Profile - Sierra Leone

I INTRODUCTION
Sierra Leone, independent nation in western Africa, bounded on the north and east by Guinea, on the southeast by Liberia, and on the southwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean. The total area of the country is 71,740 sq km (27,699 sq mi). Freetown is the capital and largest city.

II LAND AND RESOURCES
A low-lying coastal plain in Sierra Leone extends inland from the Atlantic Ocean for about 80 km (about 50 mi). The area closest to the ocean is a largely swampy region; however, the Sierra Leone Peninsula, where Freetown is situated, is dominated by hills. To the east the land rises from the coastal plain to a plateau in the north and to hilly terrain in the south. Several small mountain ranges are located near the northern and eastern borders and reach a maximum elevation of 1,945 m (6,381 ft) in Bintumani (Loma Mansa) in the Loma Mountains. Of the numerous short rivers that drain the country the most important are the Kolenté (Great Scarcies) and the Kaba (Little Scarcies), and the Rokel, Jong, Sewa, and Moa. Most are navigable only in the rainy season.

A Climate Sierra Leone has a tropical climate; the mean temperature in Freetown is about 27° C (about 80° F) in January and 26° C (78° F) in July. Annual rainfall averages more than 3,800 mm (more than 150 in) along the coast, diminishing to about 2,000 mm (about 80 in) in the northern interior. Most rain falls from May to October.

B Mineral Resources Much of Sierra Leone’s wealth is derived from rich mineral resources, including diamonds, chrome, bauxite, iron ore, and rutile. Small amounts of gold and platinum are also mined.

C Vegetation and Animal Life A savanna vegetation, comprising grasses and bushes, dominates northern Sierra Leone. Forests are densest in the southeast and contain varieties of palm and, to a lesser extent, mahogany and teak. Among the numerous small animals are bush pigs, chimpanzees, monkeys, and porcupines. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are often found in the rivers.

III POPULATION
The population is composed predominantly of black Africans belonging to nearly 20 different ethnic groups. The largest groups are the Mende in the south, and the Temne in the north. Creoles (also known in Sierra Leone as Krios), are descendants of freed slaves returned from the Americas. They form an important minority in the Freetown area, where small numbers of Lebanese, Indians, and Europeans also reside. Some 65 percent of the population lives in rural areas, many of them in the more than 29,000 settlements that include isolated, temporary homesteads.

A Population Characteristics
The estimated population of Sierra Leone in 1998 was 5,080,004, yielding an overall population density of 71 persons per sq km (183 per sq mi). Freetown, the capital, is the largest city. Other major towns include Kenema and Bo, both in the southern interior.

B Religion and Language Of those reporting a religion, 60 percent of the people follow traditional beliefs. Christianity, adhered to by 8 percent of the population, is strongest among the Creoles, and Islam (30 percent) is practiced by the Temne in the north. English is the official language. Of about 20 African languages spoken, Mende and Temne are most widely used. Another common language is Krio, a Creole language derived from English and various African languages. Only 31 percent of the adult population is literate.

C Education In 1996, 52 percent of primary school-aged children were enrolled in school, while only 17 percent of secondary school-aged children were attending. The University of Sierra Leone, which includes Fourah Bay College (1827) and Njala University College (1963), had an enrollment of some 4,700.

IV ECONOMY
The economy of Sierra Leone is based on agriculture and mining. Some 67 percent of the population is engaged in farming, fishing, or forestry. Much of the farming is of a subsistence nature. Plantation agriculture is significant only in the coastal region. Minerals are the country’s principal export. In 1996 the national budget showed revenues of $76 million and expenditures of $139 million.

A Agriculture The staple food crop of Sierra Leone is rice; during the 1970s efforts were made to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production, but imports are still needed. Some 400,000 metric tons were produced in 1998. Other crops grown for domestic consumption include cassava, millet, sorghum, peanuts, and sugar. Such agricultural commodities as palm oil, palm kernels, coffee, cacao, ginger, kola nuts, and piassava (palm fibers) are grown for export. Cattle, goats, and sheep are raised, and the fishing industry is of increasing importance.

