Sierra Leone (2007) | Swaziland (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western* | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,349,878/female 1,400,297)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,531,763/female 1,664,996) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 92,360/female 105,268) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
45.53% (male 250,327; female 252,479) 15-64 years: 51.88% (male 276,186; female 296,728) 65 years and over: 2.59% (male 11,687; female 16,936) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep |
Airports | 10 (2007) | 18 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2007) |
total:
1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total:
17 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 71,740 sq km
land: 71,620 sq km water: 120 sq km |
total:
17,363 sq km land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
Background | The government is slowly reestablishing its authority after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The last UN peacekeepers withdrew in December 2005 leaving full responsibility for security with domestic forces. A new civilian UN mission - the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - was established to support the government's efforts to consolidate peace. The most pressing long-term threat to stability in Sierra Leone is the potential for political insecurity surrounding elections in July 2007. | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s have pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. |
Birth rate | 45.41 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 40.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million (2000 est.) |
revenues:
$400 million expenditures: $450 million, including capital expenditures of $115 million (FY96/97) |
Capital | name: Freetown
geographic coordinates: 8 30 N, 13 15 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April) | varies from tropical to near temperate |
Coastline | 402 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times | none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people; since then a few more outlines for a constitution have been compiled under the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), but so far none have been accepted |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone local long form: Republic of Sierra Leone local short form: Sierra Leone |
conventional long form:
Kingdom of Swaziland conventional short form: Swaziland |
Currency | - | lilangeni (SZL) |
Death rate | 22.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 21.84 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.61 billion (2003 est.) | $281 million (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas N. HULL
embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [232] (22) 515 000 or [232] (76) 515 000 FAX: [232] (22) 225471 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Gregory L. JOHNSON embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Ibrahim M. KAMARA
chancery: 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263 FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA chancery: 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6683 FAX: [1] (202) 244-8059 |
Disputes - international | as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has maintained over 4,000 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone since 1999; Sierra Leone considers excessive Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands including the hamlet of Yenga occupied since 1998 | Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom |
Economic aid - recipient | $343.4 million (2005 est.) | $55 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. Nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining. | In this small landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 60% of the population. Manufacturing features a number of agroprocessing factories. Mining has declined in importance in recent years: diamond mines have shut down because of the depletion of easily accessible reserves; high-grade iron ore deposits were depleted by 1978; and health concerns have cut world demand for asbestos. Exports of soft drink concentrate, sugar, and wood pulp are the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives four-fifths of its imports and to which it sends two-thirds of its exports. Remittances from the Southern African Customs Union and Swazi workers in South African mines substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. Prospects for 2001 are strengthened by government millennium projects for a new convention center, additional hotels, an amusement park, a new airport, and stepped-up roadbuilding and factory construction plans. |
Electricity - consumption | 227.9 million kWh (2005) | 198 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 852 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 701 million kWh
note: supplied by South Africa (1999) |
Electricity - production | 245 million kWh (2005) | 375 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
53.33% hydro: 46.67% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m |
lowest point:
Great Usutu River 21 m highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
Environment - current issues | rapid population growth pressuring the environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing, and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil exhaustion; civil war depleted natural resources; overfishing | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | 20 African ethnic groups 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 | African 97%, European 3% |
Exchange rates | leones per US dollar - 2,961.7 (2006), 2,889.6 (2005), 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003), 2,099 (2002) | emalangeni per US dollar - 7.7803 (January 2001), 6.9056 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996); note - the Swazi lilangeni is at par with the South African rand; emalangeni is the plural form of lilangeni |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007) cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 August 2007 and 8 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: second round results; percent of vote - Ernest Bai KOROMA 54.6%, Solomon BEREWA 45.4% |
chief of state:
King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986) head of government: Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas DLAMINI (since 9 August 1996) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
Exports | NA bbl/day | $881 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit |
