ronmental Modification

People
------

Population: 4,793,121 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 1,057,824; female 1,092,291)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,197,547; female 1,298,834)
65 years and over: 3% (male 75,066; female 71,559) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 4.14% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 47.13 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 18.24 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 12.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.05 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.95 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 135.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 47.47 years
male: 44.56 years
female: 50.47 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.36 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean

Ethnic divisions: 13 native African tribes 99% (Temne 30%, Mende
30%, other 39%), Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%

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 (the language of the
re-settled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is lingua
franca)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write in English, Mende,
Temne, or Arabic (1995 est.)
total population: 31.4%
male: 45.4%
female: 18.2%

Government
----------

Name of country:
conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone

Data code: SL

Type of government: constitutional democracy

Capital: Freetown

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

Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)

National holiday: Republic 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 and head of government: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH
(inaugurated 29 March 1996); election held 26-27 February 1996 (next
to b