B Mining Gem and industrial diamonds, once the leading mineral products of Sierra Leone, are now produced at levels far below those of the past. This reduction in output is due to the near exhaustion of some fields, persistent smuggling, and civil insurrection in some regions. In 1997, 110,000 carats of gem-quality diamonds were produced, down substantially from peak production in the 1970s. Rutile, a titanium ore of which Sierra Leone has one of the world’s largest deposits, in the early 1990s assumed the role of leading export, producing half of all earnings. Bauxite also is mined in large quantities.

C Manufacturing Manufacturing in Sierra Leone is limited largely to the processing of such primary products as palm kernels and rice. Light industries, including furniture, textile, cigarette, and cement manufacturing, have been developed. Sierra Leone has a refinery for imported petroleum.

D Currency and Foreign Trade The unit of currency is the leone (981 leones equal U.S.$1; 1997 average), issued by the Bank of Sierra Leone, which was founded in 1964. In 1996 exports were valued at $47 million, and imports totaled $211 million. Minerals provided much of the country’s export earnings. The remainder was provided by agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa. The major imports were mineral fuels, machinery, vehicles, and foodstuffs. Chief trading partners for exports are the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany; leading sources for imports are the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Germany.

E Transportation and Communications
Sierra Leone’s rail system has been almost entirely closed down in favor of an expanded network of 11,300 km (7,021 mi) of roads. Inland waterways, most of them navigable for three months of the year, total 800 km (500 mi). Freetown, Pepel, and Bonthe are the chief ports. The country has a well-developed internal air transport network; international service is provided by several foreign lines. Lungi, near Freetown, is the site of an international airport. The government-operated radio broadcasting system, based in Freetown, broadcasts in English, Krio, Mende, Limba, and Temne. A government-owned television station was established in Freetown in 1963. The country’s 1 daily newspaper, the Daily Mail of Freetown, has a circulation of 20,000.

V GOVERNMENT
Sierra Leone is governed under a 1991 constitution that provides for a multiparty democratic system and human rights guarantees. A president is both head of state and head of government. The president is popularly elected to a five-year term and may serve no more than two consecutive terms. Legislative authority rests with the single-chamber House of Representatives, which has 68 members elected by popular vote and 12 paramount chiefs chosen by district tribal councils. Representatives serve five-year terms. The constitution was suspended from 1992 to 1996 and from mid-1997 to early 1998 following military coups.

A Judiciary The judicial system includes the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, magistrates’ courts, and local courts. Magistrates’ courts have jurisdiction in civil cases, and local courts decide cases involving traditional law and customs. Appeals are made to the court of appeal and ultimately to the Supreme Court.

B Local Government Sierra Leone is divided into four regions: the Northern, Eastern, and Southern provinces and the Western Area. These are divided into 12 districts, each having a resident minister. The districts are subdivided into more than 140 chiefdoms, each controlled by a paramount chief and a council of elders, who are responsible for maintaining law and order and administering justice.

C Health and Welfare In 1998 the estimated life expectancy at birth was only 52 years for women and 46 years for men. The infant mortality rate was among the highest in Africa—129 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Medical personnel and facilities were grossly inadequate.

D Defense Military service in Sierra Leone is voluntary. Troop strengths in 1997 were difficult to determine due to political unrest, but it is estimated that the country had an army of between 11,000 and 15,000 people and a navy of 200 personnel.

VI HISTORY
The country was named Sierra Leone (Lion Mountains) by the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra, who visited the coast in 1460.

A Colonial Rule The British established a colony at Freetown in 1787 for slaves repatriated from Great Britain and the United States and for slaves rescued from shipwrecks. The land of the original settlement, where the city later developed, was purchased from local chiefs.

