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Travel to Sierra Leone — Unbiased reviews and great deals
from TripAdvisorSierra Leone
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Republic of Sierra Leone
President: Ernest Koroma (2007)
Current government officials
Land area: 27,653 sq mi (71,621 sq km);
total area: 27,699 sq mi (71,740 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 6,144,562
(growth rate: 2.3%); birth rate: 45.4/1000; infant mortality rate:
158.3/1000; life expectancy: 40.6; density per sq mi: 222
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Freetown, 1,051,000
Monetary unit: Leone
Languages:
English (official), Mende (southern
vernacular), Temne (northern vernacular), Krio (lingua franca)
Ethnicity/race:
20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende
30%, other 30%); Creole (Krio) 10%; refugees from Liberia's recent
civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and
Indians
Religions:
Islam 60%, indigenous 30%, Christian 10%
Literacy rate: 35.1% (2004 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $3.971 billion; per capita $700. Real growth rate:
6.8%. Inflation: 11.7%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable
land: 8%. Agriculture: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels,
palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish. Labor
force: 1.369 million (1981 est.). Industries: diamond
mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes,
footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair.
Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore,
gold, chromite. Exports: $216 million f.o.b. (2006):
diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish. Imports: $560 million
f.o.b. (2006): foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and
lubricants, chemicals. Major trading partners: Belgium,
Germany, U.S., UK, Côte d'Ivoire, China, Netherlands, South Africa,
France (2004).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 24,000 (2002); mobile cellular: 113,000 (2003). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (2001). Radios:
1.12 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 2
(1999). Televisions: 53,000 (1997). Internet Service
Providers (ISPs): 46 (2007). Internet users: 10,000
(2005).
Transportation: Railways: total: 84 km
used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed
(2001). Highways: total: 11,330 km; paved: 904 km; unpaved:
10,396 km (2002). Waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year
round. Ports and harbors: Bonthe, Freetown, Pepel.
Airports: 10 (2007).
International disputes: large UN
peacekeeping presence ended civil war but rebel gang fighting,
ethnic rivalries, illegal diamond trading, corruption, and refugees
spill over into neighboring states beset with their own civil
disorder, refugees, and violence.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Sierra Leone, on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa, is half the size of
Illinois. Guinea, in the north and east, and Liberia, in the south, are
its neighbors. Mangrove swamps lie along the coast, with wooded hills and
a plateau in the interior. The eastern region is mountainous.
Government
Constitutional democracy.
History
The Bulom people were thought to have been the earliest inhabitants of
Sierra Leone, followed by the Mende and Temne peoples in the 15th century
and thereafter the Fulani. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to
explore the land and gave Sierra Leone its name, which means “lion
mountains.” Freetown, on the coast, was ceded to English settlers in 1787
as a home for blacks discharged from the British armed forces and also for
runaway slaves who had found asylum in London. In 1808 the coastal area
became a British colony, and in 1896 a British protectorate was proclaimed
over the hinterland.
Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961. A military
coup overthrew the civilian government in 1967, which was in turn replaced
by civilian rule a year later. The country declared itself a republic on
April 19, 1971.
A coup attempt early in 1971 led to then prime minister Siaka Stevens
calling in troops from neighboring Guinea's army, which remained for two
years. Stevens turned the government into a one-party state under the
aegis of the All People's Congress Party in April 1978. In 1992 rebel
soldiers overthrew Stevens's successor, Joseph Momoh, calling for a return
to a multiparty system. In 1996, another military coup ousted the
country's military leader and president. Nevertheless, a multiparty
presidential election proceeded in 1996, and People's Party candidate
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won with 59.4% of the vote, becoming Sierra Leone's
first democratically elected president.
But a violent military coup ousted President Kabbah's civilian
government in May 1997. The leader of the coup, Lieut. Col. Johnny Paul
Koroma, assumed the title Head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
(AFRC). Koroma began a reign of terror, destroying the economy and
murdering enemies. The Commonwealth of Nations demanded the reinstatement
of Kabbah, and ECOMOG, the Nigerian-led peacekeeping force, intervened. On
March 10, 1998, after ten months in exile, Kabbah resumed his rule over
Sierra Leone. The ousted junta and other rebel forces continued to wage
attacks, many of which included the torture, rape, and brutal maimings of
thousands of civilians, including countless children; amputation by
machete was the horrific signature of the rebels. In addition to political
power, the rebels, who were supported by Liberia's president Charles
Taylor, sought control of Sierra Leone's rich diamond fields.
In Jan. 1999, rebels and Liberian mercenaries stormed the capital,
demanding the release of the imprisoned Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
leader, Foday Sankoh. ECOMOG regained control of Freetown, but President
Kabbah later released Sankoh so he could participate in peace
negotiations. Pressured by Nigeria and the U.S., among other countries,
Kabbah agreed to an untenable power-sharing agreement in July 1999, which
made Sankoh vice president of the country—and in charge of the diamond
mines. The accord dissolved in May 2000 after the RUF abducted about 500
UN peacekeepers and attacked Freetown. Sankoh was captured and died in
government custody in 2003, while awaiting trial for war crimes.
The conflict was officially declared over in Jan. 2002. An estimated
50,000 people were killed in the decade-long civil war. The UN installed
its largest peacekeeping force in the country (17,000 troops). President
Kabbah was reelected with 70% of the vote in May 2002. In 2004, the
disarmament of 70,000 soldiers was completed, and a UN-sponsored war
crimes tribunal opened. For the past several years, the UN has listed
Sierra Leone as the world's “least livable” country, based on its poverty
and the poor quality of life endured by its citizens.
The trial of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, on charges
of crimes against humanity began at a UN criminal court at The Hague in
2007. He is accused of abetting the violent rebel group in Sierra Leone's
civil war that was responsible for atrocities which included hacking off
the limbs of civilians, sexual slavery, conscripting child soldiers, and
even cannibalism.
In June 2007, three former rebel leaders were convicted of crimes
against humanity by a UN-backed court. Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy
Kamara, and Santigie Borbor Kanumurder were found guilty of rape and
enlisting child soldiers. It was the first time an international tribunal
ruled on the recruitment of children under age 15 as soldiers.
In September 2007 elections, the governing party suffered a surprising
defeat when opposition leader Ernest Koroma, of the All People's Congress
(APC), defeated Vice President Solomon E. Berewa, of the Sierra Leone
People's Party (SLPP), 55% to 45%. The elections were Sierra Leone's first
since the United Nations peacekeeping force left the county in 2004.
See also Encyclopedia: Sierra Leone.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Sierra Leone
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Sierra Leone from Infoplease:
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