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| Republic of Sierra Leone | ||||||
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| Motto: "Unity - Freedom - Justice" | ||||||
| Anthem: High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free |
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| Capital | Freetown (1,070,200) | |||||
| Largest city | Freetown | |||||
| Official languages | English, Bengali | |||||
| Demonym | Sierra Leonean | |||||
| Government | Constitutional republic | |||||
| - | President | Ernest Bai Koroma | ||||
| - | Vice President | Samuel Sam-Sumana | ||||
| Independence | ||||||
| - | from the United Kingdom | April 27 1961 | ||||
| - | Republic declared | April 17 1971 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 71,740 km² (119th) 27,699 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 1.0 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | UN 2007 estimate | 5,900,000 (103rd1) | ||||
| - | Density | 83/km² (114th1) 199/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $4.921 billion (151st) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $903 (172nd) | ||||
| Gini (2003) | 62.9 (high) | |||||
| HDI (2007) | ▲ 0.336 (low) (177th) | |||||
| Currency | Leone (SLL) |
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| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .sl | |||||
| Calling code | +232 | |||||
| 1 Rank based on 2007 figures. | ||||||
Sierra Leone was first inhabited by the Sherbro, Temne and Limba peoples, and later the Mende,Kup (1961), p. 116 who knew the country as Romarong.Classic Encyclopedia. "Sierra Leone". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. In 1462, it was visited by the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra, who gave it its current designation, meaning \'Lion Mountains\'.Room (1995), p. 346-7 Sierra Leone became an important centre of the transatlantic slave trade, until 1787 when Freetown was founded by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for formerly enslaved African Americans and West Indians.History World. "History of Sierra Leone". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony, and in 1896, the interior of the country became a British Protectorate;Classic Encyclopedia. "Sierra Leone". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. in 1961, the two combined and gained independence. Political instability over the following decades eventually led to the Sierra Leone Civil War,Sillinger (2003), p. 104 which began in 1991 and was resolved with the assistance of the United Nations in 2002. Since then, almost 72,500 former combatants have disarmedKeen (2005), p. 268 and the country has reestablished a functioning democracy.Sierra Leone. The World Factbook. CIA (15 May, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-17. The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1996.The Special Court for Sierra Leone. "About the Special Court for Sierra Leone". Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
Sierra Leone is the lowest ranked country on the Human Development Index and seventh lowest on the Human Poverty Index,Human Development Reports. "Sierra Leone - The Human Development Index". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. suffering from endemic corruption,David Tam-Baryoh, Worldpress.org. "Corruption in Sierra Leone". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. suppression of the pressReporters without Borders. "Media body curbs press freedom". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.Refugees International. "HIV/AIDS: Sierra Leone’s Newest Crisis". Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
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Archaeological finds show that Sierra Leone has been inhabited continuously for at least 2,500 years,Countries and Their Cultures. "Culture of Sierra Leone". Retrieved on 2008-02-22. populated by successive movements from other parts of Africa.Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Sierra Leone History". Retrieved on 2008-02-19. The use of iron was introduced to Sierra Leone by the 9th century, and by AD 1000 agriculture was being practiced by coastal tribes.Encyclopedia of the Nations. "Sierra Leone - History". Retrieved on 2008-02-22. Sierra Leone\'s dense tropical rainforest largely protected it from the influence of any precolonial African empires Utting (1931), p. 33 and from Islamic explorations, which were unable to penetrate through it successfully until the 18th century. Utting (1931), p. 8
European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa. In 1462, Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra mapped the hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbour, naming shaped formation Serra Lyoa (Portuguese for Lion Mountains). Its Italian Spanish? rendering is Sierra Leone, which became the country\'s name.
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This section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject History may be able to help recruit one. |
During the 1700s the major slave trading base in Sierra Leone was Bunce Island, located about 20 miles into the Sierra Leone River, now called the "Freetown Harbour." The British slave traders at Bunce Island sent many of their captives to the rice plantations of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. The rice planters in those colonies preferred slaves from Sierra Leone and other parts of the West African "Rice Coast" because of their rice-growing skills. The Gullah people who live in the lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia today still have many linguistic and cultural affinities to Sierra Leoneans.
In 1787 a plan was implemented to settle some of London\'s Black Poor in Sierra Leone in what was called the "Province of Freedom". A number of Black Poor and White women arrived off the coast of Sierra Leone on May 15 1787, accompanied by some English tradesmen. This was organized by the St George\'s Bay Company, composed of British philanthropists who preferred it as a solution to continuing to financially support them in London. Many of the Black poor were Black Loyalists, enslaved Africans who had been promised their freedom for joining the British Army during the American Revolution, but also included other African and Asian inhabitants of London.
