Republic of Sierra Leone

Statistics

President: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (1998)

Area: 27,699 sq mi (71,740 sq km)

Population (2001 est.): 5,426,618 (average annual rate of natural increase: 2.6%); birth rate: 45.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 146.5/1000; density per sq mi: 196

Capital and largest city (1994 est.): Freetown, 1,300,000

Monetary unit: Leone

Languages: English (official), Mende, Temne, Krio

Ethnicity/race: 18 native African tribes 99% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 39%), Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%

Religions: Islam 40%, Christian 35%, Indigenous 20%

Literacy rate: 21% (1990)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1999 est.): $2.5 billion; per capita $500. Real growth rate: �10%. Inflation: 30%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 7%. Agriculture: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish. Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.); note: only about 65,000 wage earners (1985). Industries: mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining. Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite. Exports: $41 million (f.o.b., 1998): diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish. Imports: $166 million (f.o.b., 1998): foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals. Major trading partners: Benelux, Spain, U.S., UK, C�te d'Ivoire.

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 17,000 (1995); mobile cellular: n.a. Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (1999). Radios: 1.12 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 2 (1999). Televisions: 53,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): n.a.

Transportation: Railways: total: 84 km used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed. Highways: total: 11,300 km; paved: 904 km; unpaved: 10,396 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round. Ports and harbors: Bonthe, Freetown, Pepel. Airports: 10 (1999 est.).

International disputes: none.

Geography

Sierra Leone, on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa, is half the size of Illinois. Guinea, in the north and east, and Liberia, in the south, are its neighbors. Mangrove swamps lie along the coast, with wooded hills and a plateau in the interior. The eastern region is mountainous.

Constitutional democracy.

The Bulom people were thought to have been the earliest inhabitants of Sierra Leone, followed by the Mende and Temne peoples in the 15th century, and thereafter the Fulani. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the land, and gave Sierra Leone its name, which means �lion mountains.� Freetown, on the coast, was ceded to English settlers in 1787 as a home for blacks discharged from the British armed forces and also for runaway slaves who had found asylum in London. In 1808 the coastal area became a British colony, and in 1896 a British protectorate was proclaimed over the hinterland.

Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961. A military coup overthrew the civilian government in 1967, which was in turn replaced by civilian rule a year later. The country declared itself a republic on April 19, 1971.

A coup attempt early in 1971 led to then prime minister Siaka Stevens calling in troops from neighboring Guinea's army who remained for two years. Stevens turned the government into a one-party state under the aegis of the All People's Congress Party in April 1978. In 1992 rebel soldiers overthrew Stevens's successor, Joseph Momoh, calling for a return to a multi-party system. In 1996, another military coup ousted the country's military leader and president. Nevertheless, a multiparty presidential election proceeded in 1996, and People's Party candidate Ahmed Tejan Kabbah won with 59.4% of the vote, becoming Sierra Leone's first democratically elected president.

But a violent military coup ousted President Kabbah's civilian government in May 1997. The leader of the coup, Lieut. Col. Johnny Paul Koroma, assumed the title �Head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council� (AFRC). Koroma began a reign of terror, destroying the economy and murdering enemies. The Commonwealth of Nations demanded the reinstatement of Kabbah, and ECOMOG, the Nigerian-led peace keeping force, intervened. On March 10, 1998, after ten months in exile, Kabbah resumed his rule over Sierra Leone. The ousted junta and other rebel forces continued to wage attacks, many of which included the torture, rape, and brutal maimings of thousands of civilians, including countless children�amputation by machete is the horrific signature of the rebels. In addition to political power, the rebels are after control of Sierra Leone's rich diamond fields.

In Jan. 1999, rebels and Liberian mercenaries stormed the capital, demanding the release of the imprisoned Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader, Foday Sankoh. ECOMOG regained control of Freetown but President Kabbah later released Sankoh so he could participate in peace negotiations. Pressured Nigeria and the U.S., among other countries, Kabbah agreed to an untenable power-sharing agreement in July 1999, which made Sankoh vice president of the country�and in charge of the diamond mines. The accord dissolved in May 2000 after the RUF abducted about 500 U.N. peacekeepers and attacked Freetown. Sankoh was captured and remains in government custody, where he awaits trial for war crimes.

General Issa Sesay, who has taken over RUF command, signed a cease-fire agreement with the government in Nov. 2000. In Sept. 2001, President Kabbah and Sesay met, declaring an end to the war. About 16,000 fighters from various groups, out of a total of 45,000, had disarmed at that time.