The Eastern Province is the heart of Sierra Leone's diamond mining activity.

[4] Most diamonds are mined and exported by small local enterprises, numbering around 200,000 to 300,000; some of these are illegal, while many are officially sanctioned.

[4] Additionally, there are a handful of foreign countries carrying out larger scale diamond mining.

[4] The Eastern Province borders the Nzérékoré Region of Guinea to the northeast, the Liberian counties of Lofa, Gbarpolu and Grand Cape Mount to the east and south, and the Sierra Leonian Southern and Northern provinces to the west and northwest.

[5] The province is home to the Gola Hills, a tract of rainforest with fauna including chimpanzees, western red colobus, many endemic species of bird, and a sparse population of pygmy hippopotamus.