Sierra Leone People - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Population: 3,987,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 2.6%

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

Ethnic divisions, over 99% native African (30% Temne, 30% Mende, 2% Creole), rest European and Asian; 13 tribes

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

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

Life expectancy 46

Literacy: about 15%

Labor force about 1.5 mil!ion; most of population engages in subsistence agriculture; only small minority, some 65,000, earn wages

Organized labor: 35% of wage earners

NOTE: The information regarding Sierra Leone on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sierra Leone 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sierra Leone 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.