Exports - partners | Belgium 52.1%, US 19.1%, Netherlands 6.8% (2006) | South Africa 65%, EU 12%, Mozambique 11%, US 5% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 49%
industry: 31% services: 21% (2001 est.) |
agriculture:
10% industry: 46% services: 44% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.1% (2006 est.) | 2.4% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 8 30 N, 11 30 W | 26 30 S, 31 30 E |
Geography - note | rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm (195 inches) a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa |
Heliports | 2 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total:
3,000 km paved: 850 km unpaved: 2,150 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.6% (1989) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA bbl/day | $928 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Cote d'Ivoire 9.3%, US 7.7%, China 7.7%, Brazil 6.9%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 5.5%, South Africa 4.5%, India 4.3%, France 4.2% (2006) | South Africa 84%, EU 5%, Japan 2%, Singapore 2% (1998) |
Independence | 27 April 1961 (from UK) | 6 September 1968 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 3.7% (FY95/96) |
Industries | diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair | mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates |
Infant mortality rate | total: 158.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 175.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 140.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
109.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2002 est.) | 6.4% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 300 sq km (2003) | 670 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch |
Labor force | 1.369 million (1981 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
private sector 70%, public sector 30% |
Land boundaries | total: 958 km
border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km |
total:
535 km border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
Land use | arable land: 7.95%
permanent crops: 1.05% other: 91% (2005) |
arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 62% forests and woodland: 7% other: 20% (1993 est.) |
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%) | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) |
Legal system | based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament (124 seats; 112 members elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 11 August 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 59, SLPP 43, PMDC 10 |
bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 16 and 24 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 40.58 years
male: 38.36 years female: 42.87 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
38.62 years male: 37.86 years female: 39.4 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic
total population: 35.1% male: 46.9% female: 24.4% (2004 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.7% male: 78% female: 75.6% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 113 ships (1000 GRT or over) 314,549 GRT/419,409 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 85, chemical tanker 4, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 7, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 47 (Belgium 1, China 8, Greece 1, Romania 2, Russia 5, Syria 8, Turkey 7, Ukraine 8, UAE 7) (2007) |
- |
Military branches | Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF): Army (includes Air Wing, Navy (Maritime Wing)) (2007) | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $19.198 million (FY00/01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.3% (2006) | 4.75% (FY00/01) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
248,084 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
143,618 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 April (1961) | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) |
Nationality | noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean |
noun:
Swazi(s) adjective: Swazi |
Natural hazards | dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms | NA |
Natural resources | diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc |
Net migration rate | 0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2007 est.) |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | All People's Congress or APC [Ernest Bai KOROMA]; Peace and Liberation Party or PLP [Darlington MORRISON]; People's Movement for Democratic Change or PMDC [Charles MARGAI]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [Solomon BEREWA]; numerous others | Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Libertatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]; Swaziland National Front or SWANAFRO [Elmond SHONGWE, president]; Swaziland Progressive Party or SPP [J. J. NQUKU, president]; Swaziland United Front or SUF [Matsapa SHONGWE, leader]
note: political parties are banned by the constitution promulgated on 13 October 1978; illegal parties are prohibited from holding large public gatherings; the organizations listed are political associations |
Political pressure groups and leaders | trade unions and student unions | NA |
Population | 6,144,562 (July 2007 est.) | 1,104,343
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 70.2% (2004) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.292% (2007 est.) | 1.83% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 7, FM 6 (2000) |
Radios | - | 155,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
297 km; note - includes 71 km which are not in use narrow gauge: 297 km 1.067-m gauge |
Religions | Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30% | Protestant 55%, Muslim 10%, Roman Catholic 5%, indigenous beliefs 30% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.964 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female total population: 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age |
Telephone system | general assessment: marginal telephone and telegraph service
domestic: the national microwave radio relay trunk system connects Freetown to Bo and Kenema international: country code - 232; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2000) |
general assessment:
not a modern system domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 24,000 (2002) | 33,500 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 113,200 (2003) | 30,000 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1999) | 10 (2000) |
Terrain | coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains |
Total fertility rate | 6.01 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 5.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 22% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | 800 km (600 km year round) (2005) | none |