Sierra Leone,officially theRepublic of Sierra Leone,is a country on the southwest coast ofWest Africa.It shares its southeastern border withLiberiaand is bordered byGuineato the north. With a land area of 71,740 km2(27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has atropical climateand with a variety of environments ranging fromsavannastorainforests.According to the 2015 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 7,092,113, withFreetownserving as both the capital and largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are further subdivided into16 districts.
Under prime ministerSiaka Stevensof theAll People's Congress(APC), the country adopted a new constitution in 1971, transforming Sierra Leone into a presidential republic with Stevens as the inaugural president. After declaring the APC thesole legal partyin 1978, Stevens was succeeded byJoseph Saidu Momohin 1985. Momoh's enactment of a new constitution in 1991 reintroduced amulti-party system.That year, a protractedcivil warinitiated, featuring the government and theRevolutionary United Front(RUF) rebel group, leading to significant turmoil. The conflict, characterized by multiplecoups d'état,persisted for 11 years. Intervention byECOMOGforces and later the United Kingdom resulted in the defeat of the RUF in 2002, ushering in a period of relative stability and recovery efforts. The remaining two main political parties are the APC and the SLPP. (Full article...)
The 968.9-carat (193.78 g)Star of Sierra Leonediamondwas discovered byminerson February 14, 1972, in the Diminco alluvial mines in theKoiduarea ofSierra Leone.It ranks as the fourth-largest gem-quality diamond and the largest alluvial diamond ever discovered.
On October 3, 1972, Sierra Leone's then-President,Siaka Stevens,announced thatHarry Winston,the New York City jeweller, had purchased the Star of Sierra Leone for under $2.5 million. (Full article...)
Image 10Historical GDP per capita development (fromSierra Leone)
Image 11A mosque and a church in Sierra Leone (fromSierra Leone)
Image 12A proportional representation of Sierra Leone exports, 2019 (fromSierra Leone)
Image 13BritishWest African Campaigntroops in Freetown, 1914–1916. Published caption: "British expeditionary force preparing to embark at Freetown to attack theGerman Cameroons,the main object of the attack being the port ofDuala.Auxiliary native troops were freely used in African warfare. "(fromSierra Leone)
Image 21Houses at Sierra-Leone (May 1853, X, p. 55) (fromSierra Leone)
Image 22Temne leader Bai Bureh seen here in 1898 after his surrender, sitting relaxed in his traditional dress with a handkerchief in his hands, while a Sierra LeoneanWest African Frontier Forcesoldier stands guard next to him (fromSierra Leone)
Image 23A proportional representation of Sierra Leone exports, 2019 (fromSierra Leone)
Image 25A farmer with his rice harvest in Sierra Leone. Two-thirds of Sierra Leone's population are directly involved insubsistence agriculture.(fromSierra Leone)
Image 36Temne leader Bai Bureh seen here in 1898 after his surrender, sitting relaxed in his traditional dress with a handkerchief in his hands, while a Sierra LeoneanWest African Frontier Forcesoldier stands guard next to him (fromSierra Leone)
Image 37A mosque and a church in Sierra Leone (fromSierra Leone)
Image 54A farmer with his rice harvest in Sierra Leone. Two-thirds of Sierra Leone's population are directly involved insubsistence agriculture.(fromSierra Leone)
Image 62BritishWest African Campaigntroops in Freetown, 1914–1916. Published caption: "British expeditionary force preparing to embark at Freetown to attack theGerman Cameroons,the main object of the attack being the port ofDuala.Auxiliary native troops were freely used in African warfare. "(fromSierra Leone)
