位於西非大西洋岸，Sierra Leone一詞在葡萄牙語為「母獅的山」，故台灣意譯為獅子山共和國。擁有相當豐富的礦產，尤其是鑽石礦，知名電影血鑽石便是以獅子山內戰作為故事背景。但鑽石帶來的利潤掌握在財團和中間商手中，該國仍是全球最貧窮國家之一，人均GDP和人類發展指數皆在全球倒數十名內。2016年遭遇嚴重的伊波拉疫情，染病人數為全非洲之最，死亡人數僅次賴比瑞亞。

Year Founded: 1961

Sierra Leone, located in West Africa, is bordered on the west by the North Atlantic Ocean. The country’s name means “Lion Mountains” in Portuguese. Therefore, Taiwan calls it by its literally translated Chinese name, the Republic of Lion Mountains. The country has abundant mineral resources, including lots of diamond deposits. The famous movie “Blood Diamond” is set against the backdrop of the Sierra Leone Civil War. Unfortunately, the profits from the diamonds are controlled by consortiums and middlemen, and the country thus remains amongst the world’s poorest countries. It ranks among the bottom ten in the GDP per capita and on the human development index. Sierra Leone had the most confirmed cases in Africa during the Ebola epidemic in 2016, resulting in a death toll second only to Liberia.