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Sierra Leone

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                Republic of Sierra Leone


   Flag of Sierra Leone Coat of Arms of Sierra Leone
           Flag                 Coat of Arms

   Motto
   "Unity - Freedom - Justice"
   Anthem
   High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free
   Location of Sierra Leone
   Capital
   (and largest city)          Freetown
                               8°31′N, 13°15′W
       Official languages      English
           Government          Republic
    -  President               Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
                        Republic
    -  from the United Kingdom April 27, 1961
                          Area
    -  Total                   71,740 km² ( 119th)
                               27,699  sq mi
    -  Water (%)               1.0
                       Population
    -  July 2005 estimate      6,005,250 ( 107th^1)
    -  2000 census             5,426,618
    -  Density                 83 /km² ( 114th^1)
                               199 /sq mi
   GDP ( PPP)                  2005 estimate
    -  Total                   $4.921 billion ( 151st)
    -  Per capita              $903 ( 172nd)
   HDI (2004)                  0.335 (low) ( 176th)
            Currency           Leone ( SLL)
            Time zone          GMT ( UTC+0)
          Internet TLD         .sl
          Calling code         +232
   ^1 Rank based on 2005 figures.

   Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in
   West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea on the north and Liberia on the
   south, with the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The name Sierra Leone was
   adapted from the Portuguese name for the country: Serra Leoa. The
   literal meaning is "Lion Mountain." During the 1700s Sierra Leone was
   an important centre of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The capital
   Freetown was founded in 1792 by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for
   Black Britons who had fought for the British in the American
   Revolutionary War.

   In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony, and in 1896, the
   interior of the country became a British Protectorate. The Crown Colony
   and Protectorate joined and gained independence in 1961. From 1991 to
   2002, the country suffered greatly under a devastating civil war. To
   end the civil war, UN and British forces disarmed 17,000 militia and
   rebels, in the largest UN peacekeeping act of the decade. The average
   life span of a Sierra Leonean is 38 years for men and 42 years for
   women.

History of Sierra Leone

Early History

   The Temne were living along the northern coast of present-day Sierra
   Leone when the first Portuguese navigators reached the region in 1460.
   The Portuguese landed on the Sierra Leone Peninsula, naming it Serra
   Lyoa (meaning lion mountains) after the mountains located there.
   Beginning c.1500, European traders stopped regularly on the peninsula,
   exchanging cloth and metal goods for ivory, timber, and small numbers
   of slaves. Beginning in the mid-16th century, Mande-speaking people
   migrated into Sierra Leone from present-day Liberia, and they
   eventually established the states of Bullom, Loko, Boure, and Sherbro.
   In the early 17th century, British traders became increasingly active
   along the Sierra Leone coast. Sierra Leone was a major source of slaves
   for the transatlantic slave trade during the 17th and 18th centuries.

   Following the American Revolutionary War (1775–83) attempts were made
   to resettle freed slaves who had sided with Great Britain in Africa. In
   1787, 400 persons (including 280 black men, 70 white women, and 50
   black women) left England for Sierra Leone. The ones who could finish
   the voyage and arrive at the Sierra Leone Peninsula, bought land from
   local Temne leaders, and established the Province of Freedom near
   present-day Freetown. The settlement did not fare well, and most of the
   inhabitants died of disease in the first year. A renewed attempt at
   settlement was made in 1792, when about 1,100 freed slaves under the
   leadership of the abolitionist John Clarkson landed on the peninsula
   and founded Freetown. They were joined by about 500 free blacks from
   Jamaica in 1800. The new colony was controlled by the Sierra Leone
   Company, which forcefully held off the Temne while the settlers
   supported themselves by farming.

   In 1807, Great Britain outlawed the slave trade, and in early 1808 the
   British government took over Freetown from the financially troubled
   company, using it as a naval base for anti-slavery patrols. Between
   1808 and 1864 approximately 50,000 liberated slaves settled at
   Freetown. Protestant missionaries were active there, and in 1827 they
   founded Fourah Bay College, where Africans were educated and became
   active as missionaries, traders, and civil servants along the Sierra
   Leone coast and on Sherbro Island as well as in other regions in West
   Africa, especially among the Yoruba people.

