Country:  Sierra Leone
- Geography
Total area: 71,740 km2; land area: 71,620 km2
 
Comparative area: 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
 
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: 25% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 31% meadows and pastures;
29% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
 
Environment: extensive mangrove swamps hinder access to sea;
deforestation; soil degradation
 
- People
Population: 4,165,953 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)
 
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)
 
Death rate: 21 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
 
Infant mortality rate: 154 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 42 years male, 47 years female (1990)
 
Total fertility rate: 6.2 children born/woman (1990)
 
Nationality: noun--Sierra Leonean(s); adjective--Sierra Leonean
 
Ethnic divisions: 99% native African (30% Temne, 30% Mende); 1% Creole,
European, Lebanese, and Asian; 13 tribes
 
Religion: 30% Muslim, 30% indigenous beliefs, 10% Christian, 30% other or
none
 
Language: 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
 
Literacy: 31% (1986)
 
Labor force: 1,369,000 (est.); 65% agriculture, 19% industry, 16% services
(1981); only about 65,000 earn wages (1985); 55% of population of working age
 
Organized labor: 35% of wage earners
 
- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Sierra Leone
 
Type: republic under presidential regime
 
Capital: Freetown
 
Administrative divisions: 4 provinces; Eastern, Northern, Southern,
Western
 
Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)
 
Constitution: 14 June 1978
 
Legal system: based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local
tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
 
National holiday: Republic Day, 27 April (1961)
 
Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, Cabinet
 
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
 
Leaders:
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)
 
Political parties and leaders: only party--All People's Congress
(APC), Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh
 
Suffrage: universal at age 21
 
Elections:
President--last held 1 October 1985 (next to be held October 1992);
results--Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh was elected without opposition;
 
House of Representatives--last held 30 May 1986 (next to be
held May 1991);
results--APC is the only party;
seats--(127 total, 105 elected) APC 105
 
Communists: no party, although there are a few Communists and a slightly
larger number of sympathizers
 
Member of: ACP, AfDB, Commonwealth, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mano River Union, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
WHO, WMO, WTO
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador George CAREW; Chancery at
1701 19th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 939-9261;
US--Ambassador Johnny YOUNG; Embassy at the corner of Walpole and
Siaka Stevens Street, Freetown; telephone 26481
 
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
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.
 
GDP: $965 million, per capita $250; real growth rate 1.8% (FY87)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 42% (September 1988)
 
Unemployment rate: NA%
 
Budget: revenues $86 million; expenditures $128 million,
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY90 est.)
 
Exports: $106 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--rutile 50%, bauxite 17%, cocoa 11%, diamonds 3%,
coffee 3%;
partners--US, UK, Belgium, FRG, other Western Europe
 
Imports: $167 million (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities--capital goods 40%, food 32%, petroleum 12%,
consumer goods 7%, light industrial goods;
partners--US, EC, Japan, China, Nigeria
 
External debt: $805 million (1989 est.)
 
Industrial production: growth rate - 19% (FY88 est.)
 
Electricity: 83,000 kW capacity; 180 million kWh produced,
45 kWh per capita (1989)
 
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
 
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $149 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $698 million;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $18 million; Communist countries (1970-88),
$101 million
 
Currency: leone (plural--leones); 1 leone (Le) = 100 cents
 
Exchange rates: leones per US$1--87.7193 (January 1990), 58.1395 (1989),
31.2500 (1988), 30.7692 (1987), 8.3963 (1986), 4.7304 (1985)
 
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: 7,400 km total; 1,150 km bituminous, 490 km laterite (some
gravel), remainder improved earth
 
Inland waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round
 
Ports: Freetown, Pepel
 
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
 
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
 
Telecommunications: marginal telephone and telegraph service; national
microwave radio relay system unserviceable at present; 23,650 telephones;
stations--1 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
 
- Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy
 
Military manpower: males 15-49, 918,078; 433,350 fit for military service;
no conscription
 
Defense expenditures: 1% of GDP (1986)