Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is a nation in western-Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea to the north and Liberia to the southeast.
In the coastal west there is a belt of mangrove swamps; beyond these is extensive lowland plains, farmland and wooded hill country; in the east is an upland plateau and also mountains. Rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm (195 inches) a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa.
Sierra Leone has the lowest Human Development Index of any nation in the world, because of a combination of low life expectancy, high illiteracy, economic poverty, low access to potable water, and other factors.
Location of Sierra Leone. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia
Sierra Leone's major environmental issues include:
- 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;
- the civil war has depleted natural resources; and,
- overfishing.
It is susceptible to dry, sand-laden harmattan winds which blow from the Sahara Desert (December to February); and from sandstorms and dust storms.
The capitol, Freetown was established with British backing as a site for former slaves, primarily from the United States via Nova Scotia and from the West Indies. However, 90% of the population is descended from indigenous ethnic groups.
Independence from Great Britain came in 1961.
In 1991, Sierra Leone descended into civil war (a civil war was already underway in neighboring Liberia).
Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population).
The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace.
The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
Map of Sierra Leone. Source: CIA World Factbook
Geography
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia
Geographic Coordinates: 8 30 N, 11 30 W
Area: 71,740 km2 (71,620 km2 land and 120 km2 water)
arable land: 7.95%
permanent crops: 1.05%
other: 91% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 958 km. Border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
Coastline: 402 km
Maritime Claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
Natural Hazards: dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms
Terrain: Coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east. Its lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean (0 metres) and its highest point is Loma Mansa (Bintimani) (1,948 metres)
Climate: Tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)
Government
Government Type: Constitutional Democracy
Capital: Freetown
Independence Date: 27 April 1961 (from UK)
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
International Environmental Agreements
Sierra Leone is party to international agreements on: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, and Wetlands. It has signed, but not ratified an international agreement on Environmental Modification.
People and Society
Population: 6,294,774 (July 2008 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 44.6% (male 1,377,981/female 1,429,993)
15-64 years: 52.2% (male 1,573,990/female 1,708,840)
65 years and over: 3.2% (male 94,359/female 109,611) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.282% (2008 est.)
Birth Rate: 45.08 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 22.26 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 1 migrant(s)/1,000 population; note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2005 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 40.93 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 5.95 children born/woman (2008 est.)
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 (2004 est.): 35.1% (male: 46.9% - female: 24.4%)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 160 cu km (1987)
Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.38 cu km/yr (5% domestic, 3% industrial, 92% agricultural). Per capita: 69 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish
Irrigated Land: 300 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite.
Energy
| Energy in Sierra Leone | |||||
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 245 million kWh (2005) | 227.9 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | |
| Oil | 0.7008 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 8,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 431.1 bbl/day (2004) | 8,864 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 7% (2001 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
aerosolized dust or soil contact disease: Lassa fever (2008)
Conflict
International Disputes: as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has maintained over 4,000 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone since 1999; Sierra Leone considers excessive Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands including the hamlet of Yenga occupied since 1998
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 27,311 (Liberia) (2007)
Economy
Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its physical and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. Nearly half 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. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $3.971 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $1.664 billion (2007 est.)
GDP- real growth rate: 6.8% (2007 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $700 (2007 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 49%
industry: 31%
services: 21% (2001 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: 70.2% (2004)
Industries: diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair
Exports: diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish
Export Partners: {C}Belgium 49.9%, {C}US 20.7%, {C}Netherlands 4.6%, {C}Canada 4.1% (2006)
Imports: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals
Import Partners: {C}China 9.7%, Cote d'Ivoire 9.4%, US 8.9%, Brazil 7%, UK 5.4%, Netherlands 4.7%, South Africa 4.6%, India 4.4% (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: $343.4 million (2005 est.)
Currency: leone (SLL)
Ports and Terminals: Freetown, Pepel, Sherbro Islands
Further Reading
Citation
Central Intelligence Agency (Lead Author);Peter Saundry (Contributing Author);CIA World Factbook (Content Source);Lakhdar Boukerrou (Topic Editor) "Sierra Leone". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth June 2, 2009; Last revised Date December 31, 2011; Retrieved February 4, 2012 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Sierra_Leone>
The Author
The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amended the National Securit ... (Full Bio)
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