Eastern Province, Sierra Leone

Coordinates: 8°15′N 11°00′W / 8.250°N 11.000°W / 8.250; -11.000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Eastern Province

The Eastern Province is one of the four provinces of Sierra Leone. It covers an area of 15,553 km2 and has a population of 1,641,012 (2015 census).[1] Its capital and administrative centre is Kenema.[2] Eastern Province, the centre of the country's diamond mining industry, is very mountainous and has two ranges, the Gola Hills and the Loma Mountains.

Economy

The Eastern Province is the heart of Sierra Leone's diamond mining activity.[3] The precious stone was first discovered in around the 1930s, and has played a major part in the region's history ever since.[4] Most diamonds are mined and exported by small local enterprises, numbering around 200,000 to 300,000; some of these are illegal, while many are officially sanctioned.[4] Additionally, there are a handful of foreign countries carrying out larger scale diamond mining.[4]

Geography

The Eastern Province borders the Nzérékoré Region of Guinea to the northeast, the Liberian counties of Lofa, Gbarpolu and Grand Cape Mount to the east and south, and the Sierra Leonian Southern and Northern provinces to the west and northwest. Eastern Province is the only region of Sierra Leone without any shoreline.[5]

The province is home to the

chimpanzees, western red colobus, many endemic species of bird, and a sparse population of pygmy hippopotamus.[6] The other main area of wilderness is the Loma Mountains, which lie mostly in the Northern Province, but also extend into the northern part of the Eastern Province.[7]

Districts

The province is divided into 3 districts. They are:

Religion

Religion in Eastern Province (2015)[8]
Religion Percent(%)
Islam
69.4%
Christianity
29.00%
Bahai
0.1%
Traditional African Religion
0.1%
Other
1.2%
No Religion
0.2%

See also

References

  1. ^ Bah, Saidu (1 April 2016). "Sierra Leone News: We are 7,075641 people – Census". Awoko. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  2. ISBN 9780549511755. Archived from the original
    on 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  3. ^ Manson, Knight & McClanahan 2012, p. 253.
  4. ^ a b c Manson, Knight & McClanahan 2012, p. 272.
  5. ^ a b MapAction (21 October 2014). "Reference Map of Eastern Province, Sierra Leone". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  6. ^ Manson, Knight & McClanahan 2012, pp. 263–264.
  7. ^ Manson, Knight & McClanahan 2012, p. 312.
  8. ^ https://sierraleone.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20structure%20Report_1.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Cited works

External links

8°15′N 11°00′W / 8.250°N 11.000°W / 8.250; -11.000