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Western Africa, north of Liberia. 402 kilometers of coastline along the Atlantic. Coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau and mountains in the east. Tropical. Capital: Freetown.
Sierra Leone acquired independence from Britain in 1961 and becomes a member of Britain's Commonwealth of Nations. A military coup in 1967 overthrew the civilian government of Siaka Stevens. Civilian rule returned in 1968. In 1978 a new constitution declared Sierra Leone a one party state, that party being the All People's Congress. In 1985, following the retirement of President Stephens, Major-General Joseph Momoh became president. In 1991 a civil war began as a force of Sierra Leoneans and Liberians, encouraged by Charles Taylor of Liberia and Muammar Qaddaffiof Libya, crossed from Liberia into Sierra Leone and captured border towns. In 1991 a new constitution created a multi-party state. In 1992 members of the military, frustrated with the slowness of the war against the rebels, overthrew the Momoh governement and announced future multi-party elections. The leader of this government was overthrown in a military coup in 1996. The following month Ahmad Kabbah was elected president. A year later, in May 1997, a coalition of army officers ousted Kabbah. In July, 1997, Sierra Leone was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations. The UN imposed sanctions against Sierra Leone. Nigeria intervened and in February 1998 ousted rebels from the capital, Freetown. In May, Kabbah returned amid rejoicing. In January 1999, rebels returned to Freetown and were driven out again, leaving about 5,000 dead. A compromise peace was made with the rebels, giving some government posts to rebel leaders. A UN force arrived. Fighting broke out again. Rebels abducted several hundred of the UN force. British paratroopers arrived to evacuate British subjects and to secure the airport for UN peacekeepers, and they moved to rescue British hostages. In May 2001, British trained Sierra Leone forces began to spread into rebel areas. The rebels were disarmed. In January 2002, the civil war was declared over, and the United Nations declared that 45,000 rebels had been disarmed and that the disarmament was complete. In May, Kabbah won a landslide election.
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Factbook: "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."
Estimated per capita GDP:
2008 $700
2007 $700
2006 $600
As of April 2005, investors from China are looking to invest in tourism in Sierra Leone, which has beautiful beaches
Deaths: 22.26, up from 20.61 in 2005. Births: 45.08, up from 42.84 in 2005.
Estimate for July 2008: 6.295 million, up from 6 million in 2005. Growth rate estimated for 2008: 2.282 percent per year. Density for 2005: 83 persons per square kilometer.
Infant mortality estimated for 2008: 156.48, up from 143.64 in 2005 (deaths before the age of one year, per 1,000 live births).
Average life expectancy at birth estimated for 2008: 40.93. Up from 40.58 in 2007s. Down from 42.52 in 2005.
Traditional birth attendants rub herbs onto the the belly of pregnant women to protect a baby from medical problems and from curses.
Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 7 percent. (2001)
June 2007: Parliament enacts laws that criminalize wife-beating and allow women to inherit property.
Girls receive only six years of schooling. Female to male income ratio: 45:100.
Males 45.4 percent
Females 24 percent claimed by Foreign Policy magazine in 2008. Up from 18.2 percent estimated for 1995.)
Muslim 60 percent, indigenous beliefs 30 percent, Christian 10 percent
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Copyright © 2008 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.