Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It shares its southeastern border with Liberia, and the northern half of the nation is surrounded by Guinea. Covering a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with diverse environments ranging from savanna to rainforests. The country has a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census. Freetown is the capital and largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are subdivided into 16 districts.
Sierra Leone is a presidential republic with a unicameral parliament and a directly electedpresident. Sierra Leone is a secular state with the constitution providing for the separation of state and religion and freedom of conscience (which includes freedom of thoughts and religion). Muslims make up about three-quarters of the population, though with an influential Christian minority. Religious tolerance in the West African country is very high and is generally considered a norm and part of Sierra Leone's cultural identity.
A new constitution was adopted in 1971, transforming the country into a presidential republic led by Siaka Stevens of the All People's Congress (APC). After declaring the APC the sole legal party in 1978, Stevens was succeeded by Joseph Saidu Momoh in 1985, who enacted a new constitution reintroducing a multi-party system in 1991. A brutal civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group broke out the same year, which went on for 11 years with devastating effects. During the war, the country experienced three coups d'état and alternated between civilian and military rule. Following military interventions by the ECOMOG and later the United Kingdom, the RUF was definitively defeated in 2002. The country has remained relatively stable since then, and is attempting to recover from the war. The two main political parties are the APC and the SLPP. (Full article...)
Image 10Sierra Leone map of Köppen climate classification (from Sierra Leone)
Image 11Isata Mahoi shown editing radio programmes in Talking Drum studio Freetown; she is also an actress in the Sierra Leone radio soap opera Atunda Ayenda (from Sierra Leone)
Image 17A school in Koindu destroyed during the Civil War; in total 1,270 primary schools were destroyed in the War. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 18The Sierra Leone Supreme Court in the capital Freetown, the highest and most powerful court in the country (from Sierra Leone)
Image 19British West African Campaign troops in Freetown, 1914–1916. Published caption: "British expeditionary force preparing to embark at Freetown to attack the German Cameroons, the main object of the attack being the port of Duala. Auxiliary native troops were freely used in African warfare." (from Sierra Leone)
Image 25British West African Campaign troops in Freetown, 1914–1916. Published caption: "British expeditionary force preparing to embark at Freetown to attack the German Cameroons, the main object of the attack being the port of Duala. Auxiliary native troops were freely used in African warfare." (from Sierra Leone)
Image 36A farmer with his rice harvest in Sierra Leone. Two-thirds of Sierra Leone's population are directly involved in subsistence agriculture. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 37Sierra Leone electricity production by source (from Sierra Leone)
Image 38A farmer with his rice harvest in Sierra Leone. Two-thirds of Sierra Leone's population are directly involved in subsistence agriculture. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 39Sierra Leone map of Köppen climate classification (from Sierra Leone)
Image 49Temne 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 Leonean West African Frontier Force soldier stands guard next to him (from Sierra Leone)
Image 50Isata Mahoi shown editing radio programmes in Talking Drum studio Freetown; she is also an actress in the Sierra Leone radio soap opera Atunda Ayenda (from Sierra Leone)
Image 59An APC political rally in the northern town of Kabala outside the home of supporters of the rival SLPP in 1968 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 60Temne 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 Leonean West African Frontier Force soldier stands guard next to him (from Sierra Leone)
Image 61Rice farming in Rolako (from Sierra Leone)
Image 62A mosque and a church in Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
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Mass wasting of mud in Freetown on August 14, 2017
On the morning of August 14, 2017, significant mudflow events occurred in and around the capital city of Freetown in Sierra Leone. Following three days of torrential rainfall, mass wasting of mud and debris damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings in the city, killing 1,141 people and leaving more than 3,000 homeless.
Causal factors for the mudslides include the region's particular topography and climate – with Freetown's elevation close to sea level and its greater position within a tropical monsoon climate. Those factors were assisted by the generally poor state of the region's infrastructure and loss of protective natural drainage systems from periods of deforestation. (Full article...)
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