Democracy is slowly being reestablished 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 military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace. The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
Population: 5,132,138 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 41.7% (male 1,060,463/female 1,081,333)
15-64 years: 54.7% (male 1,344,650/female 1,461,203)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 83,595/female 100,894) (2009 est.)
Birth Rate: 39.08 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death Rate: 12.22 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Infant mortality Rate:
total: 81.86 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 15
male: 90.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 72.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy:
total population: 55.25 years
country comparison to the world: 196
male: 52.86 years
female: 57.71 years (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.7% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 55,000 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 3,300 (2007 est.)
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
Religions: Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30%
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
total population: 35.1%
male: 46.9%
female: 24.4% (2004 est.)
Government Type: constitutional democracy
Capital: Freetown
Geographic coordinates: 8 30 N, 13 15 W
Time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Independence: 27 April 1961 (from the UK)
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Currency: Leones (SLL)
Population below poverty line: 70.2% (2004)
Transnational Issues:

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; 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

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
Refugees (country of origin): 27,311 (Liberia) (2007)

**Information retreived from CIA - The World Factbook: www.cia.gov