Population: 4,274,543 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)

Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate: 20 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate: 151 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 42 years male, 48 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 6.1 children born/woman (1991)

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

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

Religion: Muslim 30%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%, other or none 30%

Language: English (official); regular use limited to literate minority; principal vernaculars are Mende in south and Temne in north; Krio is the language of the resettled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is lingua franca

Literacy: 21% (male 31%, female 11%) age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic (1990 est.)

Labor force: 1,369,000 (est.); agriculture 65%, industry 19%, services 16% (1981); only about 65,000 earn wages (1985); 55% of population of working age

Organized labor: 35% of wage earners

NOTE: The information regarding Sierra Leone on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sierra Leone People 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sierra Leone People 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.