Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea in the north and east, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest and west. Sierra Leone covers a total area of 71,740 sq km (27,699 sq mi) and has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Freetown is the capital, seat of government, and largest city.
Sierra Leone was first inhabited by the Sherbro, Temne and Limba peoples, and later the Mende, who knew the country as Romarong. In 1462, it was visited by the Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra, who gave it its current designation, meaning 'Lion Mountains'. Sierra Leone became an important centre of the transatlantic slave trade, until 1787 when Freetown was founded by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for formerly enslaved African Americans and West Indians. In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony, and in 1896, the interior of the country became a British Protectorate; in 1961, the two combined and gained independence. Political instability over the following decades eventually led to the Sierra Leone Civil War, which began in 1991 and was resolved in 2002 when the United Nations led by Britain defeated the rebel forces and installed a civillian government. Since then, almost 72,500 former combatants have disarmed and the country has reestablished a functioning democracy. The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1996.
Sierra Leone is the lowest ranked country on the Human Development Index and seventh lowest on the Human Poverty Index, suffering from endemic corruption, suppression of the press and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa, north of the equator. With a land area of 71,740 square kilometers (27,699 square miles). Sierra Leone is bordered by Guinea to the north and northeast, Liberia to the south and southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
There are a wide variety of ecological and agricultural zones to which people have adapted. Starting in the west, Sierra Leone has some 400 kilometres (250 miles) of coastline, giving it both bountiful marine resources and attractive tourist potential. This is followed by low-lying mangrove swamps, rain-forested plains and farmland, and finally a mountainous plateau in the east, where Mount Bintumani rises to 1,948 meters (6,390 ft). The climate is tropical, with two seasons determining the agricultural cycle: the rainy season from May to November, followed by the dry season from December to May, which includes harmattan, when cool, dry winds blow in off the Sahara Desert. The national capital Freetown sits on a coastal peninsula, situated next to the Sierra Leone Harbor, the world's third largest natural harbour. This prime location historically made Sierra Leone the centre of trade and colonial administration in the region. |
