Sierra Leone 
Facts
Population: 6,144,562 (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,349,878/female 1,400,297)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,531,763/female 1,664,996)
65 years and over: 3.2% (male 92,360/female 105,268) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 2.292% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 45.41 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 22.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: 0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.964 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female
total population: 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 158.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 175.39 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 140.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 40.58 years
male: 38.36 years
female: 42.87 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 6.01 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 7% (2001 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 170,000 (2001 est.).
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 11,000 (2001 est.).
Nationality: noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean.
Ethnic groups: 20 African ethnic groups 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 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%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30%.
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: 35.1%
male: 46.9%
female: 24.4% (2004 est.).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $5.452 billion (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 7.1% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $900 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 49%
industry: 31%
services: 21% (2001 est.).
Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%.
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): 1% (2002 est.).
Unemployment rate: NA%.
Budget: revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.).
Agriculture - products: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish.
Industries: diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair.
Industrial production growth rate: NA%.
Electricity - production: 244 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - consumption: 226.9 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004).
Exports: $185 million f.o.b. (2004 est.).
Exports - commodities: diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish.
Exports - partners: Belgium 65.8%, Germany 13.4%, US 4.6% (2005).
Imports: $531 million f.o.b. (2004 est.).
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals.
Imports - partners: Germany 18.7%, Cote d'Ivoire 11%, UK 8.4%, US 6.8%, China 5.5%, Netherlands 5.3% (2005).
Debt - external: $1.61 billion (2003 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $297.4 million (2003 est.).
Currency (code): leone (SLL).
Exchange rates: leones per US dollar - 2,961.7 (2006), 2,889.6 (2005), 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003), 2,099 (2002).
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Press
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Displaying 15 to 21 of 37 items.
Herald Guardian, The
(independent), Freetown
Independent Observer
(independent), Freetown
Mirror, The
(independent), Freetown
New Citizen, The
(independent), Freetown
New Citizen, The
(Conservative), Freetown
New Poineer, The
(independent), Freetown
New Shaft
(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.
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