Global
Forest Cover, FRA 2000 |
Sierra
Leone
Source:
FAO Country Profiles and CIA The World Fact Book,
2006
| Sierra
Leone: Facts |
| Capital |
Freetown |
| Land
area |
71,740
sq km |
| Population |
6,005,250
(July 2006 est.) |
| Population
growth rate |
2.3%
(2006 est.) |
| Forested
area |
|
| Land
use |
Arable
land: 7.95%
Permanent crops: 1.05%
Other: 91% (2005) |
| Natural
resources |
Diamonds,
titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite |
The
Republic of Sierra Leone lies between latitudes 7°
and 10’ N and longitudes 10° and 14° W on
the west coast of Africa, covering an area of 71 740 km2.
It is bounded on the north and east by Guinea, on the
southeast by Liberia and on the southwest and west by
the Atlantic Ocean. The country is divided into three
provinces (Southern, Eastern, and Northern) and the Western
Area, the peninsula on which the capital, Freetown, is
situated.
Sierra
Leone can be divided into four main physiographic zones.
The Gabro massif, in the Western Area, rises to 1 000
m altitude. The three other main regions, running roughly
parallel to the coast from north-west to south-east, are:
-
A coastal belt of mangrove swamp,
beaches and lowlands;
-
Tracts of undulating country to the east with a maximum
width of 100 km; and
-
More inland, an upland plateau of up to 600 m altitude
with mountain ranges culminating at 1 950 m in the Loma
Mountains.
The
climate is tropical, showing distinct dry and rainy seasons.
The rainy season extends from May to November, with precipitation
ranging from 2 000 mm in the north to more than 5 000
mm along the coast. The temperature varies between 22°
C at
night and 35° C during the day. Due to the high rainfall,
the soils of Sierra Leone are subject to erosion, especially
on slopes where the vegetation has been burned. Hilltops
all over the country, which lost their arable topsoil
after shifting cultivation, are now covered solely by
grass or sparse bushes.
Environmental
current issues
-
Rapid
population growth pressuring the environment through
overharvesting of timber and slash-and-burn agriculture
resulting in deforestation and soil exhaustion;
-
Depletion
of natural resources like uncontrolled diamond mining
during the civil war and current alluvial diamond mining;
-
Overfishing
and uncontrolled bush meat hunting.
Endangered
wild life species in Sierra Leone: Diana monkey, red colobus,
chimpanzee, green turtle, African wild dog, pygmy hippopotamus.
|
