Africa > Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea on the north and Liberia on the south, with the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The name Sierra Leone was adapted from the Portuguese name for the country: Serra Leoa. The literal meaning is "Lion Mountain Range". During the 1700s Sierra Leone was an important centre of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans. The capital Freetown was founded in 1787 (received its charter in 1792) by the Sierra Leone Company as a home for enslaved Africans who had fought for the British in the American War of Independence. In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown Colony, and in 1896, the interior of the country became a British Protectorate. The Crown Colony and Protectorate joined and gained independence in 1961. From 1991 to 2002, the country suffered greatly under the devastating effects of rebel incursions. To end rebel activities, UN and British forces disarmed 17,000 militia and rebels, in the largest UN peacekeeping act of the decade. The average life expectancy at birth of a Sierra Leonean is 38 years for males and 43 years for females.

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