Sierra Leone

§1. Sierra Leone Introduction

Background:
  Since 1991, civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United
  Front (RUF) has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the
  displacement of more than 2 million people (well over one-third of the
  population) many of whom are now refugees in neighboring countries. A peace
  agreement, signed in July 1999, collapsed in May 2000 after the RUF took
  over 500 UN peacekeepers hostage. The RUF stepped up attacks on Guinea in
  December 2000, despite a cease-fire that it signed with the Freetown
  government one month earlier. As of late 2000, up to 13,000 UN peacekeepers
  were protecting the capital and key towns in the south. A UK force of 750
  was helping to reinforce security and train the Sierra Leone army.

§2. Sierra Leone Geography

Location:
  Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and
  Liberia

Geographic coordinates:
  8 30 N, 11 30 W

Map references:
  Africa

Area:
  total: 71,740 kmē
  land: 71,620 kmē
  water: 120 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly smaller than South Carolina

Land boundaries:
  total: 958 km border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km

Coastline:
  402 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 200 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
    exploitation

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 extremes:
  lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani)
    1,948 m

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

Land use:
  arable land: 7%
  permanent crops: 1%
  permanent pastures: 31%
  forests and woodland: 28%
  other: 33% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  290 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
  dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to
  February); sandstorms, dust storms

Environment - current issues:
  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 depleting natural
  resources; overfishing

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
    Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life
    Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Wetlands
  signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

§3. Sierra Leone People

Population:
  5,426,618 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 44.73% (male 1,190,207; female 1,237,326)
  15-64 years: 52.12% (male 1,351,455; female 1,477,155)
  65 years and over: 3.15% (male 84,364; female 86,111) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  3.61% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  45.11 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  19.19 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  10.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) note: by the end of 1999
    refugees from Sierra Leone are assumed to be returning

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  146.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 45.6 years male: 42.69 years
  female: 48.61 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  6.01 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  2.99% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  68,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  8,200 (1999 est.)

Nationality:
  noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
  adjective: Sierra Leonean

Ethnic groups:
  20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole 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

Religions:
  Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%

Languages:
  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%)

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or
    Arabic
  total population: 31.4%
  male: 45.4%
  female: 18.2% (1995 est.)

§4. Sierra Leone Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
  conventional short form: Sierra Leone

Government type:
  constitutional democracy

Capital:
  Freetown

Administrative divisions:
  3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western*

Independence:
  27 April 1961 (from UK)

National holiday:
  Independence Day, 27 April (1961)

Constitution:
  1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times

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

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996,
    reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of
    state and head of government
  head of government: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996,
    reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of
    state and head of government
  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; election
    held 26-27 February and 15 March 1996 (next to be held NA September
    2001); note - president's tenure of office is limited to two five-year
    terms
  election results: Ahmad Tejan KABBAH elected president; percent of vote -
    Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (SLPP) 59.5%, John KAREFA-SMART (UNPP) 40.5%

Legislative branch:
  unicameral House of Representatives (80 seats - 68 elected by popular vote,
  12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; members serve
  five-year terms)
  elections: last held 26-27 February 1996 (next to be held NA 2001)
  election results: percent of vote by party - SLPP 36.1%, UNPP 21.6%, PDP
    15.3%, APC 5.7%, NUP 5.3%, DCP 4.8%, other 11.2%; seats by party - SLPP
    27, UNPP 17, PDP 12, APC 5, NUP 4, DCP 3; note - first elections since
    the former House of Representatives was shut down by the military coup of
    29 April 1992

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court

Political parties and leaders:
  All People's Congress or APC [Edward Mohammed TURAY, chairman]; Democratic
  Centre Party or DCP [Adu Aiah KOROMA]; National Democratic Alliance or NDA
  [Amadu M. B. JALLOH]; National Republican Party or NRP [Sahr Stephen
  MAMBU]; National Unity Party or NUP [Dr. John KARIMU, chairman]; People's
  Democratic Party or PDP [Thaimu BANGURA, chairman]; People's Progressive
  Party or PPP [Abass Chernok BUNDU, chairman]; Revolutionary United Front
  Party or RUFP [Foday SANKOH, chairman]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP
  [President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH, chairman]; United National People's Party or
  UNPP [John KARIFA-SMART in exile, Raymond KAMARA, acting leader]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  Trade Unions and Student Unions

International organization participation:
  ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM,
  IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
  Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
  WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador John Ernest LEIGH chancery: 1701 19th Street
    NW, Washington, DC 20009
  telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263
  FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph H. MELROSE, Jr. embassy: Corner of
    Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown
  mailing address: use embassy street address
  telephone: [232] (22) 226481 through 226485
  FAX: [232] (22) 225471

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

§5. Sierra Leone Economy

Economy - overview:
  Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality
  in income distribution. It does have substantial mineral, agricultural, and
  fishery resources. However, the economic and social infrastructure is not
  well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic
  development. About two-thirds 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. Bauxite
  and rutile mines have been shut down by civil strife. The major source of
  hard currency is found in the mining of diamonds, the large majority of
  which are smuggled out of the country. The resurgence of internal warfare
  in 1999 brought another substantial drop in GDP, with GNP recovering part
  of the way in 2000. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of
  domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $2.7 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  4.2% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $510 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 43% industry: 26%
  services: 31% (1999)

Population below poverty line:
  68% (1989 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  15% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  1.369 million (1981 est.)
  note: only about 65,000 wage earners (1985)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%

Unemployment rate:
  NA%

Budget:
  revenues: $96 million
  expenditures: $351 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000
    est.)

Industries:
  mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles,
  cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  240 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0%
  nuclear: 0%
  other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:
  223.2 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:
  rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle,
  sheep, pigs; fish

Exports:
  $65 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Exports - partners:
  Belgium 38%, US 6%, Italy 4%, UK 4% (1999)

Imports:
  $145 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals

Imports - partners:
  UK 34%, US 8%, Italy 7%, Nigeria 5% (1999)

Debt - external:
  $1.28 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $203.7 million (1995)

Currency:
  leone (SLL)

Currency code:
  SLL

Exchange rates:
  leones per US dollar - 1,653.39 (January 2001), 2,092.13 (2000), 1,804.20
  (1999), 1,563.62 (1998), 981.48 (1997), 920.73 (1996)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Sierra Leone Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  17,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  650 (1999)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: marginal telephone and telegraph service
  domestic: national microwave radio relay trunk system, made unserviceable
    by military activities, is now operating from Freetown to Bo and Kenema
    (April 2001)
  international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (1999)

Radios:
  1.12 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
  2 (1999)

Televisions:
  53,000 (1997)

Internet country code:
  .sl

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  1 (2000)

Internet users:
  2,000 (2000)

§7. Sierra Leone Transportation

Railways:
  total: 84 km used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed
  narrow gauge: 84 km 1.067-m gauge

Highways:
  total: 11,300 km
  paved: 904 km
  unpaved: 10,396 km (1997)

Waterways:
  800 km (of which 600 km navigable year round)

Ports and harbors:
  Bonthe, Freetown, Pepel

Merchant marine:
  total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,057 GRT/3,498 DWT
  ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.)

Airports:
  11 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 7
  under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.)

Heliports:
  1 (2000 est.)

§8. Sierra Leone Military

Military branches:
  Army

Military manpower - availability:
  males age 15-49: 1,161,790 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
  males age 15-49: 563,631 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $46 million (FY96/97)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  2% (FY96/97)

§9. Sierra Leone Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  civil war has engendered massive refugee movements into neighboring Guinea
  and Liberia
