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 a 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 and 2012 national elections but still look to the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) - 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.

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

8 30 N, 11 30 W

Africa

slightly smaller than South Carolina

402 km

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

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

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

300 sq km (2003)

160 cu km (1987)

dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms

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 depleted natural resources; overfishing

rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm (195 inches) a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa

Temne 35%, Mende 31%, Limba 8%, Kono 5%, Kriole 2% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century; also known as Krio), Mandingo 2%, Loko 2%, other 15% (includes refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, and small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians) (2008 census)

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%)

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

5,485,998 (July 2012 est.)

2.277% (2012 est.)

38.12 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

11.49 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-3.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population

FREETOWN (capital) 875,000 (2009)

890 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

4.9 children born/woman (2012 est.)

13.1% of GDP (2009)

0.016 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

0.4 beds/1,000 population (2006)

urban: 24% of population

rural: 6% of population

total: 13% of population

urban: 76% of population

rural: 94% of population

total: 87% of population

1.6% (2009 est.)

49,000 (2009 est.)

2,800 (2009 est.)

21.3% (2008)

4.3% of GDP (2009)

constitutional democracy

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

27 April 1961 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 27 April (1961)

1 October 1991; amended several times

mixed legal system of English common law and customary law

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral Parliament (124 seats; 112 members elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; members to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court

All People's Congress or APC [Ernest Bai KOROMA]; Peace and Liberation Party or PLP [Darlington MORRISON]; People's Movement for Democratic Change or PMDC [Charles MARGAI]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [Julius Maada BIO]; numerous others

ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMIT, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and blue; green symbolizes agriculture, mountains, and natural resources, white represents unity and justice, and blue the sea and the natural harbor in Freetown

lion

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 has yet to recover from the civil war, 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 completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation and in 2010 approved a new program worth $45 million over three years. Political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining, which are set to benefit from planned tax incentives. A number of offshore oil discoveries were announced in 2009 and 2010. The development on these reserves, which could be significant, is still several years away, however, growth skyrocketed to more than 20% in 2012, as exploitation activities began.

$8.376 billion (2012 est.)

$6.906 billion (2011 est.)

$6.514 billion (2010 est.)

$3.824 billion (2012 est.)

21.3% (2012 est.)

6% (2011 est.)

5.3% (2010 est.)

$1,400 (2012 est.)

$1,200 (2011 est.)

$1,100 (2010 est.)

2.207 million (2007 est.)

NA%

70.2% (2004)

62.9 (1989)

13.8% of GDP (2012 est.)

-4.1% of GDP (2012 est.)

60.8% of GDP (2012 est.)

80.8% of GDP (2011 est.)

12.6% (2012 est.)

16.2% (2011 est.)

NA%

21.5% (31 December 2012 est.)

21% (31 December 2011 est.)

$398 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$276.2 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.152 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$621.3 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$685.8 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$369.9 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$NA

rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

NA%

-$969.9 million (2012 est.)

-$1.153 billion (2011 est.)

$1.168 billion (2012 est.)

$426.9 million (2011 est.)

diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Belgium 28.8%, Romania 12.5%, Netherlands 9.2%, China 7.3%, US 6.9%, Turkey 6%, UK 5.8% (2011)

$1.675 billion (2012 est.)

$1.571 billion (2011 est.)

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals

China 16%, South Africa 11.1%, US 7.3%, UK 7.1%, India 5.7%, Malaysia 4.3% (2011)

$827.6 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$829.9 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$477.1 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$366.1 million (31 December 2011 est.)

leones (SLL) per US dollar -

4,370.3 (2012 est.)

4,336.1 (2011 est.)

3,978.1 (2010 est.)

calendar year

120 million kWh (2009 est.)

111.6 million kWh (2009 est.)

0 kWh (2010 est.)

0 kWh (2010 est.)

52,000 kW (2009 est.)

92.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

7.7% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

4,381 bbl/day (2008 est.)

8,768 bbl/day (2011 est.)

522.9 bbl/day (2008 est.)

6,117 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

1.335 million Mt (2010 est.)

14,000 (2010)

2.137 million (2011)

1 government-owned TV station; 1 private TV station began operating in 2005; a pay-TV service began operations in late 2007; 1 government-owned national radio station; about two dozen private radio stations primarily clustered in major cities; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available (2007)

.sl

282 (2012)

14,900 (2009)

8 (2012)

2 (2012)

800 km (600 km navigable year round) (2011)

Freetown, Pepel, Sherbro Islands

Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF): Army (includes Maritime Wing and Air Wing) (2010)

17 years 6 months of age for male and female voluntary military service (younger with parental consent); no conscription; candidates must be HIV negative (2009)

2.3% of GDP (2006)

as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abates, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; 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