Population: 4,630,037 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.62% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 45.06 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 18.87 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 141.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.4 years
male: 43.58 years
female: 49.3 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.96 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean

Ethnic divisions: 13 native African tribes 99% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 39%), Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian 1%

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 the language of the re-settled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is lingua franca

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write English, Merde, Temne, or Arabic (1990 est.)
total population: 21%
male: 31%
female: 11%
Labor force: 1.369 million (1981 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 19%, services 16% (1981 est.)
note: only about 65,000 wage earners (1985); 55% of population of working age

NOTE: The information regarding Sierra Leone on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sierra Leone People 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sierra Leone People 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.