Disease and hostility from the indigenous people nearly eliminated the first group of colonists. Through intervention by Thomas Peters, the Sierra Leone Company was established to relocate another group of nearly 2,000 Black Loyalists, originally settled in Nova Scotia. Given the most barren land in Nova Scotia, many had died from the harsh winters there. They established a settlement at Freetown in 1792 led by Peters. It was joined by other groups of freed slaves and became one of Britain\'s first colonies in West Africa.
Though the English abolitionist Granville Sharp originally planned Sierra Leone as a utopian community, the directors of the Sierra Leone Company refused to allow the settlers to take freehold of the land. Knowing how Highland Clearances benefited Scottish landlords but not tenants, the settlers revolted in 1799. The revolt was only put down by the arrival of over 500 Jamaican Maroons, who also arrived via Nova Scotia.
Thousands of slaves were returned to or liberated in Freetown. Most chose to remain in Sierra Leone. These returned Africans were from all areas of Africa. They joined the previous settlers and together became known as Creole or Krio people. Cut off from their homes and traditions, they assimilated some aspects of British styles of life and built a flourishing trade on the West African coast. The lingua franca of the colony was Krio, a creole language rooted in 18th century African American English, which quickly spread across the region as a common language of trade and Christian proselytizing. British and American abolitionist movements envisioned Freetown as embodying the possibilities of a post-slave trade Africa.
Britain and British seafarers – including Sir Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Forbisher and Captain Brown — played a major role in the transatlantic trade in captured Africans between 1530 and 1810. Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, which ended the Spanish War of Succession (1701 - 1714), had an additional clause (the Asiento) that granted Britain (among other things) the exclusive rights over the shipment of captured Africans across the Atlantic. Over 10 million captured Africans were shipped to the Caribbean Islands and the Americas and many more died during the raids, the long marches to the coast and due to the inhuman conditions in slave ships. Britain outlawed slavery on 29 March 1807, and the British marine operating from Freetown took active measures to stop the Atlantic slave trade.
In 1998 Pope John-Paul II apologized for the role of the catholic church in transatlantic trade. And during their respective trips to Africa, President Bill Clinton (April 1998) and President George W Bush (July 2003) visited the slave fort in the Island Gorée before Dakar, and condemned the slave trade but stopped short of an apology, to avoid providing the basis for compensation claims. But so far neither Britain nor any other European country has so apologized for the crimes of the slave trade. In 2001, on the initiative of left wing groups, members of the European Parliament discussed the possibility of writing off some foreign debts as form of compensation for the slave trade. The suggestion found little or no sympathy among the European parliamentarians.
In the early 20th century, Freetown served as the residence of the British governor who also ruled the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and the Gambia settlements. Sierra Leone also served as the educational centre of British West Africa. Fourah Bay College, established in 1827, rapidly became a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast. For more than a century, it was the only European-style university in western Sub-Saharan Africa.
During Sierra Leone\'s colonial history, indigenous people mounted several unsuccessful revolts against British rule and Krio domination. The most notable was the Bai Bureh rebellion against British rule in 1898. Bai Bureh was a man who refused to recognise the hut tax imposed by the British in 1893 in Sierra Leone. He did not believe Sierra Leoneans had a duty to pay taxes to foreigners, and he wanted all British to return to Britain and let the Sierra Leoneans solve their own problems. After he refused to pay his taxes on several occasions, the British issued a warrant to arrest him. In 1896 Bureh declared war on Brits in Sierra Leone. He brought fighters from several Temne villages under his command, and from Limba, Loko, Soso, Kissi, and Mandinka villages. He had the advantage over the vastly more powerful British for several months of the war. Hundreds of British troops and hundreds of Bureh\'s fighters were killed.[1] Bai Bureh was finally captured on November 11, 1898 and sent into exile to the Gold Coast (now Ghana).
Most of the 20th century history of the colony was peaceful. One notable event in 1935 was the granting of a monopoly on mineral mining to the Sierra Leone Selection Trust run by De Beers, which was scheduled to last 99 years. The 1951 constitution provided a framework for decolonization. Local ministerial responsibility was introduced in 1953, when Sir Milton Margai was appointed Chief Minister. He became Prime Minister after successful completion of constitutional talks in London in 1960. Independence came in April 1961, and Sierra Leone opted for a parliamentary system within the Commonwealth of Nations.
On April 27, 1961, Sir Milton Margai led Sierra Leone to independence from the United Kingdom. The date was significant because the 27th April 1898 marked the start of the first independence war - the "Hut Tax War of 1898" - against British rule. The uprising was led by various chiefs in the protectorate regions of the country - Bai Bureh (1840 - 1908), Kai Lundu (1845 - 1898) and Bai Sherbro Kpana Lewis (1830 - 1912). A number of rebellions followed until after World War 2. After a gradual transition independence was peacefully negotiated at the Malbourough House, London in 1961.
