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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

800 km; 600 km navigable year round

Merchant marine [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

Freetown, Pepel, Bonthe

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Police, Security Forces

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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

Manpower availability [time series]

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

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

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

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

1 leone (Le) = 100 cents

Economic aid [time series]

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

Electricity [time series]

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

Exchange rates [time series]

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

Exports [time series]

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

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$633 million (FY92 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 July - 30 June

Imports [time series]

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

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

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

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

35% (1992)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]

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

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$1,000 (1993 est.)

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Area [time series]

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

Climate [time series]

tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)

Coastline [time series]

402 km

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]

none

Irrigated land [time series]

340 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries [time series]

total 958 km, Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km

Land use [time series]

arable land: 25% permanent crops: 2% meadows and pastures: 31% forest and woodland: 29% other: 13%

Location [time series]

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

Map references [time series]

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims [time series]

territorial sea: 200 nm

Natural resources [time series]

diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite

Terrain [time series]

coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Freetown

Constitution [time series]

1 October 1991; suspended following 19 April 1992 coup

Digraph [time series]

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation in US) [time series]

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

Executive branch [time series]

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

Diplomatic representation in the US (FAX) [time series]

[232] (22) 225-471

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

27 April 1961 (from UK)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court (suspended after coup of 29 April 1992)

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

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

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

Country name (Names) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

Republic Day, 27 April (1961)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

status of existing political parties is unknown following 29 April 1992 coup

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal

Government type (Type) [time series]

military government

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

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

People

Birth rate [time series]

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

Death rate [time series]

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

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

141.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force [time series]

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

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 46.4 years male: 43.58 years female: 49.3 years (1994 est.)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun: Sierra Leonean(s) adjective: Sierra Leonean

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population [time series]

4,630,037 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

2.62% (1994 est.)

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

5.96 children born/woman (1994 est.)