Polity · 1961 CE – present
Sierra Leone
Republic of Sierra Leone
Also recorded as Republic of Sierra Leone
- Peak recorded area
- 83,201 km²
- 1886 CE
- Rulers on record
- 5
- from 2007 CE
- Data series
- 377
- 1961 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the west coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is 73,252 km2 (28,283 sq mi). It has a tropical climate and environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. As of the 2023 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 8,460,512. Freetown is its capital and largest city.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
4 dated territorial extents on record from CShapes 2.0. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. Cliopatria holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 58 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population216 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 8.8Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 62.15years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | -11.3Kpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 2.01% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 63.89years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 60.41years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 151 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP200 obs · 1820 CE–2019 CE | 2,519int'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| Real Wage120 obs · 1854 CE–1996 CE | 0.8367index (1500=1)1996 CE · Clio-Infra |
| GDP Current Usd111 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 7.5Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| GDP per capita73 obs · 1950 CE–2022 CE | 1,690.52011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Fao Cattle Stocks64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 682.1Khead2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Cereals Area Harvested64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 1.1Mha2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
Military
6 of 23 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Expenditure % GDP66 obs · 1960 CE–2024 CE | 0.4625% of GDP2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Military Expenditure Usd65 obs · 1960 CE–2024 CE | 36.4Mcurrent US$2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| CINC Score56 obs · 1961 CE–2016 CE | 0.0003CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption56 obs · 1961 CE–2016 CE | 1.9Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production56 obs · 1961 CE–2016 CE | 0tons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel56 obs · 1961 CE–2016 CE | 9,000persons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 63 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 21.95% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 34.3% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 54.71%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land per capita Ha63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.1872hectares per person2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 3.9Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Arable Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 1.6Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.44index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.348index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.292index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 1RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.631index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity252 obs · 1961 CE–2012 CE | 7index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
6 of 53 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.823index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Railway Line Km121 obs · 1873 CE–1993 CE | 0km1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Passenger Km69 obs · 1920 CE–1993 CE | 0passenger-km1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Electricity Production58 obs · 1931 CE–1993 CE | 233MGWh1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Commercial Vehicles57 obs · 1926 CE–1997 CE | 22count1997 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Passenger Cars57 obs · 1926 CE–1997 CE | 41Kcount1997 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
5 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Ernest Bai KoromaHead of State2007 CE – 2018 CE
- David J. FrancisHead of Government2018 CE – 2021 CE
- Julius Maada BioHead of State2018 CE –
- Jacob Jusu SaffaHead of Government2021 CE – 2023 CE
- David SengehHead of Government2023 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia
- Government type
- presidential republic
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Julius Maada BIO (since 27 June 2023); head of government: President Julius Maada BIO (since 27 June 2023); cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president, approved by Parliament; the cabinet is responsible to the president;
- Ethnic groups
- Temne 35.4%, Mende 30.8%, Limba 8.8%, Kono 4.3%, Korankoh 4%, Fullah 3.8%, Mandingo 2.8%, Loko 2%, Sherbro 1.9%, Creole 1.2% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century; also known as Krio), other 5% (2019 est.)
- Natural resources
- diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite
- Economy
- low-income West African economy; primarily subsistent agriculture; key iron and diamond mining activities suspended; slow recovery from 1990s civil war; systemic corruption; high-risk debt; high youth unemployment; natural resource rich
Language & currency
- Currency
- leones (SLL)
Memberships
- Commonwealth of NationsCWInternational organisation · member1961 CE –
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1961 CE –
- ECOWASECOWASEconomic bloc · founding member1975 CE –
- 16-member Non-Aggression Pact (1977)Historical alliance · member1978 CE – 1981 CE
- 16-member Defense Pact (1981)Military alliance · member1981 CE –
- Guinea–Liberia–Sierra Leone Non-Aggression Pact (1986)Historical alliance · member1986 CE – 1991 CE
- African UnionAUInternational organisation · founding member2002 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
CShapes 2.02.0
Schvitz, G. et al. (2022). Mapping the International System, 1886-2019: The CShapes 2.0 Dataset. Journal of Conflict Resolution 66(1).
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Sierra Leone is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.