Overview:
In this small, open, tropical island economy, the tourist industry
employs about 30% of the labor force and provides more than 70% of
hard currency earnings. In recent years the government has encouraged
foreign investment in order to upgrade hotels and other services. At
the same time, the government has moved to reduce the high dependence
on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing, and
small-scale manufacturing.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $407 million (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
4% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$5,900 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.3% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
9% (1987)
Budget:
revenues:
$172 million
expenditures:
$181 million, including capital expenditures of $48 million (1991
est.)
Exports:
$47 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
fish, copra, cinnamon bark, petroleum products (re-exports)
partners:
UK 54% France 23%, Reunion 14%, (1991)
Imports:
$192 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
manufactured goods, food, petroleum products, tobacco, beverages,
machinery and transportation equipment
partners:
South Africa 13%, Singapore 12%, UK 12% (1991)
External debt:
$201 million (1992 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 1.3% (1991); accounts for 12% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
30,000 kW
production:
80 million kWh
consumption per capita:
1,160 kWh (1991)
Industries:
tourism, processing of coconut and vanilla, fishing, coir rope
factory, boat building, printing, furniture, beverage
Agriculture:
accounts for 5% of GDP, mostly subsistence farming; cash crops -
coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla; other products - sweet potatoes, cassava,
bananas; broiler chickens; large share of food needs imported;
expansion of tuna fishing under way
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY78-89), $26 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1978-89), $315
million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $5 million; Communist countries
(1970-89), $60 million
Currency:
1 Seychelles rupee (SRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
Seychelles rupees (SRe) per US$1 - 5.2681 (January 1994), 5.1815
(1993), 5.1220 (1992), 5.2893 (1991), 5.3369 (1990), 5.6457 (1989)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
@Seychelles, Communications
Highways:
total:
260 km
paved:
160 km
unpaved:
crushed stone, earth 100 km
Ports:
Victoria
Merchant marine:
1 refrigerated cargo (over 1,000 GRT) totaling 1,827 GRT/2,170 DWT
Airports:
total:
14
usable:
14
with permanent-surface runways:
8
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
0
Telecommunications:
direct radio communications with adjacent islands and African coastal
countries; 13,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM, no FM, 2 TV;
1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; USAF tracking station
@Seychelles, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, National Guard, Marines, Coast Guard, Presidential Protection
Unit, Police Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 19,399; fit for military service 9,900
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $12 million, 4% of GDP (1990 est.)
@Sierra Leone, Geography
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean between Guinea and
Liberia
Map references:
Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
71,740 sq km
land area:
71,620 sq km
comparative area:
slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries:
total 958 km, Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
Coastline:
402 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea:
200 nm
International disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter
dry season (December to April)
Terrain:
coastal belt of mangrove 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%
Irrigated land:
340 sq km (1989 est.)
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
natural hazards:
dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (November to May)
international agreements:
party to - Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not
ratified - Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea
@Sierra Leone, People
Population:
4,630,037 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.62% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
45.06 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
18.87 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
141.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
46.4 years
male:
43.58 years
female:
49.3 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.96 children born/woman (1994 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 English, Merde, Temne, or Arabic
(1990 est.)
total population:
21%
male:
31%
female:
11%
Labor force:
1.369 million (1981 est.)
by occupation:
agriculture 65%, industry 19%, services 16% (1981 est.)
note:
only about 65,000 wage earners (1985); 55% of population of working
age
@Sierra Leone, Government