Sierra Club U.S. organization for the conservation of natural resources, headquartered in San Francisco. It was founded in 1892 by a group of Californians, including John Muir, who wanted to sponsor wilderness out¬ ings in Pacific Coast mountain regions. As its first president, Muir initi¬ ated the club’s involvement in political action on behalf of nature conservation. With branches in all 50 states, it works to educate the pub¬ lic on environmental issues and lobbies local, state, and federal agencies for environmental legislation.
Sierra Leone \se-,er-3-le-'6n\ officially Republic of Sierra Leone
Country, western Africa. Area: 27,699 sq mi (71,740 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 5,018,000. Capitaclass="underline" Freetown. The Mende and Temne are the
largest of about 18 ethnic groups. Lan¬ guages: English (official), Krio (derived from English and a variety of African lan¬ guages). Religions: Islam (predominantly Sunni), traditional beliefs, Christianity. Cur¬ rency: leone. Sierra Leone has four physical regions: the coastal swamp; the Sierra Leone Peninsula, with thickly wooded mountains that rise from
the swamps; the interior plains, consisting of grasslands and rolling wooded country; and the eastern plateau region, encompassing several mountains. About one-eighth of the country is forest. Wildlife includes chimpanzees, tigers, crocodiles, and many species of birds. The economy is based largely on agriculture and mining; rice, cassava, coffee, cacao, and oil palm are major crops, and diamonds and bauxite are mined. Sierra Leone is a republic with one legislative house; the head of state and gov¬ ernment is the president. The earliest inhabitants were probably the Bulom and Temne; Mande-speaking peoples began arriving in the 15th century. The coastal region was visited by the Portuguese in the 15th century, who built a fort near the site of modern Freetown. European ships visited the coast regularly to trade for slaves and ivory, and the English built trading posts on offshore islands in the 17th century. British abolitionists and phi¬ lanthropists founded Freetown in 1787 as a private venture for freed and runaway slaves. In 1808 the coastal settlement became a British colony. The region became a British protectorate in 1896. It achieved indepen¬ dence in 1961 and became a republic in 1971. Since independence Sierra Leone has experienced a series of military coups. An 11 -year civil war that was marked by horrific atrocities and further devastated the country ended in 2002.
Sierra Madre Principal mountain system, Mexico. It includes the ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental (to the west), the Sierra Madre Ori¬ ental (to the east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (to the south)—all run¬ ning roughly northwest-southeast. The Sierra Madre Occidental extends for about 700 mi (1,100 km) parallel with the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean; summits reach elevations above 6,000 ft (1,800 m), with some exceeding 10,000 ft (3,000 m). The Sierra Madre Oriental origi¬ nates near the Rio Grande to the north and extends roughly parallel with the Gulf of Mexico for about 700 mi; it has an average elevation of about 7,000 ft (2,150 m), but some peaks rise above 10,000 ft (Mount Pena Nevada). The Sierra Madre del Sur stretches through the southern Mexi¬ can states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, reaching elevations of about 6,500 ft (2,000 m), with a few peaks above 10,000 ft.
Sierra Nevada Mountain range, eastern California, U.S. The Sierra Nevada range extends more than 250 mi (400 km) from the Mojave Desert to the Cascade Range, and it averages about 50 mi (80 km) in width. The peaks of the range are 11,000-14,000 ft (3,350-4,270 m) high; Mount Whitney is the highest mountain. It is a year-round recreation centre and is easily accessed from the state’s large urban areas.
Sierra redwood See big tree
Sieyes \sya-'yes\, Emmanuel-Joseph (b. May 3, 1748, Frejus, France—d. June 20, 1836, Paris) French political theorist. A Catholic priest, he rose to become chancellor of the diocese of Chartres in 1788. In sympathy with the reform movement before the French Revolution, he won great popularity with his pamphlet What Is the Third Estate? (1789) and was elected to represent the Third Estate in the Estates-General. He led the movement to establish the National Assembly, then served in the National Convention until the radical Jacobins seized control (1793). Dur¬ ing the Directory, he served on the Council of Five Hundred (1795-99) and on the Directory itself (1799). He helped organize the military Coup of 18-19 Brumaire, which overthrew the Directory and brought Napoleon to power. After the monarchy’s restoration (1815), he lived in exile in Belgium until 1830.
Sigebert \sezh-'ber\ I (b. 535—d. November? 575, Vitry, near Arras) Frankish king of the Merovingian dynasty. On the death of his father, Chlotar I, he became king of Austrasia, and he gained further territory on the death of his brother Charibert I (c. 567). He repelled attacks by the Avars (562, c. 568) and married Brunhild, the daughter of the Visigothic king. Brunhild’s sister had married Sigebert’s brother Chilperic I and was murdered by him. To avenge his sister-in-law’s murder, Sigebert waged civil war against Chilperic, defeating him and taking most of his land. Acclaimed king by his brother’s subjects, he was immediately killed by assassins in the service of Fredegund, Chilperic’ s second wife.
Siger de Brabant \se-'zha...bra-'ba n \ (b. 1240, duchy of Brabant—d. between 1281 and 1284, Orvieto, Tuscany) French philosopher. He taught at the University of Paris and was a leader of the school of radical Aris- totelianism. From c. 1260 he and others gave lectures on the works of Greek, Arabic, and medieval philosophers without regard for church teaching, which had blended Aristotelianism with the Christian faith. Some of his teachings were condemned in 1270 by the bishop of Paris,
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1750 I Sigismund > Sikh Wars
and in 1277 many more were condemned by the bishop. When summoned by the Inquisition (1276), he fled to Italy. Dante, in The Divine Comedy , put Siger in the Heaven of Light.
Sigismund Vsi-jos-mondV (b. Feb. 15, 1368, probably Niimberg—d. Dec. 9, 1437, Znojmo, Bohemia) Holy Roman emperor (1433-37), king of Hungary (from 1387), German king (from 1411), king of Bohemia (from 1419), and Lombard king (from 1431). He became king of Hun¬ gary by marriage and pawned his German lands to raise funds for defense (1388). He pursued an expansionist policy that brought him into conflict with his brother Wencesias, whom he imprisoned (1402-03) in an abor¬ tive effort to seize Bohemia. As German king, Sigismund helped to end the Western Schism. He was twice defeated by the Turks (1396, 1428). Although he inherited the Bohemian crown in 1419, wars against the Hussites delayed his coronation until 1436. He gained the imperial crown in 1433, becoming the last emperor of the house of Luxembourg.
Sigismund I Polish Zygmunt Stary ("Sigismund the Old")
(b. Jan. 1, 1467—d. April 1, 1548, Krakow, Pol.) King of Poland (1506- 48). Son of Casimir IV, he became grand prince of Lithuania and king of Poland in 1506. After his army subdued the Teutonic Order in East Prus¬ sia, he established Polish suzerainty over the area, known as Ducal Prus¬ sia (1525). He added the duchy of Mazovia (now the province of Warsaw) to the Polish state in 1529. He established judicial and administrative reforms and encouraged a reform of the currency. A lover of the fine arts, he brought Italian artists to Poland and promoted the development of the Renaissance.