The Colonial Era

   During the periods 1821 to 1827, 1843 to 1850, and 1866 to 1874,
   British holdings on the Gold Coast (now Ghana) were placed under the
   governor of Sierra Leone. In 1863 an advisory legislative council was
   established in Sierra Leone. The British were reluctant to assume added
   responsibility by increasing the size of the colony, but in 1896 the
   interior was proclaimed a British protectorate, mainly in order to
   forestall French ambitions in the region, and the Colony and
   Protectorate of Sierra Leone was established.

   The protectorate was ruled “indirectly” (i.e., through the rulers of
   the numerous small states, rather than by creating an entirely new
   administrative structure) and a hut tax was imposed in 1898 to pay for
   administrative costs. The Africans protested the tax in 1898 and and
   fought the British in a war later became known as the Hut Tax War of
   1898. Led in the north by Bai Bureh and in the south by the Poro secret
   society; the British quickly emerged victorious and there were no
   further major armed protests. Under the British, little economic
   development was undertaken in the protectorate until the 1950s,
   although a railroad was built and the production for export of palm
   products and peanuts was encouraged.

   After World War II, Africans were given more political responsibility,
   and educational opportunities were enlarged. In the economic sphere,
   mining (especially of diamonds and iron ore) increased greatly. The
   Creoles of the colony, who had been largely excluded from higher
   government posts in favour of the British, sought a larger voice in the
   affairs of Sierra Leone. A constitution adopted in 1951 gave additional
   power to Africans. However, the Creoles were a small minority in the
   combined colony and protectorate, and in the elections of 1 951 the
   protectorate-based Sierra Leone Peoples party (SLPP), led by Sir Milton
   Margai (a Mende), emerged victorious.

An Independent Nation

   On Apr. 27, 1961, Sierra Leone became an independent nation, with
   Milton Margai as prime minister. He died three years later in 1964 and
   was succeeded by his brother, Albert Margai. Margai was highly
   criticized during his reign; he was accused of corruption and of a
   policy of affirmative action in favour of the Mende tribe. Following
   the 1967 general elections, the Governor General Henry Josiah Lightfoot
   Boston declared Siaka Stevens candidate of the All Peoples Congress
   (APC) and Mayor of Freetown as the new Prime Minister of Sierra Leone.
   However, a military coup led by Brigadier David Lansana in support of
   Margai ousted Stevens a few minutes after he took office.

   The Lansana government itself was soon toppled and replaced by a
   National Reformation Council (NRC) headed by Brigadier Andrew
   Juxon-Smith In 1968. An army revolt overthrew the NRC and returned the
   nation to parliamentary government, with Siaka Stevens as prime
   minister. The following years were marked by considerable unrest,
   caused by ethnic and army disaffection with the central government.

   After an attempted coup in 1971, parliament declared Sierra Leone to be
   a Republic, with Siaka Stevens as president. Guinean troops requested
   by Stevens to support his government were in the country from 1971 to
   1973. Stevens's APC party swept the 1973 parliamentary elections,
   creating a de facto one-party state; a 1978 referendum made the APC the
   only legal party in Sierra Leone.

   Siaka Probyn Stevens, who had been President of Sierra Leone for 18
   years, retired from that position in November 1985, although he
   continued his role as chairman of the ruling APC party. In August 1985,
   the APC named military commander Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh,
   Stevens' own choice, as the party candidate to succeed him. Momoh was
   elected President in a one-party referendum on October 1, 1985. A
   formal inauguration was held in January 1986, and new parliamentary
   elections were held in May 1986.

   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.

Civil War

   On April 29, 1992, a group of young military officers, led by 25 year
   old Captain Valentine Strasser apparently frustrated by failure to deal
   with rebels, launched a military coup, which sent Momoh into exile in
   Guinea and established the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC)
   as Strassar President. On January 1996, after nearly four years in
   power, President Strassar was ousted in a coup led by his defence
   minister Brigadier Julius Maada Bio.