The country\'s first prime minister became Milton Margai, the veteran medical doctor who had been appointed Chief Minister after the Colonial Legislative Council and the Protectorate Assembly were unified in 1951. His movement, Sierra Leone People\'s Party (SLPP), had won by large margins in the nation\'s first general election under universal adult suffrage in May 1962. It also won majority of seat in parliament. Upon his death in 1964, his brother, Sir Albert Margai succeeded him as prime minister. Albert Margai was highly criticized during his three-year rule as prime minister. He was accused of corruption and of a policy of affirmative action in favour of the Mende ethnic group. He also tried to establish a one-party state but met fierce resistance from the opposition All People\'s Congress (APC) and ultimately abandoned the idea.
In a closely contested general elections in March 1967, Sierra Leone Governor General Henry Josiah Lightfoot Boston declared the new prime minister to be Siaka Stevens, candidate of the All People\'s Congress (APC) and Mayor of Freetown. Hours after taking office, Stevens was ousted in a bloodless coup led by Brigadier David Lansana, the Commander of the Armed Forces, on grounds that the determination of office should await the election of the tribal representatives to the house. Stevens was placed under house arrest and Martial law was declared. But a group of senior military officers overrode this action by seizing control of the government on March 23, 1968, arresting Lansana and suspending the constitution. The group constituted itself as the National Reformation Council (NRC) with Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith as its chairman. In April 1968, the NRC was overthrown by a group of military officers who called themselves the Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement (ACRM), led by Brigadier John Amadu Bangura. The ACRM imprisoned senior NRC members, restored the constitution and reinstated Stevens as Prime Minister.
The return to civilian rule led to by-elections beginning in fall 1968 and the appointment of an all-APC cabinet. Calm was not completely restored. In November 1968, Stevens declared a state of emergency after provincial disturbances. In March 1971 the government survived an unsuccessful military coup and in July 1974 it uncovered an alleged military coup plot. The leaders of both plots were tried and executed. In 1977, student demonstrations against the government disrupted Sierra Leone politics.
On April 19, 1971, parliament declared Sierra Leone a Republic, Siaka Stevens, then prime minister, became the first president. Guinean troops requested by Stevens to support his government were in the country from 1971 to 1973. An alleged plot to overthrow Stevens failed in 1974, its leaders were executed, and in March 1976 he was elected without opposition for a second five-year term as president. In the national parliamentary election of May 1977, the APC won 74 seats and the opposition SLPP won 15. In 1978, a referendum approved a new constitution making the country a one-party state; the APC was the only legal political party.
In August 1985, the APC named a new presidential candidate to succeed Stevens. He was the commander of the armed forces, Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh, Stevens\' own choice. Stevens retired in November after being President for 14 years, but continued to be chairman of the APC. Momoh was elected President in a one-party referendum on October 1, 1985. An inauguration was held in January 1986, and parliamentary elections were held in May. After an alleged attempt to overthrow Momoh in March 1987, more than 60 senior government officials were arrested, including Vice-President Francis Minah, who was removed from office, convicted for plotting the coup, and executed by hanging in 1989, along with 5 others.
In October 1990, President Momoh set up a constitutional review commission to review the 1978 one-party constitution with a view to broadening the existing political process, guaranteeing fundamental human rights and the rule of law, and strengthening and consolidating the democratic foundation and structure of the nation. The commission, in its report presented January 1991, recommended re-establishment of a multi-party system of government. Based on that recommendation, a constitution was approved by Parliament in July 1991 and ratified in September; it became effective on October 1, 1991. But there was great suspicion that Momoh was not serious, and APC rule was increasingly marked by abuses of power.
Civil war broke out, mainly due to government corruption and mismanagement of diamond resources. With the breakdown of state structures and the effective suppression of civilian opposition, wide corridors were opened for trafficking of arms, ammunition and drugs, all of which eroded national and regional security and facilitated crime in the country and with Liberia and Guinea.
Besides the internal ripeness, the brutal civil war going on in neighbouring Liberia played an undeniable role for the outbreak of fighting in Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor - then leader of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia - reportedly helped form the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under the command of former Sierra Leone army corporal Foday Sankoh. In return, Taylor received diamonds from Sierra Leone. The RUF, led by Foday Sankoh and backed by Taylor, launched its first attack in villages in Kailahun District in the diamond-rich Eastern Province of Sierra Leone on March 23, 1991. The government of Sierra Leone, overwhelmed by a crumbling economy and corruption, was unable to put up significant resistance. Within a month of entering Sierra Leone from Liberia, the RUF controlled much of the Eastern Province. Forced recruitment of child soldiers was also an early feature of the rebel strategy.
