Sierra Leone

• tropical;
• hot, humid;
• summer rainy season (May to December);
• winter dry season (December to April)

• population clusters are found in the lower elevations of the south and west;
• the northern third of the country is less populated as shown on this population distribution map

noun:

Sierra Leonean(s)

adjective:

Sierra Leonean

total:

19.2 years (2023 est.)

male:

18.8 years

female:

19.6 years

• population clusters are found in the lower elevations of the south and west;
• the northern third of the country is less populated as shown on this population distribution map

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.95 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

72.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

77.2 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

67.2 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

59.1 years (2023 est.)

male:

57.5 years

female:

60.7 years

degree of risk:

very high (2023)

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases:

schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases:

rabies

aerosolized dust or soil contact diseases:

Lassa fever

total:

3.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

0.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

0.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

2.9 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

13.5% (2020 est.)

male:

20.5% (2020 est.)

female:

6.4% (2020 est.)

women married by age 15:

8.6%

women married by age 18:

29.6%

men married by age 18:

4.1% (2019 est.)

• rapid population growth pressuring the environment;
• overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing, and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation, soil exhaustion, and flooding;
• loss of biodiversity;
• air pollution;
• water pollution;
• overfishing

• tropical;
• hot, humid;
• summer rainy season (May to December);
• winter dry season (December to April)

urban population:

44.3% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

3.02% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

severe localized food insecurity:

• due to high food prices and reduced incomes - according to the latest analysis, about 1.18 million people are projected to be in need of humanitarian assistance between the June to August 2023 lean season;
• acute food insecurity is underpinned by elevated food prices, in part driven by a weak currency, and low purchasing power of vulnerable households (2023)

particulate matter emissions:

39.42 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

1.09 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

3.16 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal:

110 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

50 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Sierra Leone

conventional short form:

Sierra Leone

local long form:

Republic of Sierra Leone

local short form:

Sierra Leone

etymology:

the Portuguese explorer Pedro de SINTRA named the country "Serra Leoa" (Lion Mountains) for the impressive mountains he saw while sailing the West African coast in 1462

name:

Freetown

geographic coordinates:

8 29 N, 13 14 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

name derived from the fact that the original settlement served as a haven for free-born and freed African Americans, as well as for liberated Africans rescued from slave ships

history:

several previous; latest effective 1 October 1991

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage of amendments requires at least two-thirds majority vote of Parliament in two successive readings and assent of the president of the republic;
• passage of amendments affecting fundamental rights and freedoms and many other constitutional sections also requires approval in a referendum with participation of at least one half of qualified voters and at least two thirds of votes cast;
• amended several times, last in 2016

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent or grandparent must be a citizen of Sierra Leone

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

• President Julius Maada BIO (since 28 June 2023);
• Vice President Mohamed Juldeh JALLOH (since 28 June 2023);
• note - the president is both chief of state, head of government, and minister of defense

head of government:

President Julius Maada BIO (since 28 June 2023); Vice President Mohamed Juldeh JALLOH (since 28 June 2023)

cabinet:

Ministers of State appointed by the president, approved by Parliament; the cabinet is responsible to the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 24 June 2023 (next to be held in 2028)

election results:

2023: Julius Maada BIO elected president in first round; percent of vote - Julius Maada BIO (SLPP) 56.2%, Samura KAMARA (APC) 41.2%, other 2.6%; 2018: Julius Maada BIO elected president in second round; percent of vote - Julius Maada BIO (SLPP) 51.8%, Samura KAMARA (APC) 48.2%

description:

unicameral Parliament (146 seats; 132 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by a district block proportional representation vote and 14 seats filled in separate elections by non-partisan members of Parliament called "paramount chiefs;" members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

last held on 24 June 2023 (next to be held in 2028)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - n/a;
• seats by party - SLPP 81, APC 54;
• composition - men 94, women 41, percent of women 30.3%

highest court(s):

• Superior Court of Judicature (consists of the Supreme Court - at the apex - with the chief justice and 4 other judges, the Court of Appeal with the chief justice and 7 other judges, and the High Court of Justice with the chief justice and 9 other judges);
• note – the Judicature has jurisdiction in all civil, criminal, and constitutional matters

