- 1Introduction
1.
The Republic of Sierra Leone is situated on the West Coast of Africa. It covers an
area of approximately 72,000 square kilometers. The country has a tropical climate
with dense rain forests in the Southern and Eastern Provinces, with approximately
6 percent of the total land area estimated as arable. The country is endowed with
substantial mineral, agricultural and fisheries resources. It is one of the world’s
leading producers of diamonds, titanium and iron ore. Recent mineral exploration and
mining of the latter has significantly enhanced the economic growth of the country.
2.
Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly-elected president and a
unicameral parliament. It is divided into four administrative regions: the Northern
Province, the Eastern Province, the Southern Province and the Western Area. In turn
these are divided into 14 districts. Freetown is the capital as well as the economic,
commercial and political centre of Sierra Leone. Governance at a district and city
level is administered through 19 district and city councils. In addition it has 149
chiefdoms, each ruled by a paramount chief whose role it is to uphold and maintain
traditions, customs and practices, serve as the custodian of land, settle disputes,
maintain law and order, and generally deal with land, customary and traditional
matters in the chiefdom.
3.
The country has a diverse population which grew rapidly from 2.5 million in 1970
to an estimated 6.4 million in 2012 (Statistics Sierra Leone, 1963, 2014-2017). The
majority of the population is young, and the youth population is set to grow. Children
aged 0-17 years make up nearly half of the total population, totalling almost 2.5 million
in 2010 (Statistics Sierra Leone, 2004) (Statistics Sierra Leone, 2006) (Statistics Sierra
Leone and UNICEF, 2011).
Age
Figure 1: Population age pyramid Sierra Leone
80+
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
<5
10
Male
8
6
4
Female
2
0
Percent
2
4
6
8
10
Source: MICS 2010
1. Introduction
1