On April 29, 1992, a group of seven young soldiers in the Sierra Leonean army, apparently frustrated by the government\'s failure to deal with rebels, launched a military coup which sent president Momoh into exile in Guinea. They were Captain Valentine Strasser (25 years old), Sergeant Solomon Musa (26), Brigadier-General Julius Maada Bio (27), Lieutenant Colonel Tom Nyuma (26), Colonel Yahya Kanu (28), Lieutenant Colonel Komba Mondeh (27), and Captain Samuel Komba Kambo (26). They established the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) with Kanu as its chairman and Head of State of the country. But Kanu was assassinated by fellow NPRC members, who accused him of trying to negotiate with the toppled APC administration. On May 1, Strasser took over as chairman and Head of State. Musa, one of the leaders of the coup and a best friend of Strasser took over as Vice-Chaiman of the NPRC. Many Sierra Leoneans nationwide rushed into the streets to welcome the NPRC Administration from the 23 year dictatorial APC regime, that was perceived as corrupt. The NPRC junta immediately suspended the 1991 Constitution, declared a state of emergency, limited freedom of speech, and freedom of the press and enacted a rule-by-decree policy. The army and police officers were granted unlimited powers of administrative detention without charge or trial, and challenges against such detentions in court were precluded.
The NPRC proved to be nearly as ineffectual as the Momoh-led APC government in repelling the RUF. More and more of the country fell to RUF fighters, and by 1995 they held much of the diamond-rich Eastern Province and were at the edge of Freetown. In response, the NPRC hired several hundred mercenaries from the private firm Executive Outcomes. Within a month they had driven RUF fighters back to enclaves along Sierra Leone’s borders. During this time corruption had erupted within senior NPRC members. On July 5, Strasser dismissed his childhood friend Musa as deputy and appointed Bio to succeed him. Some senior NPRC members, including Bio, Nyuma and Mondeh, were unhappy with Strasser\'s handling of the peace process. In January 1996, after nearly four years in power, Strasser was ousted in a coup by fellow NPRC members led by his deputy Bio. Bio reinstated the Constitution and called for general elections. In the second round of presidential elections in early 1996, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People\'s party (SLPP) defeated John Karefa-Smart of the United National People\'s Party (UNPP). Bio fulfilled promises of a return to civilian rule, and handed power to Kabbah. Kabbah\'s SLPP party also won majority of the seats in Parliament.
In 1996, Major General Johnny Paul Koroma was allegedly involved in an attempt to overthrow the government of President Kabbah. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned at Freetown\'s Pademba Road Prison. But some top rank Army officers were unhappy with this decision, and on May 25, 1997, a group of soldiers who called themselves the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) overthrew him. The AFRC released Koroma from prison and installed him as their chairman and Head of State of the country. Koroma suspended the constitution, banned demonstrations, shut down all private radio stations and invited the RUF to join his government. After 10 months in office, the junta was ousted by the Nigeria-led ECOMOG forces, and the democratically elected government of President Kabbah was reinstated in March 1998. Hundreds of civilians who had been accused of helping the AFRC government were illegally detained. Courts-martial were held for soldiers accused of assisting the AFRC government. 24 of these were found guilty and were executed without appeal in October 1998. On January 6, 1999, AFRC made another unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government, causing many deaths and much destruction of property in and around Freetown.
In October, the United Nations agreed to send peacekeepers to help restore order and disarm the rebels. The first of the 6,000-member force began arriving in December, and the UN Security Council voted in February 2000 to increase the force to 11,000, and later to 13,000. But in May, when nearly all Nigerian forces had left and UN forces were trying to disarm the RUF in eastern Sierra Leone, Sankoh\'s forces clashed with the UN troops, and some 500 peacekeepers were taken hostage as the peace accord effectively collapsed.
Satellite image of Sierra Leone, generated from raster graphics data supplied by The Map Library
The road from Kenema to Kailahun.
Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa, north of the equator. With a land area of 71,740 square kilometers (27,699 square miles). Sierra Leone is bordered by Guinea to the north and northeast, Liberia to the south and southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
There are a wide variety of ecological and agricultural zones to which people have adapted. Starting in the west, Sierra Leone has some 400 kilometres (250 miles) of coastline, giving it both bountiful marine resources and attractive tourist potential. This is followed by low-lying mangrove swamps, rain-forested plains and farmland, and finally a mountainous plateau in the east, where Mount Bintumani rises to 1,948 meters (6,390 ft). The climate is tropical, with two seasons determining the agricultural cycle: the rainy season from May to November, followed by the dry season from December to May, which includes harmattan, when cool, dry winds blow in off the Sahara Desert. The national capital Freetown sits on a coastal peninsula, situated next to the Sierra Leone Harbor, the world\'s third largest natural harbour. This prime location historically made Sierra Leone the centre of trade and colonial administration in the region.
Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. The current system of government in Sierra Leone, established under the 1991 Constitution, is modeled on the following structure of government: the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary.
Within the confines of the 1991 Constitution, supreme legislative powers are vested in Parliament, which is the law making body of the nation. Supreme executive authority rests in the president and members of his cabinet and judicial power with the judiciary of which the Chief Justice is head.
The president is the head of state, the head of government and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The president appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers (including the vice president), which must be approved by the Parliament. The president is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two five-year terms. The State House located in the capital Freetown serves as the official resident of the president.
To be elected president, a candidate must gain at least 55% of the vote. If no candidate gets 55%, there is to be a second-round runoff between the top two candidates with the most votes in the first round. Presidential candidates must be a Sierra Leonean citizens by birth; be at least 40 years old; be a member of a political party; and be able to speak and read English. The current president is Ernest Bai Koroma, who was sworn in on September 17, 2007, shortly after being declared the winner of a tense run-off election.BBC country profile
The Parliament of Sierra Leone is unicameral, with 124 seats. Each of the country\'s 14 districts is represented in parliament. 112 members are elected concurrently with the presidential elections; the other 12 seats are filled by Paramount chief from each of the country\'s 12 administrative districts. All members serve five-year terms. Candidates must be a Sierra Leonean citizens; be at least 21 years old; be a member of a political party; and be able to speak and read English. The most recent parliamentary elections were held on August 11, 2007. The All People\'s Congress (APC), won 59 of 112 parliamentary seats; the Sierra Leone People\'s Party (SLPP) won 43; and the People\'s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) won 10.
The judicial power of Sierra Leone is vested in the judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice and comprising the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the High Court. These constitute the Superior Court of Jurisdiction. The inferior courts comprise the Magistrates courts and the Local courts. The Magistrates Courts exist in each district. Local courts administer customary law. The president appoints and parliament approves justices for the three courts. The current Chief Justice is Ade Renner Thomas. He was appointed to the position by former president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
The 14 districts of Sierra Leone.
The Republic of Sierra Leone is composed of 3 provinces and one area called the Western Area; the provinces are further divided into 12 districts. The Western Area is also divided into 2 districts.
| District | Capital | Area km² | Province | Population
(2004 census) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bombali District | Makeni | 7,895 | Northern Province | 408,390 |
| Koinadugu District | Kabala | 12,121 | 265,765 | |
| Tonkolili District | Magburaka | 7,003 | 347,197 | |
| Port Loko District | Port Loko | 5,719 | 453,746 | |
| Kambia District | Kambia | 3,108 | 270,460 | |
| Kenema District | Kenema | 6,053 | Eastern Province | 497,948 |
| Kono District | Koidu Town | 5,641 | 355,401 | |
| Kailahun District | Kailahun | 3,859 | 358,190 | |
| Bo District | Bo | 7,003 | Southern Province | 463,668 |
| Bonthe District | Bonthe | 3,468 | 139,687 | |
| Moyamba District | Moyamba | 6,902 | 260,910 | |
| Pujehun District | Pujehun | 4,105 | 228,392 |
Figures are taken from Sierra Leone Encyclopedia
| Districts | Capital | Area km² | Region | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural]] | Freetown | 757 km² | Western Area |
The Western Area comprises Freetown, the nation\'s capital, and its surrounding countryside. It covers an area of 557 km² and has a population of 1,246,624. It is divided into two districts Western Area Urban District and Western Area Rural District.
Populations of Sierra Leone\'s major cities (2004 census).
| City | Population |
|---|---|
| Freetown | 772,873 |
| Bo | 149,957 |
| Kenema | 128,402 |
| Koidu Town | 80,025 |
| Makeni | 82,840 |
| Magburaka | 11,006 in 1985 |
| Kailahun | 9,054 in 1985 |
Sierra Leone has maintained cordial relations with the West, in particular with the former colonizer United Kingdom. It also maintains diplomatic relations with China, Libya, Iran, United States and Cuba. Former President Siaka Stevens\' government had sought closer relations with other West African countries under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The present government is continuing this effort.
Sierra Leone is a member of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the Commonwealth, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Development Bank (AFDB), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Sierra Leone, along with Liberia, and Guinea formed the Mano River Union (MRU). This is primarily designed to implement development projects and promote regional economic integration between the three countries.
Sierra Leone is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US military (as covered under Article 98).
