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ECONOMY
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. |
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| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 44.73% (male 1,190,207; female 1,237,326) |
| Religions: |
Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10% |
| Languages: |
English, Mende, Temne, Krio |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic |
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