The Republic of Sierra Leone is situated along the West African Coast. It is bounded on the north and north east by Guinea on the east and south by Liberia and on the West by the Atlantic Ocean. Sierra Leone has a total land area of 72,000 km of which about 75% is cultivable. According to the 2015 census it has a population of 7,092,113 million people. In 2018 the country was divided into five regions including the Northern, Northern Western, Eastern and Southern provinces. The provinces are further divided into sixteen districts and a total of 190 chiefdoms headed by Paramount chiefs. Sierra Leone is characterized by favorable climate in terms of wet and dry seasons, which makes it mainly suitable for agriculture production and the growing of different types of crops in the country as a whole. Sierra Leone is suitable for cattle rearing; groundnut and cashew nut farming, particularly in the north, the eastern region grows coffee and cacao and the south, cacao, ginger and piassava, oil-palm, rice, cassava and sweet potatoes all of which are grown in every part of the country. The country has vast acres of arable land for agriculture production. Apart from this agriculture potential, Sierra Leone is very rich in natural resources such as diamonds, gold, iron ore, bauxite, rutile, forest as well as marine resources etc. most of these resources can be found in both south and east of the country and recent, the north also has discovered some of these minerals such as bauxite and iron ore, diamonds have also been discovered. Sierra Leone is among the leading producers of Iron Ore, Diamonds and Bauxite in the world
About the Author: Abubakar Hassan Kargbo is currently the Chairman of the National Commission for Democracy. He lectures at the School of Social Sciences, Postgraduate Studies, Njala University, in Sierra Leone. Prior to his joining the Njiala University he taught International Relations, Ancient and Medieval Political thought at the Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone in the 1980 and International Economic Relations, Development Studies and Government at the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology respectively. Dr. Abubakar Kargbo completed his Doctorate in Jurisprudence (JU.Dr) International law and Organisation in 1977 at the Charles University, Law Faculty in Prague, Czech Republic. Prior to receiving his doctorate, Dr. Kargbo received his Masters Degree in International Relations and sat to the First State Examination from the same University in 1973. Dr. Kargbo is broadcaster, researcher, writer and consultant. He was the coordinator of the Core Team that put together the Vision 2025 document for Sierra Leone. He has presented numerous papers at conferences and workshops on topics on the media and governance, trade union issues, electoral systems, globalization and the third world, conflict and development. He is also the Chairman of the Board Campaign for Good Governance and NGO in Sierra Leone and was Commissioner Independent Media Commission.