Sierra Leone-Republic of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone (officially: Republic of Sierra Leone), is a country in West Africa, bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Central Atlantic Ocean to the west. The country's capital and largest city is Freetown. After a decade of bloody civil war from 1991 to 2002 that claimed tens of thousands of lives, the country is busy rebuilding and coming to terms with its recent history.

The country is heavily in debt and is one of the poorest countries in the world. The Human Development Index ranks Sierra Leone among the least developed countries. In the 17th century, the British dominated the slave trade on the Sierra Leonean coast. In 1808, the peninsula was formally declared a British crown colony. After gaining independence from Great Britain in 1961, the country was declared a republic just under ten years later, following fierce controversy. 

Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds and raw materials; since independence in 1961, power has been in the hands of a few who have profited exclusively from the diamond wealth and have hardly allowed the majority of the population to share in it. The severe discrimination against individual population groups led to repeated protests. The country is rich in mineral resources such as bauxite, lignite, chromium, diamonds, iron ore, gold, graphite, columbite, manganese, molybdenum, platinum, rutile (titanium oxide) and rhodium.

About 70 percent of the population live in extreme poverty and have to get by on less than one U.S. dollar a day. Consequently, the former British colony has for years occupied last place on the list of the United Nations Development Program, equivalent to the status of the least developed of 179 countries surveyed (see also Least Developed Countries). Only 2.207 million people, about one-third of the population, are employed.