Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,259,421; female 1,310,516)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,420,900; female 1,557,597)
65 years and over: 3.2% (male 89,078; female 95,169) (2003 est.)

Median age: total: 17.5 years
male: 17.2 years
female: 17.8 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 2.94% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 43.89 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 20.66 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: 6.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2003 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.94 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 146.86 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 128.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 164.23 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 42.84 years
male: 40.33 years
female: 45.42 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.86 children born/woman (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 7% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 170,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 11,000 (2001 est.)

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

Ethnic groups: 20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century), refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians

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 (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic
female: 18.2% (1995 est.)
male: 45.4%
total population: 31.4%

People - note: Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa

NOTE: The information regarding Sierra Leone on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sierra Leone People 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.