KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1961
Population: 5,979,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 0.8% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 177
Official language: English
Time: GMT
Currency: leone (Le)
Geography
Area: 71,740 sq km
Coastline: 402 km
Capital: Freetown
The Republic of Sierra Leone (Portuguese for ‘Lion Mountain’) in West Africa is bordered by Guinea to the north, Liberia to the south-east, and the Atlantic to the south and west.
Main towns:
Freetown (capital, Western Province; pop. 836,600 in 2010), Bo (Southern, 215,400), Kenema (Eastern, 169,900), Makeni (Northern, 102,600), Koidu (Eastern, 91,600), Lunsar (Northern, 23,900), Port Loko (Northern, 22,700), Pandebu- Tokpombu (Eastern, 19,700), Kabala (Northern, 18,800), Waterloo (Western, 17,800), Kailahun (Eastern, 17,500), Segbwema (Eastern, 16,000), Magburaka (Northern, 16,000), Koindu (Eastern, 15,900) and Bonthe (Southern, 10,200).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 83
Life expectancy: 45 years
Population:
5,979,000 (2012); 40 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 1.8 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 37 per 1,000 people (46 in 1970); life expectancy 45 years (36 in 1970 and 40 in 1990); population figures are unreliable because during the civil war in the mid-1990s up to 50 per cent of the population had to leave their homes – there was mass migration to towns and to neighbouring countries. The vast majority of the people are of Bantu origin: Temne (35 per cent in the 2008 census) and Limba (eight per cent) people mostly in the Northern province; Mende people (31 per cent) live in the Southern province and Eastern province. Additionally, there are nine other Bantu ethnic groups, including Kono (five per cent), Mandingo (two per cent) and Loko (two per cent). Krios (two per cent) are descendants of formerly enslaved 19th-century immigrants who live mostly in and around Freetown. The small Lebanese community, mostly of traders, decreased during the 1990s.
Language:
English is the official language. Krio (an English-based Creole) is spoken in and around Freetown. Other major languages are Temne, Mende and Limba.
Education:
Public spending on education was three per cent of GDP in 2012. There are six years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises six years and secondary six, with two cycles each of three years. The school year starts in September. The principal tertiary institutions are Fourah Bay College In Freetown and Njala University, with campuses in Bo and Njala. These universities, together with Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (Freetown), Eastern Polytechnic (main campus in Kenema) and other independent tertiary institutions, are all affiliated to the University of Sierra Leone. The country also has a number of teacher-training and technical/vocational institutions providing certificate and diploma courses. Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 59 per cent (2010).
