ACOG - Sierra Leone  - IBM

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guineaand Liberia

Area:
total area: 71,740 sq km
land area: 71,620 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than South Carolina

Land boundaries: total 958 km, Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km

Coastline: 402 km


People

Population: 4,753,120 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 44% (female 1,054,826; male 1,020,943)
15-64 years: 53% (female 1,310,506; male 1,216,510)
65 years and over: 3% (female 72,982; male 77,353)

Population growth rate: 2.63% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 44.65 births/1,000 population

Death rate: 18.38 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate: 138.8 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.94 years
male: 44.07 years
female: 49.89 years

Total fertility rate: 5.9 children born/woman

Ethnic divisions: 13 native African tribes 99% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 39%), Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%

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 (the language of the re-settled ex-slave population of the Freetownarea and is lingua franca)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic(1990 est.)
total population: 21%
male: 31%
female: 11%


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone

Type: military government

Capital: Freetown

Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)

Constitution: 1 October 1991; suspended following 19 April 1992 coup


Economy

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $4.5 billion

National product real growth rate: 0.7%

National product per capita: $1,000

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22%

Unemployment rate:

Electricity:
capacity: 130,000 kW
production: 220 million kWh
consumption per capita: 44 kWh



Olympic Factoid
The volunteer staff of the 1996 Olympic Games totaled 50,152. They worked an estimated 850,000 shifts.