WELCOME TO SIERRA LEONE

President: Ernest Koroma (2007)

Land area: 27,653 sq mi (71,621 sq km); total area: 27,699 sq mi (71,740 sq km)

Population (2007 est.): 6,144,562 (growth rate: 2.3%); birth rate: 45.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 158.3/1000; life expectancy: 40.6; density per sq mi: 222

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Freetown, 1,051,000

Monetary unit: Leone

Languages: English (official), Mende (southern vernacular), Temne (northern vernacular), Krio (lingua franca)

Ethnicity/race: 20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%); Creole (Krio) 10%; refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians

Religions: Islam 60%, indigenous 30%, Christian 10%

Literacy rate: 35.1% (2004 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $4.882 billion; per capita $1.549. Real growth rate: 6.8%. Inflation: 12% (2007 est.). Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 8%.

Agriculture: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish. Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.). Industries: diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair. Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite. Exports: $216 million f.o.b. (2006): diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish. Imports: $560 million f.o.b. (2006): foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals.

Major trading partners: Belgium, Germany, U.S., UK, Côte d'Ivoire, China, Netherlands, South Africa, France (2004).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 24,000 (2002); mobile cellular: 113,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (2001). Radios: 1.12 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 2 (1999). Televisions: 53,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 46 (2007). Internet users: 10,000 (2005).

Transportation: Railways: total: 84 km used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed (2001). Highways: total: 11,330 km; paved: 904 km; unpaved: 10,396 km (2002). Waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round. Ports and harbors: Bonthe, Freetown, Pepel. Airports: 10 (2007).

International disputes: large UN peacekeeping presence ended civil war but rebel gang fighting, ethnic rivalries, illegal diamond trading, corruption, and refugees spill over into neighbouring states beset with their own civil disorder, refugees, and violence.

View of Freetown