The government maintains 16 embassies and high commissioners across the world including in Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Libya, People\'s Republic of China, Iran, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, United Nations, and the United States. http://www.slhc-uk.org.uk/envoys.htm
A rice farmer in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone is emerging from a protracted civil war and is showing signs of a successful transition. Investor and consumer confidence continue to rise, adding impetus to the country’s economic recovery. There is greater freedom of movement and the successful re-habitation and resettlement of residential areas. In 2001, Sierra Leone attracted US$4 million in foreign direct investment.
Rich in minerals, Sierra Leone has relied on mining, especially diamonds, for its economic base. In the 1970s and early 1980s, economic growth rate slowed because of a decline in the mining sector and increasing corruption among government officials. By the 1990s economic activity was declining and economic infrastructure had become seriously degraded. Over the next decade much of the formal economy was destroyed in the country’s civil war. Since the end of hostilities in January 2002, massive infusions of outside assistance have helped Sierra Leone begin to recover. Much of the recovery will depend on the success of the government\'s efforts to limit corruption by officials, which many feel was the chief cause for the civil war. A key indicator of success will be the effectiveness of government management of its diamond sector.
Mineral exports remain the main foreign currency earner. Sierra Leone is a major producer of gem-quality diamonds. Though rich in diamonds, it has historically struggled to manage their exploitation and export. Annual production estimates range between $250-300 million. Some of that is smuggled, where it is possibly used for money laundering or financing illicit activities. But formal exports have dramatically improved since the civil war. Efforts to improve the management of exports have had some success. In October 2000, a UN-approved certification system for exporting diamonds from the country was put in place and led to a dramatic increase in legal exports. In 2001, the government created a mining community development fund, which returns a portion of diamond export taxes to diamond mining communities. The fund was created to raise local communities\' stake in the legal diamond trade.
Sierra Leone has one of the world\'s largest deposits of rutile, a titanium ore used as paint pigment and welding rod coatings. Sierra Rutile Limited, owned by a consortium of United States and European investors, began commercial mining operations near the city of Bonthe, in the Southern Province, in early 1979. It was then the largest non-petroleum US investment in West Africa. The export of 88,000 tons realized $75 million in export earnings in 1990. In 1990, the company and the government made a new agreement on the terms of the company\'s concession in Sierra Leone. Rutile and bauxite mining operations were suspended when rebels invaded the mining sites in 1995, but exports resumed in 2005.
About two-thirds of the population engages in subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 52.5% of national income. The government is trying to increase food and cash crop production and upgrade small farmer skills. The government works with several foreign donors to operate integrated rural development and agricultural projects.
Despite its successes and development, the Sierra Leone economy still faces significant challenges. There is high unemployment, particularly among the youth and ex-combatants. Authorities have been slow to implement reforms in the civil service, and the pace of the privatisation programme is also slacking and donors have urged its advancement.
Sierra Leone’s currency is the Leone. The central bank of the country is the Bank of Sierra Leone which is located in the capital, Freetown. The bank is run by the bank Governor, Dr. Samura Kamara, and directors. The bank is a 100% state-owned corporate body and its objectives include:
Sierra Leone operates a floating exchange rate system, and foreign currencies can be exchanged at any of the commercial banks, recognised foreign exchange bureaux and most hotels.
Credit card use is limited in Sierra Leone, though they may be used at some hotels and restaurants. Visitors should check in advance with local managements. Sierra Leone does not have internationally linked automated teller machine (ATM) machines.
The 2007 United Nation estimate of Sierra Leone\'s population is at 5.9 million. [1] Freetown, with an estimated population of 1,070,200, is the capital, largest city and the hub of the economy, commercial, educational and cultural centre of the country. Bo is the second city with a population of 149,957 in the census of 2004, but considerably higher now.[citation needed] Other cities with a population of over 100,000 are Kenema, Koidu Town, Makeni, Magburaka and Kailahun.
Although English is the official language spoken at schools and government administration, Krio (language derived from English and several African languages and is native to the Sierra Leone Krio people) is the lingua franca. It unites all the different ethnic groups, especially in their trade and interaction with each other.
A Mende woman in the village of Njama in Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.
The population of Sierra Leone is comprised of 15 ethnic groups, each with its own language and costume. The two largest are the Mende and Temne, each making up 30% of the population. The Mende predominate in the Southern Province and in Kailahun District in the Eastern Province; the Temne in the Northern Province. The Limba represent about 9.6% and live mostly in the Northern Province like their allies the Temne. The Kono make up about 8.5%, and live mostly in the Eastern Province, particularly in the diamond-rich Kono District. The Krio (descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, The United States, and Britain which landed in Freetown between 1787 and about 1885) make up 3.9% of the population and they live mostly in the capital city of Freetown and its surrounding suburbs. Other minority ethnic groups are the Mandingo, Sherbro, Kissi, Kuranko, Loko, Fula, Susu, Yalunka, Vai and the Sierra Leonean-Lebanese (descendants of Lebanese who settled here in the late 19th century).
