Location:
Sierra Leone is a small, coastal country in West Africa situated between Guinea and Liberia

Capital: Freetown

Government type: Constitutional democracy

President:
Ernest Bai Koroma
(All People's Congress)

Independence:
27 April 1961 from United Kingdom

Population: 6,294,774 (July 2008 est.)

Ethnic groups:
20 African ethnic groups : Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%. Descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century, called Creole (Krio) 10% Refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians

Religions:
Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30%

Official Language: English

Climate: Tropical; hot and humid. Sierra Leone is one of western Africas wettest countries.

Highest point: Loma Mansa 1,948 m

Exports: Diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish
$216 million f.o.b. (2006)

Imports: Foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals
$560 million f.o.b. (2006)

Debt - external: $1.61 billion (2003 est.)

Roadways:
Total: 11,300 km
Paved: 904 km
Unpaved: 10,396 km (2002)