Sierra Leone 
Facts
Population:
5,426,618 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
44.73% (male 1,190,207; female 1,237,326)
15-64 years:
52.12% (male 1,351,455; female 1,477,155)
65 years and over:
3.15% (male 84,364; female 86,111) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.61% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
45.11 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
19.19 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
10.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note:
by the end of 1999 refugees from Sierra Leone are assumed to be returning
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
0.96 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.98 male(s)/female
total population:
0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
146.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
45.6 years
male:
42.69 years
female:
48.61 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.01 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
2.99% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
68,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
8,200 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective:
Sierra Leonean
Ethnic groups:
20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century), refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians
Religions:
Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%
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:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic
total population:
31.4%
male:
45.4%
female:
18.2% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $2.7 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.2% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $510 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
43%
industry:
26%
services:
31% (1999)
Population below poverty line:
68% (1989 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
0.5%
highest 10%:
43.6% (1989)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
15% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
1.369 million (1981 est.)
note:
only about 65,000 wage earners (1985)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues:
$96 million
expenditures:
$351 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries:
mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
240 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
100%
hydro:
0%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
223.2 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish
Exports:
$65 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish
Exports - partners:
Belgium 38%, US 6%, Italy 4%, UK 4% (1999)
Imports:
$145 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals
Imports - partners:
UK 34%, US 8%, Italy 7%, Nigeria 5% (1999)
Debt - external:
$1.28 billion (1999)
Economic aid - recipient:
$203.7 million (1995)
Currency:
leone (SLL)
Currency code:
SLL
Exchange rates:
leones per US dollar - 1,653.39 (January 2001), 2,092.13 (2000), 1,804.20 (1999), 1,563.62 (1998), 981.48 (1997), 920.73 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
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Displaying 8 to 14 of 37 items.
Concord Times
(Independent), Freetown
Cotton Tree, The
(Independent, published in London, UK),
Daily Mail
(Government-controlled), Freetown
Democrat, The
(independent), Freetown
For di People
(Independent), Freetown
Freedom Now
(political party paper), Freetown
Front Line
(independent), Freetown
Sierra Leone in the News
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>>
Displaying 1 to 4 of 59 items.
As Sierra Leone continues to build its nation in the wake of civil war, the youth in the country are a valuable factor in continual improvement.
After a difficult childhood battling polio, Marcella Camara-Macauley studied early childhood education and has now written a children's book whose proceeds go to a worthy cause.
In the war-torn African nation of Sierra Leone, the public school system is crippled, ailing and corrupted by the government, affecting children, teachers and the nation as a whole.
In mediating a resolution involving London Mining, African Minerals and the Government of Sierra Leone, Minister Kanu emerges as the shining star.
Americas 
