Sierra Leone

Geography

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

Map references: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area 71,740 sq km
land area 71,620 sq km
comparative area slightly smaller than South Carolina

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

Coastline: 402 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea 200 nm

International 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

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%

Irrigated land: 340 sq km (1989 est.)

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
natural hazards dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (November to May)
international agreements party to - Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea

People

Population: 4,630,037 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.62% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 45.06 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 18.87 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 141.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population 46.4 years
male 43.58 years
female 49.3 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.96 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Nationality:
noun Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective Sierra Leonean

Ethnic divisions: 13 native African tribes 99% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 39%), Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%

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 the language of the re-settled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is lingua franca

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

Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.)
by occupation agriculture 65%, industry 19%, services 16% (1981 est.)
note only about 65,000 wage earners (1985); 55% of population of working age

Government

Names:
conventional long form Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form Sierra Leone

Digraph: SL

Type: military government

Capital: Freetown

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

Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)

National holiday: Republic Day, 27 April (1961)

Constitution: 1 October 1991; suspended following 19 April 1992 coup

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 and head of government Chairman of the Supreme Council of State Capt. Valentine E. M. STRASSER (since 29 April 1992)
cabinet Council of Secretaries; responsible to the NPRC

Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives (suspended after coup of 29 April 1992); Chairman STRASSER promises multi-party elections sometime in 1995

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (suspended after coup of 29 April 1992)

Political parties and leaders: status of existing political parties is unknown following 29 April 1992 coup

Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission Ambassador Thomas Kahota KARGBO
chancery 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone (202) 939-9261

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission Ambassador Lauralee M. PETERS
embassy Walpole and Siaka Stevens Street, Freetown
mailing address use embassy street address
telephone [232] (22) 226-481
FAX [232] (22) 225-471

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

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, 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. In 1990-93, the government, with the support of the IMF and the World Bank, has made substantial progress toward structural reform and better fiscal management. The government readily met all IMF/WB targets in December 1993. The budget deficit had been dramatically reduced; the government workforce had been cut by 25%; large amounts of domestic debt had been retired; arrears to the IMF, World Bank, and other creditors had been reduced. On the negative side, continued incursions by the Liberian rebels, bandits, and army deserters in southern and eastern Sierra Leone have severely strained the economy and threaten economically critical regions of the country.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $4.5 billion (FY93 est.)

National product real growth rate: NA

National product per capita: $1,000 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35% (1992)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues $68 million
expenditures $118 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1992 est.)

Exports: $149 million (f.o.b., FY92)
commodities rutile 51%, bauxite 19%, diamonds 15%, coffee 5%
partners US, UK, Belgium, Germany, other Western Europe

Imports: $131 million (c.i.f., FY92)
commodities foodstuffs 33%, machinery and equipment 19%, fuels 16%
partners US, EC countries, Japan, China, Nigeria

External debt: $633 million (FY92 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate -1.2% (FY91); accounts for 11% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity 85,000 kW
production 185 million kWh
consumption per capita 45 kWh (1991)

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

Agriculture: 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

Economic aid:
recipient US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $161 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $848 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $18 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $101 million

Currency: 1 leone (Le) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: leones (Le) per US$1 - 578.17 (January 1994), 567.46 (1993), 499.44 (1992), 295.34 (1991), 144.9275 (1990), 58.1395 (1989)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Communications

Railroads: 84 km 1.067-meter narrow-gauge mineral line is used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed

Highways:
total 7,400 km
paved 1,150 km
unpaved crushed stone, gravel 490 km; improved earth 5,760 km

Inland waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round

Ports: Freetown, Pepel, Bonthe

Merchant marine: 1 cargo ship (over 1,000 GRT) totaling 5,592 GRT/9,107 DWT

Airports:
total 11
usable 7
with permanent-surface runways 3
with runways over 3,659 m 0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m 1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m 3

Telecommunications: marginal telephone and telegraph service; national microwave radio relay system unserviceable at present; 23,650 telephones; broadcast stations - 1 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Branches: Army, Navy, Police, Security Forces

Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,006,280; fit for military service 487,158

Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $6 million, 0.7% of GDP (1988 est.)