In the past, Sierra Leoneans were noted for their educational achievements, trading activity, entrepreneurial skills, and arts and crafts work, particularly wood carving. Many are part of larger ethnic networks extending into several countries, which link West African states in the area. But the level of education and infrastructure has declined sharply over the last 30 years."Sierra Leone (02/08)". "U.S. Department of State". Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
Sierra Leone has an education system with six years of primary school (Class 1-6), and six years of secondary school (Form 1-6); secondary schools are divided into junior secondary school (Form 1-3) and senior secondary school (Form 4-6). Students at primary schools are usually 6 to 12 years old, and in secondary schools 13 to 18. Primary education is free and compulsory in government-sponsored public schools.
The country\'s two main Universities are the Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa, founded in 1827, and Njala University in Njala, Moyamba District and Bo, founded in 1963. Teacher training colleges and religious seminaries are found in many parts of the country.
Notable Secondary Schools in Sierra Leone include: CMS / Sierra Leone Grammar School, founded ca. 1845 in Murray Town, Freetown; Annie Walsh Memorialk Secondary School, ca. 1848, Kissy Road, Freetown; St. Edwards Secondary School, ca. 1866, Kingtom, Freetown; Prince of Wales Secondary School, ca. 1874, Kingtom, Freetown; Methodist Boys High School, ca. 1874, Kissy, Freetown; Methodist Girls High School, ca. 1880, Kissy, Freetown; Harford School for Girls, ca. 1897, Moyamba Town, Moyamba District; Albert Academy ca. 1904, Berry Street, Freetown; Bo Government Secondary School, ca. 1906, Bo Town, Bo District; West African Collegiate School, ca. 1911, Wilkinson Road, Freetown; Government Model School ca. 1925, Circular Road, Freetown; Magburaka Government Secondary School, ca. 1950, Magburaka, Tonkolili District; Freetown Secondary School for Girls, ca. 1955, Brookfields, Freetown; Kenema Government Secondary School, ca. 1955, Kenema Town, Kenema District; St. Francis Secondary School, ca. 1949, Makeni Town, Bombali District; Benevolent Islamic Secondary School, ca. 1979, Makeni Town, Bombali District; St. Joseph Secondary School, ca. 1954, Makeni Town, Bombali District.
The predominant religion is Islam, practiced by around 60% of the population; 30% follow Christianity; and 10% follow indigenous religions. The Sierra Leone constitution provides freedom of religion and the government generally protects this right, and does not tolerate its abuse. Unlike many other African countries, the religious and ethnic mix of Sierra Leone rarely cause religious or ethnic conflict.[citation needed]
The Sierra Leone constitution guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. But in practice the government at times restricts these rights. Dozens of newspapers are published in the country, most of them privately run and often critical of the government. Under legislation enacted in 1980, all newspapers must register with the Ministry of Information and pay a sizable registration fee.
All major cities in the country run their own radio stations. Inaugurated in 1963, The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) is the state-run national station in charge of television and radio broadcasting in the country. The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (Unomsil) operates radio services, broadcasting news of UN activities and human rights information, as well as music and news. FM relays of BBC World Service and Radio France Internationale are aired in major cities. Radio Sierra Leone, the oldest broadcasting service in English-speaking West Africa, broadcasts mainly in English, with regular news and discussion programs on several topics.
There are a number of systems of transport in Sierra Leone, which has a road, air and water infrastructure, including a network of highways and several airports.
There are ten Regional airports in Sierra Leone, and one international airport, the Lungi International Airport. It is in the city of Lungi, across the sea from Freetown, and is the primary airport for domestic and international travel. Passengers cross the river to Aberdeen Heliports in Freetown by hovercraft, ferry or a helicopter. Helicopters are also available from the airport to other major cities in the country. The airport has paved runways longer than 3,047m. The other airports have unpaved runways, and seven have runways 914 to 1,523 metres long; the remaining two have shorter runways.
Sierra Leone has the third largest natural harbour in the world, where shipping from all over Earth berth at the famous Queen Elizabeth II Quay in Government Wharf in central Freetown. There are 800 km of waterways in Sierra Leone, of which 600 km are navigable year-round. Major port cities are Bonthe, Freetown, Sherbro Island and Pepel.
There are 11,700 kilometres of highways in Sierra Leone, of which 936 km are paved. Sierra Leone highways are linked to Conakry, Guinea, and Monrovia, Liberia.
Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport in Sierra Leone. The national football team, popularly known as the Leone Stars, represents the country in international competitions. It has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but participated in the 1994 and 1996 African Cup of Nations. The country\'s national television network, The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) broadcasts the live match, along with several radio stations throughout the country.
