Sierra Leone (SL)

1. Language information / Données sur les langues

1.1 Languages spoken / Langues parlées :

a) Official / Officielle(s) :

English is mentioned in the Constitution as the language of Parliament. It serves de facto as the official language.

b) National, indigenous / Nationale(s), indigène(s) :

Temne serves as the lingua franca of the north, Mende of the south, and Krio (a Creole largely English based) for the country as a whole.

Ethnologue lists 24 languages at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SL

c) Relevant pages in the Major Languages section of this report / Pages appropriées dans la section de ce rapport sur les Langues principales :

Krio/Pidgin, Mende/Bandi/Loko, Temne, Susu, Fula (Pular).

1.2 Policy / Politique

a) Laws/legislation / Lois/législation :

The site L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde has a page on Sierra Leone at http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/sierra_leone.htm

b) Agencies / Agences :

Two institutions "involved in or responsible for African Language research" in Sierra Leone (UNESCO 1985). Updated information is needed:

• Sub-Department of Linguistics and Sierra Leone Languages, Department of English, University of Sierra Leone Private Mail Bag - FREETOWN
• Department of Language Arts, Faculty of Education, Njala University College, University of Sierra Leone Private Mail Bag - FREETOWN

c) Languages in education/literacy / Langues dans l'éducation/l'alphabétisation :

UNDP (2006) gives a literacy figure (without reference to which language[s]) of: 35.1%

1.3 Writing in national/indigenous languages / Ecriture en langues nationales/indigènes

a) Orthographies / Orthographes :

National languages are written in the Latin alphabet with some additional modified letters (extended characters). A chart showing the extended Latin characters and diacritics used in some Sierra Leonean languages is available at http://www.bisharat.net/A12N/SL-table.htm

The Mende language also has its own syllabary called KiKaKui (it is not yet coded in Unicode).

b) Print publications / Editions imprimées :

1.4 Other comments / Autre commentaire :

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2. ICT situation / Situation des TIC

2.1 Infrastructure / Infrastructure

a) Telephones / Téléphones :

• Fixed lines: Telephone mainlines: 5 per 1000 people (APC)
• Mobile subscriptions: 100,000 (2.0 per 100 people) (ITU 2004 cited in Vodafone 2005)

b) Radio stations / Stations de radio :

c) Connectivity / Connectivité :

• International internet bandwidth:
• ISPs:
• Geographic coverage:

2.2 Computer & internet access / Accès aux ordinateurs et à l'internet

a) Computers & points of access / Ordinateurs et lieux d'accès :

• Number of computers / Nombre d'ordinateurs:
• Cybercafés / Cybercafés:
• Project telecentres / Télécentres de projets:

b) Internet / Internet :

• Dial-up subscribers / Abonnés par ligne téléphonique :
• Internet users / Utilisateurs de l'internet : 20,000 Internet users as of Mar/2005, 0.4% of the population, per CIA (Internet World Stats)

c) Other / Autre :

• Digital Opportunity Index (DOI): 0.09 (ITU 2006)

2.3 Policy / Politique

The APC page, "ICT Policy in Sierra Leone" has some information and links: http://rights.apc.org/africa/test.shtml?apc=s21835e_1

2.4 ICT4D/E & ICT training / TIC pour le développement/éducation, et formation en TIC

See http://www.iearnsierraleone.org/

2.5 Resources / Ressources

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3. Localisation situation / Situation de localisation

3.1 Country web content / Contenu web du pays

3.2 Web content in indigenous languages / Contenu web en langues indigènes

(See also specific language pages.)

3.3 Software localisation / Localisation de logiciel

(See also specific language pages.)

3.4 Projects & organisations / Projets et organisations

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4. References / Références

APC, "ICT Policy in Sierra Leone," Africa ICT Policy Monitor, http://rights.apc.org/africa/test.shtml?apc=s21835e_1

Balancing Act Africa. 2004. African Internet Country Profiles, Part 1, West Africa. London: Balancing Act. http://www.balancingact-africa.com/profile1.html

International Telecommunications Union (ITU). 2006. World Information Society Report 2006. Geneva: ITU. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/worldinformationsociety/2006/wisr-web.pdf

______. 2004. African Telecommunication Indicators 2004. Geneva: ITU.

Internet World Stats: Africa. 2006. http://internetworldstats.com/africa.htm

Leclerc, Jacques. L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, "Sierra Leone," http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/sierra_leone.htm

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Languages of Sierra Leone," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SL

UNDP. 2006. ''Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006.'' New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). [Human development index Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) (HDI) http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/indicators/3.html ]

Vodafone. 2005. "Africa: The Impact of Mobile Phones." The Vodafone Policy Paper Series, Number 3, March 2005. http://www.vodafone.com/assets/files/en/GPP%20SIM%20paper.pdf

Wikipedia, "Sierra Leone," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone

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