The Sierra Leone Company, formed in 1791, administered the settlement until 1808, when it became a crown colony. Britain set up a protectorate over the hinterland of Freetown in 1896. The first elections for the legislative council were held under the constitution of 1924. The ministerial system was introduced in 1953, and Sir Milton Margai, a former physician and leader of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), was appointed chief minister in 1954 and prime minister in 1960.

B Independence Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961. The constitution of 1961 extended the right to vote to women. Following the elections of 1962, Margai remained prime minister. Margai died in 1964 and was succeeded by his half-brother, Albert Margai. In 1967, as a result of disputed elections, in which Siaka Stevens, leader of the All People’s Congress (APC), was elected prime minister, the army staged a coup and organized a National Reformation Council. After a second army revolt in 1968, civilian government was restored, and Stevens was returned to power. Sierra Leone was declared a republic on April 19, 1971, and Stevens was sworn in as executive president on April 21. Opposition to the government was gradually eliminated; in elections held in May 1973, the APC was unopposed. In 1975 Sierra Leone signed a trade and aid agreement with the European Community (now the European Union) and helped form the Economic Community of West African States. The next year Stevens was reelected president.

In 1978 a new constitution made the country a one-party state, and Stevens was sworn in for a new seven-year term in office. The APC was thereafter the only legal party. In the early 1980s Sierra Leone suffered an economic slowdown, as sagging export revenues left the government unable to pay for essential imports. In November 1985 Stevens retired, and Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh was sworn in as president the following January. A coup attempt was suppressed in March 1987, and in November the president declared a state of economic emergency. Early in 1991 guerrillas spilling over from the Liberian civil war captured several towns near the Liberian border; Guinea and Nigeria supplied military aid to the Sierra Leone government to contain the threat. As government forces fought back the Liberian guerrillas, a Sierra Leonean rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), sprang up to take territory of its own, and a brutal civil war ensued. A new constitution providing for a multiparty system was adopted in September. In April 1992, however, Momoh was ousted in a military coup and replaced by Captain Valentine Strasser. Strasser’s government reduced street crime, lowered inflation from 115 percent to 15 percent, allowing the country to receive more than $300 million in global aid packages. Strasser, who at age 27 became one of the world’s youngest heads of state, was accused of restricting free press practices, having his political enemies executed, and for continuing the civil war. In 1994 he endorsed a two-year transition to multiparty democracy, with elections scheduled for 1996.

Six weeks before the scheduled elections in late February, Strasser was removed from power in a bloodless coup by his defense minister, Brigadier Julius Maada Bio. Bio pledged to hold free elections as planned, but insisted that an end to Sierra Leone’s devastating five-year-long civil war was necessary for a successful transfer to civilian rule. The elections were held on February 26 and 27, marred by sporadic violence in Freetown and Bo. In a runoff vote, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP was elected president. In March Bio announced a two-month cease-fire pact with RUF leaders and peacefully stepped down.

Kabbah served as president until May 1997, when he was ousted in a military coup. The military junta, a coalition of disaffected junior army officers, escaped prisoners, and members of the RUF, faced immediate international condemnation and economic sanctions. Nigerian troops taking part in a peacekeeping force in neighboring Liberia quickly responded by mounting an offensive against rebel forces. In February 1998 the Nigerian force secured the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown after months of bombardment. In March Kabbah returned to office from exile in Guinea.

In January 1999 the Nigerian force repelled a large-scale rebel assault on Freetown, and thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting. As of mid-1999 Kabbah’s administration controlled little more than Freetown, with various factions of the rebel forces holding most rural areas in addition to the country’s diamond mines.

In 1998 and 1999, rebel soldiers, thousands of whom were less than 18 years old, terrorized Sierra Leone’s countryside with calculated atrocities. Rebels mutilated hundreds of civilians, often severing their hands from their arms, to send a message of intimidation to Kabbah’s government. The United Nations and other international organizations condemned the human rights abuses.

Homepage Your Support for INADEV Comments Contact Us