The Sierra Leone National Premier League is the top football league, controlled by the Sierra Leone Football Association. The two biggest and most successful football clubs are East End Lions and Mighty Blackpool, but Kallon F.C. is closing in on them. Kallon F.C. won the Premier League and the Sierra Leonean FA Cup in 2006, and eliminated 2006 Nigerian Premier League Champions Ocean Boys FC in the 2007 CAF Champions League first qualifying round, but later lost to ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast in the second qualifying round for the group stage.
The Sierra Leone U-17 football team, nicknamed the Sierra Stars, finished as runner-up at the 2003 African U-17 Championship in Swaziland, but came in last place in their group at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland.
Many Sierra Leoneans follow the major European football leagues, particularly the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, and Spain La Liga. Cinema are often overcrowed as fans gather to watch the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Inter Milan matches being shown live on television. Many Sierra Leoneans follow the UEFA Champions League more than the CAF Champions League. It is common to find local children nicknamed Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Steven Gerrard, Patrick Vieira, Lionel Messi and Filippo Inzaghi.[citation needed]
The Sierra Leone cricket team represents Sierra Leone in international cricket competitions, and is among the best in West Africa. It became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2002.[1] It made its international debut at the 2004 African Affiliates Championship, where it finished last of eight teams. But at the equivalent tournament in 2006, Division Three of the African region of the World Cricket League, it finished as runner-up to Mozambique, and just missed a promotion to Division Two.
The Sierra Leone national basketball team represents Sierra Leone in international men\'s basketball competitions and is controlled by the Sierra Leone Basketball Federation. The squad is mostly home-based, with a few foreign players.
Logging, mining, slash and burn, and deforestation for alternative land use - such as cattle grazing - have dramatically decreased forested land in Sierra Leone since the 1980s.
Until 2002, Sierra Leone lacked a forest management system due to a brutal civil war that caused tens of thousands of deaths. Deforestation rates have increased 7.3% since the end of the civil war. On paper, 55 protected areas covered 4.5% of Sierra Leone as of 2003. The country has 2,090 known species of higher plants, 147 mammals, 626 birds, 67 reptiles, 35 amphibians, and 99 fish species.
In June 2005, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Bird Life International agreed to support a conservation-sustainable development project in the Gola Forest in southeastern Sierra Leone, the most important surviving fragment of rain forest in Sierra Leone.
Two major Hollywood films have been produced that relate to Sierra Leone. Steven Spielberg’s film Amistad (1997, with Morgan Freeman, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Mathew McCounaghey) is about an 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship travelling towards the Northeast Coast of America. But much of the plot revolves around the court-room drama that lead to the historic supreme court decision recognizing the captives rights to freedom. The heroic role of Sengbe Pieh (Cinque), who organized and led the revolt, was virtually marginalized. Edward Zwick’s film Blood Diamond (2006, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou) is about conflict diamonds mined in Sierra Leone, Angola and Congo and sold in major diamond cutting centers – Antwerp, Tel Aviv and Mumbai – to finance (and prolong) armed conflicts in Africa. The film is centered in Sierra Leone and portrays many of the atrocities, including the practice of cutting off people\'s limbs to spread fear and insecurity in the country side and to gain control over the diamond, gold, bauxite and rutile mining areas. But the action is focused mostly on Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a white mercenary from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), who trades arms for diamonds with an RUF commander (Corporal Foday Sankoh), and Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist covering the war and investigating the illegal diamond trade. The role of De Beers Group, which is the major player in the diamond trade, was bracketed out. It has been suggested that the company pressured the producers of the film to include a disclaimer saying the events are fictional and in the past - De Beers has denied this. This film and the Nollywood Video films (Nigerian Productions) on blood diamonds have established Sierra Leone as the blood diamond country in the minds of people all over the world.
In literature, Sierra Leone is the setting for Graham Greene\'s classic novel The Heart of the Matter, which deals with diamond smuggling during World War II. Since the rebel incursion in the early 1990s a number of books have written about the trade in diamonds or minerals for weapons. These include Hugh Paxton\'s horror/action novel; Amadou Kourouma\'s posthumously published book about roving rebel war soldiers, such the late Sam Bockarie, who fought in Liberia and Sierra Leone and was killed fighting in Côte d’Ivoire; and Ishmael Beah\'s book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Hugh Paxton\'s novel Homunculusfirst published in hardback ISBN 978-0230000490 by Macmillan UK in October 2006 and now available in paperback (March 2007), ISBN 978-0230007369 juxtaposes the realities of the war in Sierra Leone with a fantasy of the exploitation of the war for the trade in blood diamonds and for the testing, demonstration and sale by auction of
