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Republic of Sierra Leone

History

Government Observers

Country Facts

Sierra Leone was one of the earliest regions in West Africa to undergo sustained contact with Europe. Its internationality reached new levels in the late eighteenth century when the British government purchased a small piece of land, the site of modern day Freetown, on which they repatriated 400 former slaves that had been living in Great Britain. Former slaves from America and Jamaican Maroons, who had both been unsuccessfully resettled in Nova Scotia, later joined them. This group of initial repatriates suffered from high mortality rates because of disease and the hostility of the indigenous people on whose land they had settled. The surviving repatriates were joined in the early nineteenth century by thousands of slaves who were intercepted by British anti-slavery patrols and returned to Freetown. Because of both the British and various African influences that made up Freetown's society, its inhabitants became known as the Creoles of Sierra Leone and developed their own language, called Krio. Until independence in 1961, Sierra Leone's political history was characterized by significant tension between the indigenous inhabitants of the colony and the Creole community.

Sierra Leone's post-independence political history was marked early on by significant strife, particularly between the military and civil branches of the government. The 1990's opened with both widespread doubt about the government's willingness to re-establish a multi-party system of government and the outbreak of a rebel war in the eastern part of the country. By 1994, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) emerged on the scene as Sierra Leone's most significant rebel force, in addition to the Armed Forced Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The government's inability to control RUF-instigated violence and its own internal corruption led to its overthrow in a 1996 military coup. Shortly thereafter both presidential and legislative elections were held. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was elected president in 1996 and more recently was re-elected in the far more peaceful 2002 elections. While the civil war in Sierra Leone is now over, the full extent of its damage to the nation's people and economy must be effectively reckoned with if this potentially wealthy country is to realize its full potential.

Chairman's Statement:

The diamonds found in Sierra Leone are rather large and of good quality, color and purity. In 1991, just one year before the outbreak of civil war, 2.5 million carats of diamonds were produced in Sierra Leone. Diamonds are mined from both kimberlite deposits and alluvial sources.

The eastern town of Koidu, in particular, is home to potentially lucrative kimberlite dykes and pipes. Marine diamonds may prove to a valuable source of revenue for Sierra Leone. In 1972, the region's largest diamond was found. Weighing in at 970 carats, it bears the name, "Star of Sierra Leone."

President: His Excellency Ernest Bai KOROMA

Minister of Mineral Resources: Alhaji Alpha Saahid Bakarr KANU

Department Of Mineral Resources

Youyi Building, Brookfields

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Telephone: +232 22 240420

Fax: +232 22 242017

Population: 5,245,695

Capital: Freetown

Major languages: English (official language), Mende, Temne, Krio (a Creole language derived from English)

Major religions: Islam, Indigenous Belief Systems, Christianity

Life expectancy: 41 years (men), 45 years (women)

Monetary unit: 1 Leone = 100 cents

Main exports: Diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Average annual income: US $130

Internet domain: .sl

International dialing code: +232