   Promises of a return to civilian rule were fulfilled by Bio, who handed
   power over to Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, of the Sierra Leone People's party,
   after the conclusion of presidential elections in early 1996. Kabbah's
   government reached a cease-fire in the war with Corporal Foday
   Sankoh-lead, Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which had launched its
   first attacks in 1991; rebel terror attacks continued, however,
   apparently aided by Liberia.

   On May 25, 1997, The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), led by
   Major General Johnny Paul Koroma, overthrew President Kabbah. Koroma
   suspends the constitution, bans demonstrations, abolishes political
   parties and invited the RUF to join the government.

   The United Nations imposed sanctions against the military government in
   October, 1997, and the Economic Community of West African States
   (ECOWAS) sent in forces led by Nigeria. The rebels were subdued in
   February, 1998, and President Kabbah was returned to office in March.

   Fighting continued, however, in many parts of the country, with reports
   of widespread atrocities. Over 6,000 people were killed in fighting in
   the Freetown area in January, 1999 alone. In March, Nigeria announced
   it would withdraw its forces by May. A peace accord was signed in July
   between President Kabbah and Foday Sankoh of the RUF. The agreement
   granted the rebels seats in a new government and all forces a general
   amnesty from prosecution. The government had largely ceased functioning
   effectively, however, and at least half of its territory remained under
   rebel control.

   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 Security Council voted in
   February, 2000, to increase the UN forces to 11,000 (and subsequently
   to 13,000). In May, when nearly all Nigerian forces had left and UN
   forces were attempting 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.

   An 800-member British force entered the country to secure Western
   Freetown and evacuate Europeans; some also acted in support of the
   forces fighting the RUF, including Koroma's AFRC group. After Sankoh
   was captured in Freetown, the hostages were gradually released by the
   RUF, but clashes between the UN forces and the RUF continued, and in
   July the West Side Boys—part of the AFRC—clashed with the peacekeepers.
   In the same month the UN Security Council placed a ban on the sale of
   rough diamonds from Sierra Leone in an attempt to undermine the funding
   of the RUF. In late August, senor Ruf commander Sam Bockarie became
   head of the RUF; also, British troops training the Sierra Leone army
   were taken hostage by the West Side Boys, but were freed by a British
   raid in September.

   General elections scheduled for early 2001 were postponed, due to the
   insecurity caused by the civil war. In May, 2001, sanctions were
   imposed on Liberia because of its support for the rebels, and UN
   peacekeepers began to make headway in disarming the various factions.
   Although disarmament of rebel and progovernment militias proceeded
   slowly and fighting continued to occur, by January, 2002, most of the
   estimated 45,000 fighters had surrendered their weapons. In a ceremony
   that month, government and rebel leaders declared the civil war to have
   officially ended; an estimated 50,000 people died in the conflict.

   Elections were finally held in May, 2002. President Kabbah was
   re-elected, and his Sierra Leone People's party won a majority of the
   parliamentary seats. In June, 2003, the UN ban on the sale of Sierra
   Leone diamonds expired and was not renewed. The UN disarmament and
   rehabilitation program for Sierra Leone's fighters was completed in
   February, 2004, by which time another 70,000 former combatants had been
   helped. UN forces returned primary responsibility for security in the
   area around the capital to Sierra Leone's police and armed forces] in
   September, 2004; it was the last part of the country to be turned over.
   Some UN peacekeepers remained to assist the Sierra Leone government
   until the end of 2005. Because the political unrest of Sierra Leone in
   recent years U.S., U.K. and Australian embassies all currently
   discourage travel to Sierra Leone.

Politics

   The head of state and government is the president, who is elected every
   five years (most recently in May 2002). The current president of Sierra
   Leone is Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The next parliamentary and presidential
   elections will take place on July 28, 2007.

   The president appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers. The Sierra
   Leonean parliament is unicameral, with 124 seats. 112 members are
   elected concurrently with the presidential elections; the other twelve
   seats are filled by Paramount Chiefs from each of the country's twelve
   administrative districts.

   Local Government elections were held in 2004 (for the first time since
   1972), electing 456 councillors sitting in nineteen local councils.

