Welcome
The Impact of IT in Sierra Leone
Map of Sierra Leone
Country IT Overview and History
This project relates to Sierra Leone's IT-landscape. Being a Sierra Leonean definitely prompted my interest into this project, since IT and IT related projects are of paramount interest to me, especially in the area of Agriculture, Telecommunications, Banking, Education and other areas of the human functioning.
Sierra Leone (SL) is a small country that is located on
the west coast of Africa. The Republic of Guinea bound it on the North-West and
North-North-East. This boundary was agreed on with the French government in
1885. On the South-East, it is bounded by Liberia, a frontier that was agreed on
in 1882 and finally settled in 1911. The country has some 300 miles of coastline
on the South-West. It’s original name Sierra Lyoa, means Lion Mountains.
Most of the people groups that make up SL today arrived in the country around
and after 1400. Portuguese navigators first visited it in the 1400's. By the
17th century British traders became increasingly prominent in SL. In the 1780's
English philanthropists who established settlements for freed slaves bought land
from local chiefs. The land purchased including what is now Freetown and the
entire peninsular area in the western part of the country became a British
Colony in 1808. The rest of the country became a British protectorate in 1896.
The entire country was declared independent within the Commonwealth in 1961 and
became a republic in 1971.
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Some Statistics: Capital: Freetown Population: 4.6 million Area of the Country: 27,925 square miles Form of government: Parliamentary Religions: Islam (40%), Christian (35%), Indigenous (20%) Per capita GDP: $140.00 Literacy: 21% Natural Resources: Diamonds, Bauxite, Iron ore Major Languages: English, Krio, Mende, Temme |