with paved runways
Airports with unpaved runways
Heliports
Pipelines
Railways
Roadways
Waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round
Merchant marine: 1 cargo ship totaling 5,592 GRT/9,107 DWT
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Ports and terminals
Sierra Leone - Transnational issues 1992
top of pageDisputes international
Refugees and internally displaced persons
Illicit drugs
