Area: 72,000 square kilometers
Population: 4.2 million (majority Muslim)
Shares borders with: Guinea, Liberia and the Atlantic Ocean

Despite its enormous mineral resources, Sierra Leone became one of the poorest nations in the world. Corruption, nepotism and the unequal distribution of wealth created a huge gap between rich and poor. This has resulted in the vicious ten-year civil war that has left this West African nation with several competing warlords leading their own armies to control most of the country including its lucrative diamond mines. More than 50,000 people have died in the complicated and brutal war. Rebels have created a great terror by deliberately hacking off the arms or limbs of opponents and civilians alike. The conflict turned half of the population, more than two million people, into refugees.