Uganda (2002) | Sierra Leone (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 45 districts; Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakasongola, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Soroti, Tororo
note: there may be eleven more districts: Kaberamaido, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kayunga, Kyenjojo, Mayngc, Nakapiripiti, Pader, Sironko, Wakiso, Yumbe |
3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western* |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 50.9% (male 6,314,371; female 6,265,681)
15-64 years: 47% (male 5,803,430; female 5,789,713) 65 years and over: 2.1% (male 247,798; female 278,080) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
44.73% (male 1,190,207; female 1,237,326) 15-64 years: 52.12% (male 1,351,455; female 1,477,155) 65 years and over: 3.15% (male 84,364; female 86,111) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry, cut flowers | rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish |
Airports | 27 (2001) | 11 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 23
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 7 (2002) |
total:
10 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 236,040 sq km
land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km |
total:
71,740 sq km land: 71,620 sq km water: 120 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | slightly smaller than South Carolina |
Background | Uganda achieved independence from the UK in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed another 100,000 lives. During the 1990s the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections. | Since 1991, civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (well over one-third of the population) many of whom are now refugees in neighboring countries. A peace agreement, signed in July 1999, collapsed in May 2000 after the RUF took over 500 UN peacekeepers hostage. The RUF stepped up attacks on Guinea in December 2000, despite a cease-fire that it signed with the Freetown government one month earlier. As of late 2000, up to 13,000 UN peacekeepers were protecting the capital and key towns in the south. A UK force of 750 was helping to reinforce security and train the Sierra Leone army. |
Birth rate | 47.15 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 45.11 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $959 million
expenditures: $1.04 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
revenues:
$96 million expenditures: $351 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Kampala | Freetown |
Climate | tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast | tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 402 km |
Constitution | 8 October 1995; adopted by the interim, 284-member Constituent Assembly, charged with debating the draft constitution that had been proposed in May 1993; the Constituent Assembly was dissolved upon the promulgation of the constitution in October 1995 | 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Uganda
conventional short form: Uganda |
conventional long form:
Republic of Sierra Leone conventional short form: Sierra Leone |
Currency | Ugandan shilling (UGX) | leone (SLL) |
Death rate | 17.53 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 19.19 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.4 billion (2001 est.) | $1.28 billion (1999) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Jimmy KOLKER
embassy: 1577 Ggaba Rd., Kampala mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala telephone: [256] (41) 234-142 FAX: [256] (41) 258-451 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph H. MELROSE, Jr. embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [232] (22) 226481 through 226485 FAX: [232] (22) 225471 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Edith Grace SSEMPALA
chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416 FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador John Ernest LEIGH chancery: 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263 FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793 |
Disputes - international | Tutsi, Hutu, and other ethnic groups, political rebels, and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda | civil war has engendered massive refugee movements into neighboring Guinea and Liberia |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.4 billion (2000) (2000) | $203.7 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government - with the support of foreign countries and international agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation and boosting production and export earnings. During 1990-2001, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. Ongoing Ugandan involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption within the government, and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original HIPC debt relief added up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001 was held back because of a continued decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. | Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. It does have substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources. However, the economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds 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. Bauxite and rutile mines have been shut down by civil strife. The major source of hard currency is found in the mining of diamonds, the large majority of which are smuggled out of the country. The resurgence of internal warfare in 1999 brought another substantial drop in GDP, with GNP recovering part of the way in 2000. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.314 billion kWh (2000) | 223.2 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 174 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 1 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.599 billion kWh (2000) | 240 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 1%
hydro: 99% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lake Albert 621 m
highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m |
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m |
Environment - current issues | draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread | 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 depleting natural resources; overfishing |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Baganda 17%, Ankole 8%, Basoga 8%, Iteso 8%, Bakiga 7%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Batoro 3%, Bunyoro 3%, Alur 2%, Bagwere 2%, Bakonjo 2%, Jopodhola 2%, Karamojong 2%, Rundi 2%, non-African (European, Asian, Arab) 1%, other 8% | 20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole 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 |
Exchange rates | Ugandan shillings per US dollar - 1,738.7 (January 2002), 1,755.7 (2001), 1,644.5 (2000), 1,454.8 (1999), 1,240.2 (1998), 1,083.0 (1997) | leones per US dollar - 1,653.39 (January 2001), 2,092.13 (2000), 1,804.20 (1999), 1,563.62 (1998), 981.48 (1997), 920.73 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime Minister Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected legislators elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 12 March 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); note - first popular election for president since independence in 1962 was held in 1996; prime minister appointed by the president election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 69.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 27.8% |
chief of state:
President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government 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; election held 26-27 February and 15 March 1996 (next to be held NA September 2001); note - president's tenure of office is limited to two five-year terms election results: Ahmad Tejan KABBAH elected president; percent of vote - Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (SLPP) 59.5%, John KAREFA-SMART (UNPP) 40.5% |
Exports | $367 million f.o.b. (2001) | $65 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, fish and fish products, tea; gold, cotton, flowers, horticultural products | diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish |
Exports - partners | Germany 12.0%, Netherlands 10.2%, US 8.7%, Spain 8.0%, Belgium 7.1% (2000) | Belgium 38%, US 6%, Italy 4%, UK 4% (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side | three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $29 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2.7 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 44%
industry: 18% services: 38% (2000 est.) |
agriculture:
43% industry: 26% services: 31% (1999) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,200 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $510 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.1% (2001 est.) | 4.2% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 32 00 E | 8 30 N, 11 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; fertile, well-watered country with many lakes and rivers | - |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | total: 27,000 km
paved: 1,800 km unpaved: 25,200 km (of which about 4,200 km are all-weather roads) (1990) |
total:
11,300 km paved: 904 km unpaved: 10,396 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 21% (2000) |
lowest 10%:
0.5% highest 10%: 43.6% (1989) |
Imports | $1.26 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $145 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | capital equipment, vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Kenya 43.1%, US 7.0%, India 6.8%, South Africa 6.1%, Japan 3.4% (2000) | UK 34%, US 8%, Italy 7%, Nigeria 5% (1999) |
Independence | 9 October 1962 (from UK) | 27 April 1961 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7% (1999) (1999) | NA% |
Industries | sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement | mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining |
Infant mortality rate | 89.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 146.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.5% (2001 est.) | 15% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 90 sq km (1998 est.) | 290 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court |
Labor force | 12 million (2001 est.) | 1.369 million (1981 est.)
