Nationality:
noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean
Ethnic groups:
20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%),
Creole (Krio) 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were
settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th 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,
Temne, or Arabic
total population: 31.4%
male: 45.4%
female: 18.2% (1995 est.)
Government Sierra Leone
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone
Government type:
constitutional democracy
Capital:
Freetown
Administrative divisions:
3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western*