(1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Sierra Leonean(s)

adjective: Sierra Leonean

Ethnic groups: 20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%,
other 30%), Creole 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who
were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century),
refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of
Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians

Religions: Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%

Languages: English (official, regular use limited to literate
minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne
(principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole,
spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled
in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10%
of the population but understood by 95%)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write English,
Mende, Temne, or Arabic

total population: 31.4%

male: 45.4%

female: 18.2% (1995 est.)

Sierra Leone Government

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone

conventional short form: Sierra Leone

Government type: constitutional democracy

Capital: Freetown

Administrative divisions: 3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern,
Northern, Southern, Western*

Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 April (1961)

Constitution: 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times

Legal system: based on English law and customary laws indigenous to
local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH
(since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the
president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March
1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the
chief of state and head of government

cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president with the
approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible
to the president

elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election held 26-27 February and 15 March 1996 (next to be held NA
September 2001); note - president's tenure of office is limited to
two five-year terms

election results: Ahmad Tejan KABBAH elected president; percent of
vote - Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (SLPP) 59.5%, John KAREFA