Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone ( (listen), also UK: , US: ), officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, informally Salone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea to the northeast. Sierra Leone has a tropical climate with a diverse environment ranging from savanna to rainforests, a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi) and a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census. The capital and largest city is Freetown. The country is divided into five administrative regions which are subdivided into sixteen districts. Sierra Leone is a Constitutional Republic with a unicameral parliament, and a directly elected president. Sierra Leone achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 27 April 1961, led by Milton Margai who became the country's first Prime Minister. Sierra Leone held its first general election as an independent nation on May 27, 1962. Siaka Stevens, whose party the APC narrowly won the 1967 parliamentary election, ruled the country from 1968 to 1985, and during his time in power, his political opponents and critics of his government were suppressed, and news media critical of his government were shut down. Many senior military officers that he saw as threat to his presidency were executed after their conviction of several alleged coup plot. On 19 April 1971, Stevens' government abolished Sierra Leone's parliamentary system and declared Sierra Leone a presidential republic. From 1978 to 1985, Stevens’ All People's Congress (APC) party was the only legal political party in Sierra Leone. The multiparty democratic constitution of Sierra Leone was again adopted in 1991 by retired Major General President Joseph Saidu Momoh. On March 23, 1991, a group of former Sierra Leone soldiers critical of former president Stevens and sitting President Momoh, and led by former Army Corporal Foday Sankoh, launched a brutal civil war under their official name, Revolutionary United Front (RUF). On April 29, 1992, a group of junior army servicemembers led by 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser overthrew President Momoh and ended the APC's 24-year rule over Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone was governed by a military junta from 1992 to 1996 under Strasser, then briefly under his successor Major General Julius Maada Bio. The country returned to a democratically elected government when the military Junta under Bio handed the presidency to Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) after his victory in the 1996 election. However, the Sierra Leone military overthrew President Kabbah in a coup on May 25, 1997, and Major General Johnny Paul Koroma became the country's military ruler. A coalition of West African ECOWAS armed forces led by Nigeria reinstated President Kabbah by military force in February 1998, and the coup leaders who had overthown him were executed after being sentenced to death by a Sierra Leone military court. In January 2002, President Kabbah officially announced the end of the civil war to a jubiliant nation. Sierra Leone has had an uninterrupted democratic government from 1998 to the present day. Sixteen ethnic groups inhabit Sierra Leone, the two largest and most influential being the Temne and Mende peoples. About 2% of the country's population are Krio, descendants of freed African American and West Indian slaves. English is the official language used in schools and government administration; however, Krio is the most widely spoken language across Sierra Leone, spoken by 97% of the country's population. Sierra Leone is 77% Muslim, with an influential Christian minority of 22%. The country is regarded as one of the most religiously tolerant nations in the world. Major Christian and Muslim holidays are official public holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha.Sierra Leone is a major producer of diamonds, titanium, bauxite and gold, and has one of the world's largest rutile deposits. Despite its mineral wealth, about 70% of the country's population lives in poverty. Sierra Leone is a member of numerous international organisations, including the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mano River Union, Commonwealth of Nations, African Development Bank, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.