ove swamps, wooded hill country,
upland plateau, mountains in east

_#_Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold,
chromite

_#_Land use: arable land 25%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures
31%; forest and woodland 29%; other 13%; includes irrigated NEGL%

_#_Environment: extensive mangrove swamps hinder access to sea;
deforestation; soil degradation

_*_People
_#_Population: 4,274,543 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 20 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 151 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 42 years male, 48 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 6.1 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Sierra Leonean(s); adjective--Sierra Leonean

_#_Ethnic divisions: native African 99% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%);
Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%; 13 tribes

_#_Religion: Muslim 30%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%,
other or none 30%

_#_Language: English (official); regular use limited to literate
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: 21% (male 31%, female 11%) age 15 and over can
read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 1,369,000 (est.); agriculture 65%, industry 19%,
services 16% (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