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It’snone of the top spots for diamonds in the world! There are diamonds innseveral regions, just lying about in alluvial sands—accessible tonanyone with a shovel and sieve!
It’snone of the top spots for diamonds in the world! There are diamonds innseveral regions, just lying about in alluvial sands—accessible tonanyone with a shovel and sieve!n
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nIt’snalso a major producer of gold. Other minerals important to modernntechnology are mined in Sierra Leone, too, including titanium andnbauxite (Sierra Leone is a leader in production of both!).
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nYetnSierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world!
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nAnmajor reason for Sierra Leone’s economic woes is that it sufferednfrom more than a decade of civil war. In the early 1960s, SierranLeone declared its independence from the United Kingdom (a.k.a.nBritain), and on this date in 1971, this West African nation became anrepublic. But in 1991, the Revolutionary United Front tried to oustnthe government, and shortly after there was a military coupnd’etat; armies fought over diamond-rich land, and so-calledn“blood diamonds” were used to pay for more violence. Much of thennation’s infrastructure was destroyed, more than two million peoplenwere displaced—mostly fleeing to other countries—and more thannfifty thousand people were killed!
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nThosenof us who live in countries that are ruled by law, that replacengovernments through elections, and that enjoy internal peace shouldnnot take these things for granted. Sierra Leone called itself anrepublic, had democratic institutions with elected officials such asna president and lawmakers, had a constitution that outlined thenpowers and responsibilities of the three branches ofngovernment—legislative, executive, and judiciary—but still, itndid not have a longstanding history of rule by law and freenelections. And despite the lip-service to democracy, it was ruled bynsmall groups of military leaders that fought each other and draggednthe whole country into battle. Since the civil war ended in 2002,nthings have been getting better and better. Thank goodness!
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nPeoplenwho work in the tourist business in Sierra Leone are trying hard tonchange the war-torn image in people’s minds and to encourage travelnin their nation. Here is a video about this effort. Warning: therenare some brutal images of violence and war in the middle section ofnthe video, most from a movie called Blood Diamonds. n
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nAndnhere is an official tourism video with some great shots of beaches,nchimpanzees, and jungle-covered mountains.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nLanding of the 33 Patriots Day in Uruguay
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nDay of the Indian in Brazil
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nBeginning of the Independence Movement Day in Venezuela
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nBirthday of motorboat-inventor Ole Evinrude
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nAnniversary of the first Boston marathon
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nAnniversary of the first free-fall parachute descent using a rip cord
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