note: only about 65,000 wage earners (1985) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 82%, industry 5%, services 13% (1999 est.) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 2,698 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 765 km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km |
total:
958 km border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km |
Land use | arable land: 25.34%
permanent crops: 8.77% other: 65.89% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
7% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 31% forests and woodland: 28% other: 33% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic | 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%) |
Legal system | in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (303 members - 214 directly elected by popular vote, 81 nominated by legally established special interest groups [women 56, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 5], 8 ex officio members; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 26 June 2001 (next to be held May or June 2006); election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - election campaigning by party was not permitted |
unicameral House of Representatives (80 seats - 68 elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 26-27 February 1996 (next to be held NA 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - SLPP 36.1%, UNPP 21.6%, PDP 15.3%, APC 5.7%, NUP 5.3%, DCP 4.8%, other 11.2%; seats by party - SLPP 27, UNPP 17, PDP 12, APC 5, NUP 4, DCP 3; note - first elections since the former House of Representatives was shut down by the military coup of 29 April 1992 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 43.81 years
male: 42.97 years female: 44.67 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
45.6 years male: 42.69 years female: 48.61 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 62.7% male: 74% female: 54% (2000 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic total population: 31.4% male: 45.4% female: 18.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea:
200 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,091 GRT/8,229 DWT
ships by type: roll on/roll off 3 note: these ships are in cargo and passenger (ferry) service on Uganda's inland waterways (2002 est.) |
total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,057 GRT/3,498 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Ugandan Peoples' Defense Force (including Army, Marine unit, Air Wing) | Army |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $121.3 million (FY01) | $46 million (FY96/97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.1% (FY01) | 2% (FY96/97) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 5,302,787 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,161,790 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,879,083 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
563,631 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) | Independence Day, 27 April (1961) |
Nationality | noun: Ugandan(s)
adjective: Ugandan |
noun:
Sierra Leonean(s) adjective: Sierra Leonean |
Natural hazards | NA | dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms |
Natural resources | copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land | diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite |
Net migration rate | -0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: according to the UNHCR, by the end of 2001, Uganda was host to 178,815 refugees from a number of neighboring countries, including: Sudan 155,996, Rwanda 14,375, and Democratic Republic of the Congo 7,459 (2002 est.) |
10.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: by the end of 1999 refugees from Sierra Leone are assumed to be returning |
Political parties and leaders | only one political organization, the National Resistance Movement or NRM [President MUSEVENI, chairman] is allowed to operate unfettered; note - the president maintains that the NRM is not a political party, but a movement which claims the loyalty of all Ugandans
note: the new constitution requires the suspension of political parties while the Movement organization is in governance; of the political parties that exist but are prohibited from sponsoring candidates, the most important are the Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Milton OBOTE]; Democratic Party or DP [Paul SSEMOGERERE]; Conservative Party or CP [Joshua S. MAYANJA-NKANGI]; Justice Forum [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; and National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA] |
All People's Congress or APC [Edward Mohammed TURAY, chairman]; Democratic Centre Party or DCP [Adu Aiah KOROMA]; National Democratic Alliance or NDA [Amadu M. B. JALLOH]; National Republican Party or NRP [Sahr Stephen MAMBU]; National Unity Party or NUP [Dr. John KARIMU, chairman]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Thaimu BANGURA, chairman]; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Abass Chernok BUNDU, chairman]; Revolutionary United Front Party or RUFP [Foday SANKOH, chairman]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH, chairman]; United National People's Party or UNPP [John KARIFA-SMART in exile, Raymond KAMARA, acting leader] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Trade Unions and Student Unions |
Population | 24,699,073
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 2002 est.) |
5,426,618 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 35% (2001 est.) | 68% (1989 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.94% (2002 est.) | 3.61% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell | Bonthe, Freetown, Pepel |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 33, shortwave 2 (2001) | AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (1999) |
Radios | 5 million (2001) | 1.12 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 1,241 km
narrow gauge: 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge note: a program to rehabilitate the railroad is underway (2001) |
total:
84 km used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed narrow gauge: 84 km 1.067-m gauge |
Religions | Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% | Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: seriously inadequate; two cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available
domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short range traffic international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania |
general assessment:
marginal telephone and telegraph service domestic: national microwave radio relay trunk system, made unserviceable by military activities, is now operating from Freetown to Bo and Kenema (April 2001) international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 50,074; however, 80,868 main lines have been installed (1998) | 17,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,000 (1998) | 650 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (2001) | 2 (1999) |
Terrain | mostly plateau with rim of mountains | coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east |
Total fertility rate | 6.8 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 6.01 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | NA% |
Waterways | Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile | 800 km (of which 600 km navigable year round) |