THE REAL THING

Blood Diamonds...Conflict Diamonds...War diamonds!!!

So what exactly are they?

Well,The United Nations Organisation(UNO) defines Blood diamonds as,

"Diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in oppositio to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security
Council."

Blood diamonds captured the attention of the world in the late 1990’s due to the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone. In the 1990’s approximately 15% of the world’s total diamond production was represented by blood diamonds. But this amount has been reduced to less than 1% in this millennium.

What happens is that in many African countries,like Sierra Leone,Liberia,Angola,Ivory Coast etc,Whenever a commodity is valued,locals die in great number!

This is because,whenever a valued substance is identified,The forces or fractions opposed to the recognised governments take advantage of it.They create terror among the areas they get a stronghold upon and very soon start forcing the people to get those things.Earlier this was true of Ivory,Gold,Oil but now its also for diamonds.

They come,create terror,kill people,get the diamonds,smuggle it out to neighbouring Liberia and after a series of events,they get millions and millions of dollars for arms purchase!

And the unsuspecting buyer never knows that He/She has brought a diamond and in a way Financed the war!

Given Below Are Some Basic Statistics Of The Countries Where Blood Diamond Trade Is/was Rampant.

SIERRA LEONE

Area- 71,740sq km
Population-6,017,634
Capital- Freetown
Official Language- English
Currency- Leone
Sierra Leone became independent from the British rule in 1971. But the
country was in a state of civil war from 1991-2002. Thousands of people
were killed during the civil war and many thousands were left homeless.
Sierra Leone has rich diamond and gold deposits. Due to its political
problems Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries of the world now.
A large percentage of the population is unemployed and people live on
less then US $2 per day

ANGOLA

Area- 1,246,700sq km
Population- 11,190,786
Capital- Luanda
Official Language- Portuguese
Currency- Kwanza
Angola became independent from the Portuguese rule in 1975, and since
then in has been in a constant state of civil war. The country is rich
in diamond and oil deposits. The country suffers from many financial and
economical problems.

LIBERIA

Area- 111,369sq km
Population- 3,482,211
Capital- Monrovia
Official Language- English
Currency- Liberian dollar
This country to the west of Africa was founded by freed American
slaves. It has been independent since 1847.

IVORY COAST
Area- 381,000sq km
Population- 17,298,040
Capital- Yamoussoukro
Official Language- French
Currency- CFA Franc
Ivory Coast also known as co^te d’Ivoire in French became independent
from France in 1960. It was a peaceful country until its military
problems began in 1999. Then trouble began in between the government and the
rebels and is still yet to stop.

WHERE IT HAPPENS

The areas highlighted with yellow shows the areas where blood diamonds are traded and exported.