blow from the Sahara
(November to May); sandstorms, dust storms

Environment - current issues: rapid population growth pressuring the
environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing,
and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil
exhaustion; civil war depleting natural resources; overfishing

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

@Sierra Leone:People

Population: 5,232,624 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.73% (male 1,148,264; female 1,192,533)
15-64 years: 52.16% (male 1,305,039; female 1,424,076)
65 years and over: 3.11% (male 81,291; female 81,421) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.67% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 45.63 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 19.58 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 10.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
note: by the end of 1999 refugees from Sierra Leone are assumed to be
returning

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 148.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 45.25 years
male: 42.37 years
female: 48.21 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.08 children born/woman (2000 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-eighteenth 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, T