Administrative divisions

   The Republic of Sierra Leone is composed of three provinces and one
   area; the provinces are further divided into twelve districts.

   Northern Province
     * Port Loko
     * Bombali
     * Koinadugu
     * Kambia
     * Tonkolili

                    Southern Province
                      * Bo
                      * Bonthe
                      * Moyamba
                      * Pujehun

                                     Eastern Province
                                       * Kenema
                                       * Kono
                                       * Kailahun

   Western Area
     * The national capital Freetown and its surrounding countryside

Geography and Climate

   Satellite image of Sierra Leone, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library
   Satellite image of Sierra Leone, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library

   Roughly circular in shape, Sierra Leone has an area of almost 30,000
   square miles. Located on the West African coast, the country is
   bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the south and the
   Atlantic Ocean to the west.

   Three topographical regions run northwest to southwest, roughly
   parallel to the coast; a belt of mangrove swamps and white sand
   beaches, an area of low plains covered with secondary forest and
   cultivated land and a region of high plateaux and mountains to the
   east, while the mountainous peninsula on which Freetown is located
   makes up the fourth distinct geographical region.

   Sierra Leone is of tropical climate with a rainy season May through
   October, the balance of the year representing the dry season. The
   beginning and end of the rainy season is marked by strong thunderstorms
   not unlike those of the hot summer period on the US eastern seaboard.
   Sierra Leone has an average year round temperature of 80 degrees.

   Freetown’s high humidity is somewhat relieved November through February
   by the Harmattan, a gentle wind flowing down from the Sahara Desert
   affording Freetown its coolest period of the year.

Economy

   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. In
   addition to this there is greater freedom of movement and the
   successful rehabilitation and resettlement of residential areas. In
   2001 Sierra Leone attracted US$4 million in foreign direct investment.
   The country has also enjoyed an improvement in the terms of trade as a
   result of the lower of international petroleum prices.

   The country’s main economic sectors include diamond mining, agriculture
   and fisheries. The mining of diamonds, bauxite and rutile provides the
   major source of hard currency. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the
   country’s six million strong population with most involved in
   subsistence agriculture. The sector accounted for 51% of the country’s
   GDP. Sierra Leone’s manufacturing sector continues to develop and
   consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light
   manufacturing for the domestic market. In 2002 the country’s GDP was
   US$789.4 million.

   Despite its successes and development, the Sierra Leone economy still
   faces some significant challenges. There is a high rate of 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.

Demographics

   The population of Sierra Leone now exceeds six million - the highest
   density being in the Western area while the lowest is in the more
   remote northern and eastern parts of the country. Freetown, the
   national capital is also the commercial and education centre of the
   country.

   English, the official language of Sierra Leone is taught at schools and
   serves as the primary language while students are in classrooms or
   school compound.

Ethnicity

   The population of Sierra Leone is comprised of approximately eighteen
   ethnic groups; each with its own language and customs, the two largest
   of these being the Mende and Temne about equal in numbers representing
   60% of the country's population. The Mende predominates in the south,
   the Temne likewise to the north. The third largest ethnic group is the
   Limba 12.5%, they are mostly found in the north and some eastern part
   of the country; followed by the Krio 10% (descendants of freed slaves
   who came to Freetown from the West Indies, North America and Britain)
   their language being the Lingua Franca of all the tribes in Sierra
   Leone. Most Krios live in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Other
   minority ethnic groups in the country include the Loko, Sherbro, Kono,
   Mandingo, Kissi, Kuranko, Fula, Susu, Yalunka, Vai and a small number
   of Sierra Leonean citizens originated from Lebanon, Pakistan, and
   India. The Western area, including the national capital Freetown, is
   more mixed in population, but is basically the home of the Krio group.

Religion

   Approximately 60% of Sierra Leoneans are Muslim; 30% are Christian; 10%
   practice Indegenous beliefs or other religion.

   The Sierra Leone constitution provides freedom of religion and the
   government generally protect this right, and do not tolerate it abuse.

