minority;
principal vernaculars are Mende in south and Temne in north; Krio is the
language of the resettled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is
lingua franca

Literacy: 31% (1986)

Labor force: 1,369,000 (est.); 65% agriculture, 19% industry, 16% services
(1981); only about 65,000 earn wages (1985); 55% of population of working age

Organized labor: 35% of wage earners

- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Sierra Leone

Type: republic under presidential regime

Capital: Freetown

Administrative divisions: 4 provinces; Eastern, Northern, Southern,
Western

Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)

Constitution: 14 June 1978

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

National holiday: Republic Day, 27 April (1961)

Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Gen. Joseph Saidu MOMOH
(since 28 November 1985); First Vice President Abu Bakar KAMARA (since 4 April
1987); Second Vice President Salia JUSU-SHERIFF (since 4 April 1987)

Political parties and leaders: only party--All People's Congress
(APC), Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Elections:
President--last held 1 October 1985 (next to be held October 1992);
results--Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh was elected without opposition;

House of Representatives--last held 30 May 1986 (next to be
held May 1991);
results--APC is the only party;
seats--(127 total, 105 elected) APC 105

Communists: no party, although there are a few Communists and a slightly
larger number of sympathizers

Member of: ACP, AfDB, Commonwealth, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mano River Union, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
WHO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador George CAREW; Chancery at
1701 19th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 939-9261;
US--Ambassador Johnny YOUNG; Embassy at the corner of Walpole and
Siaka Stevens Street, Freetown; telephone 26481

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and
light blue

- Economy
Overview: The economic and social infrastructure is not well developed.
Subsistence agriculture dominates the econ