什麼是獅子山

正式名稱獅子山共和國（Republic of Sierra Leone）

非洲西部國家。面積71,740平方公里。人口5,427,000（2001）。首都︰自由城。獅子山約有十八個族群；其中以門德人和滕內人最多。語言︰英語（官方語）、克里奧爾語（衍生自英語和多種非語）。宗教︰伊斯蘭教、傳統的泛靈論宗教和基督教。貨幣︰利昂（Le）。獅子山全境分四個地理區：沿海沼澤地區；獅子山半島為林木茂密的山區，從海岸沼澤地升起；內陸平原，包括草原和林木茂密起伏不平的丘陵；東部高原地區，包括數條山脈。森林佔土地總面積的1/4以上。野生動物有黑猩猩、虎貓、鱷魚以及多種鳥類。經濟主要以農業和採礦業為基礎。米、木薯、咖啡、可可和油棕櫚為主要農作物。礦產有鑽石、鐵礦石和鋁土礦。為軍人政權統治，該政權於1997年中止憲法。國家元首暨政府首腦為總統。

最早的居民可能是布隆姆人。15世紀，門德人和滕內人到達獅子山。葡萄牙人於15世紀來到沿海地區，至1495年，在今自由城的所在地已有一個葡萄牙要塞。歐洲船隻定期停泊在當地沿海，從事奴隸和象牙貿易。17世紀英國人在近海島嶼建立了貿易站。1787年，英國的廢奴主義者和博愛主義者建立了自由城，作為獲得自由和逃亡奴隸的立身之地。1896年，該地區成為英國保護地。1961年，獲得獨立。1971年成為共和國。20世紀後期為政治和經濟混亂時期，發生幾次軍事政權力圖獨攬大權。聯合國和平部隊在此駐紮，但對阻止流血和暴力活動起不了作用。

Sierra Leone

Nation, western Africa. Area: 27,699 sq mi (71,740 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 4,424,000. Capital: Freetown. The Mende and Temne are the largest of about 18 ethnic groups. Languages: English (official), Krio (derived from English and a variety of African languages). Religions: Islam, traditional animist beliefs, Christianity. Currency: leone. Sierra Leone has four physical regions: the coastal swamp; the Sierra Leone Peninsula, with thickly wooded mountains that rise from the swamps; the interior plains, consisting of grasslands and rolling wooded country; and the eastern plateau region, encompassing several mountains. More than one-fourth of the country is forest. Wildlife includes chimpanzees, tigers, crocodiles, and many species of birds. The economy is based largely on agriculture and mining; rice, cassava, coffee, cacao, and oil palm are major crops, and diamonds, iron ore, and bauxite are mined. It is ruled by a military regime which suspended the constitution in 1997; its usual head of state and government is the president. Its earliest inhabitants were probably the Buloms; the Mende and Temne peoples arrived in the 15th century. The coastal region was visited by the Portuguese in the 15th century, and by 1495 there was a Portuguese fort on the site of modern Freetown. European ships visited the coast regularly to trade for slaves and ivory, and the English built trading posts on offshore islands in the 17th century. British abolitionists and philanthropists founded Freetown in 1787 as a private venture for freed and runaway slaves. In 1808 the coastal settlement became a British colony. The region became a British protectorate in 1896. It achieved independence in 1961 and became a republic in 1971. It was marked by political and economic turmoil in the late 20th century as successive military regimes tried to assume power. U.N. peacekeeping forces were stationed there, but were ineffectual in preventing bloodletting and atrocities.