   Unlike many other countries, the religious and tribal mix of Sierra
   Leone rarely causes religious or tribal conflict.

Krio usage in Sierra Leone

   Most Krios live in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, and their
   community accounts for only about 10% of Sierra Leone's total
   population. However, because of their cultural influence in Sierra
   Leone — especially during the period of colonial rule — their language
   is used as the lingua franca among all the tribes in Sierra Leone. The
   Krio language is widely spoken among Sierra Leoneans. Many Sierra
   Leoneans who are not ethnic Krios grow up speaking Krio instead of
   their native language . 95% of Sierra Leone total population speak
   Krio.

Environment

   Burn cultivation for agriculture. Logging, clearing for cattle grazing,
   fuelwood collection, and mining have produced a dramatic drop in forest
   cover in Sierra Leone since the 1980s.

   Until 2002, Sierra Leone lacked a forest management system due to a
   brutal civil war that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. On
   paper, 55 protected areas covered 4.5 percent 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 rainforest in Sierra Leone.

   Deforestation rates have increased 7.3 percent since the end of the
   civil war.

Currency of Sierra Leone

   Sierra Leone’s currency is the Leone(Le). The central bank of the
   country is the Bank of Sierra Leone which is located in the national
   capital Freetown. The central Bank objectives include:
     * promotion of monetary stability and sound financial structure
     * maintenance of the internal and external values of the Leone
     * promotion of credit and exchange conditions conducive to balanced
       economy growth
     * issuance and distribution of notes and currency in the country
     * formulation and implementation of monetary policy
     * banker and advisor to the Government in financial and economic
       matters
     * management of domestic and foreign debt
     * acting as custodian of the country’s reserve of approved foreign
       exchange
     * acting as banker to the Commercial Banks
     * supervision and regulation of activities of commercial banks and
       other financial institutions
     * administration of the operations of structural adjustment
       programmes where the bank has specific responsibilities
     * rural banking
     * diamond certification

   the Bank of Sierra Leone is a 100 per cent state owned corporate body.

   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 Cards are Limited use in Sierra Leone, though they may be
   utilised at some hotels and restaurants, for which you should check in
   advance with local managements. Sierra Leone does not have
   internationally linked ATM machines.

   Travellers Cheques May be utilised at major hotels or cashed at banks
   and at few limited shop outlets.

   Currency Exchange: It is important that Sierra Leone exchange
   regulations be observed - for example, it is illegal to exchange money
   with unlicensed money dealers. All transactions may only made at banks
   or recognised foreign exchange bureaux.

Sport

   Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport in Sierra Leone. The
   Sierra Leone national soccer team popularly known as the Leone Stars
   represents Sierra Leone in international soccer competitions. The team
   has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but they have participated
   in the 1994 and 1996 African Nations cup. The Sierra Queens is the
   nickname of Sierra Leone Women's National soccer team. The team
   represents Sierra Leone in international women's soccer competitions.

   The Sierra Leonean Premier League is top soccer league in Sierra Leone.
   The league is controlled by the Sierra Leone Football Association. East
   End Lions and Mighty Blackpool are the two biggest and most successful
   soccer clubs in the country, but Kallon F.C. is closing in on them.
   Kallon F.C. won the Premier League in 2006, and eliminated 2006
   Nigerian Premier League Champions Ocean Boys in the 2007 CAF Champions
   League qualifying round for the group stage.

   The Sierra Leone cricket team is among the best in West Africa. They
   became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in
   2002. They made their international debut at the 2004 African
   Affiliates Championship, where they finished last out of the eight
   teams. They returned at the equivalent tournament in 2006, Division
   Three of the African region of the World Cricket League, where they had
   a major improvement, this time finishing as runners-up to Mozambique,
   and only just missing out on promotion to Division Two.

   The Sierra Leone U-17 soccer team nickname the Sierra Stars finished as
   runner-up at the 2003 African U-17 Championsip in Swaziland, but came
   in last place in their group at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship
   in Finland.

   Some Sierra Leoneans enjoy playing basketball, table tennis, volleyball
   and tennis. Boxing and track are also popular in the country.

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