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, Mende, 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)
@Sierra Leone:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone
Digraph: SL
Type: military government