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court chief justice and other judges of the Judicature appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, a 7-member independent body of judges, presidential appointees, and the Commission chairman, and are subject to approval by Parliament;
• all Judicature judges serve until retirement at age 65

subordinate courts:

• magistrates' courts;
• District Appeals Court;
• local courts

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sidique Abou-Bakarr WAI (since 8 April 2019)

chancery:

1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009-1605

telephone:

[1] (202) 939-9261

FAX:

[1] (202) 483-1793

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://embassyofsierraleone.net/

chief of mission:

Ambassador Bryan David HUNT (since 23 August 2023)

embassy:

Southridge-Hill Station, Freetown

mailing address:

2160 Freetown Place, Washington DC 20521-2160

telephone:

[232] 99 105 000

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://sl.usembassy.gov/

• three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue;
• green symbolizes agriculture, mountains, and natural resources, white represents unity and justice, and blue the sea and the natural harbor in Freetown

name:

"High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free"

lyrics/music:

Clifford Nelson FYLE/John Joseph AKA

note: adopted 1961

• low-income West African economy;
• primarily subsistent agriculture;
• key iron and diamond mining activities suspended;
• slow recovery from 1990s civil war;
• systemic corruption;
• high-risk debt;
• high youth unemployment;
• natural resource rich

• diamond mining;
• iron ore, rutile and bauxite mining;
• small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, footwear)

total:

10.8% (2021 est.)

male:

15.8%

female:

7.6%

lowest 10%:

2.6%

highest 10%:

33.6% (2003)

production:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

0 metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

0 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

5,900 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

0 barrels (2021 est.)

production:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

consumption:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

exports:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

imports:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

proven reserves:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• the telecom sector has only gradually recovered from the destruction caused during the war years, and only since 2019 has there been an effective terrestrial fiber backbone infrastructure, while the cable link to neighboring Guinea was not completed until February 2020;
• there is considerable available capacity from the ACE submarine cable and the national fiber network, but this is used inefficiently and so the price of internet connectivity remains one of the highest in the region;
• the theft of equipment and cabling, compounded by neglect, mismanagement, and under investment, means that telcos continue to operate in difficult conditions;
• the telecom regulator has made efforts to improve the market, including the liberalization of the international gateway and regular checks on QoS;
• the regulator reduced the price floor for mobile voice calls in early 2020, though consumers objected to the MNOs withdrawing a number of cheap packages as a response;
• the mobile sector has been the main driver of overall telecom revenue (2022)

domestic:

fixed-line less than 0 per 100 and mobile-cellular just over 98 per 100 (2021)

international:

• country code - 232;
• landing point for the ACE submarine cable linking to South Africa, over 20 western African countries and Europe;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

• 1 government-owned TV station;
• 3 private TV stations;
• a pay-TV service began operations in late 2007;
• 1 government-owned national radio station;
• about two-dozen private radio stations primarily clustered in major cities;
• transmissions of several international broadcasters are available (2019)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

50,193 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 (2015) mt-km

total:

11,701 km (2015)

paved:

1,051 km (2015)

unpaved:

10,650 km (2015)

urban:

3,000 km (2015)

non-urban:

8,700 km (2015)

Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF):

Land Forces, Maritime Forces, Air Wing

Ministry of Internal Affairs:

Sierre Leone Police (2023)

• the RSLAF has a small inventory that includes a mix of Soviet-origin and other older foreign-supplied equipment;
• in recent years, it has received limited amounts of mostly donations and secondhand equipment (2023)

Sierra Leone-Guinea :

• Sierra Leone opposed Guinean troops' continued occupation of Yenga, a small village on the Makona River that serves as a border with Guinea;
• Guinea's forces came to Yenga in the mid-1990s to help the Sierra Leonean military to suppress rebels and to secure their common border but remained there even after both countries signed a 2005 agreement acknowledging that Yenga belonged to Sierra Leone;
• in 2012, the two sides signed a declaration to demilitarize the area;
• in 2019, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation stated that the dispute over Yenga had been resolved;
• however, at a 2021 ECOWAS meeting, Sierra Leone’s President BIO called on the bloc to help resolve an incursion of Guinean troops in Yenga

Sierra Leone-Liberia :

none identified