Sierra+Leone

__Sierra Leone__



Sierra Leone is a country in Western Africa that borders the North Atlantic ocean. Formerly a British colony, it is now a constitutional republic with three provinces. It has an estimated population around 6.5 million, spread out over 27 thousand square miles. The country is rich in natural resources; many rare minerals are found here in abundance, including bauxite, titanium and rutile. Besides rare minerals, Sierra Leone also relies on gold and diamond mining as an economic base, but despite the richness of these deposits, the majority of the country lives below the poverty line. Education in Sierra Leone is legally required for six years of primary school and three years of junior secondary school, but because of the extreme lack of teachers, the implementation of this plan is still impossible. As a result both of the teacher shortage and of the civil war, two-thirds of all adults are illiterate and an unspecified number of children aren't able to attend school. Healthcare in this country is free to all pregnant and lactating women, and children five years and younger. However, they continue to have an extremely high infant mortality rate and low life expectancy.

Works Cited

"Sierra Leone." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. .

"BBC News - Country Profile: Sierra Leone." //BBC News - Home//. 23 Nov. 2010. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. .

"CIA - The World Factbook - Sierra Leone." //Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency//. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. .

"Mining - Sierra Leone - Export, Area, Annual, Policy, Sector." //Encyclopedia of the Nations - Information about Countries of the World, United Nations, and World Leaders//. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. .