history of Sierra Leone

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Map of Sierra Leone showing its national boundaries with Guinea and Liberia, major cities including Freetown, Bo, Kenema, and Makeni, and its Atlantic Ocean coastline. The map includes a small locator inset highlighting Sierra Leone's position on the west coast of Africa.

Map of western Africa showing the locations and territorial extents of major kingdoms and peoples from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Hausa Bakwai states are outlined in orange, representing their largest area in the 17th-18th centuries, while the Fulani kingdom is outlined in green, showing its 19th-century peak. Major cities, rivers, and regions such as the Niger and Benue Rivers, the Bauchi Highlands, and the Adamawa Plateau are labeled for context.

Weathered sign reading Welcome to Bunce Island stands on grassy ground near trees and an old wooden boat, memorializing enslaved Africans at the historic site in Sierra Leone.

Map of Africa highlighting the countries that made up historical British West Africa-Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria-in orange, with the rest of the continent and surrounding regions shown in gray for context. A small inset map in the lower left shows the location within the African continent.

Colonization of Africa: Maps, Timeline, Decolonization, & Independence

Map of Africa showing the territorial divisions and colonial possessions by European powers from the late 19th to early 20th century. Countries and regions are color-coded to indicate British, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Belgian, and German control, with independent countries and British-Egyptian condominium also marked. The map highlights the extent and timing of colonization, with most of the continent under European rule except for Ethiopia and Liberia.

Antique map showing the northwest region of Africa as published in the 1902 Encyclopaedia Britannica. The map details colonial territories and countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, the Sahara, Senegal, Portuguese Guinea, French Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, and Nigeria, with borders, cities, rivers, and geographic features labeled in fine print.

Diamonds-for-weapons trade in Africa

Fatmata Kalma, a young girl in a red dress, sits on a bench watching a worker in full protective gear and yellow gloves disinfect the area with a spray canister in Kumala, Sierra Leone.

history of Sierra Leone: Media

Images

Sierra Leone

The flag of Sierra Leone.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of Sierra Leone showing its national boundaries with Guinea and Liberia, major cities including Freetown, Bo, Kenema, and Makeni, and its Atlantic Ocean coastline. The map includes a small locator inset highlighting Sierra Leone's position on the west coast of Africa.

Sierra Leone

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of western Africa showing the locations and territorial extents of major kingdoms and peoples from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Hausa Bakwai states are outlined in orange, representing their largest area in the 17th-18th centuries, while the Fulani kingdom is outlined in green, showing its 19th-century peak. Major cities, rivers, and regions such as the Niger and Benue Rivers, the Bauchi Highlands, and the Adamawa Plateau are labeled for context.

Principal kingdoms and peoples of western Africa, 17th–19th century

Map showing the principal kingdoms and peoples of western Africa, 17th–19th century.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Weathered sign reading Welcome to Bunce Island stands on grassy ground near trees and an old wooden boat, memorializing enslaved Africans at the historic site in Sierra Leone.

Bunce Island, Sierra Leone

A sign memorializing the thousands of Africans taken into slavery and held at Bunce...

© Roberto Nencini/Dreamstime.com

Map of Africa highlighting the countries that made up historical British West Africa-Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria-in orange, with the rest of the continent and surrounding regions shown in gray for context. A small inset map in the lower left shows the location within the African continent.

British West Africa

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of Africa showing the territorial divisions and colonial possessions by European powers from the late 19th to early 20th century. Countries and regions are color-coded to indicate British, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Belgian, and German control, with independent countries and British-Egyptian condominium also marked. The map highlights the extent and timing of colonization, with most of the continent under European rule except for Ethiopia and Liberia.

Colonization of Africa by European countries

Map showing the colonization of Africa by European countries in the 19th and early...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Antique map showing the northwest region of Africa as published in the 1902 Encyclopaedia Britannica. The map details colonial territories and countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, the Sahara, Senegal, Portuguese Guinea, French Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, and Nigeria, with borders, cities, rivers, and geographic features labeled in fine print.

Northwest Africa, c. 1902

Map of northwest Africa showing Sierra Leone along the Atlantic coast, from the 10th...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Diamonds-for-weapons trade in Africa

Diamonds-for-weapons trade in Africa

Map illustrating the diamonds-for-weapons trade that took place in Africa near the...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Fatmata Kalma, a young girl in a red dress, sits on a bench watching a worker in full protective gear and yellow gloves disinfect the area with a spray canister in Kumala, Sierra Leone.

Ebola in western Africa

A worker cleaning in a village in the Koinadugu district of Sierra Leone. Thousands...

© Nikki Kahn—The Washington Post/Getty Images

Interactives

Colonization of Africa: Maps, Timeline, Decolonization, & Independence

Colonization of Africa: Maps, Timeline, Decolonization, & Independence

Learn about the colonization of Africa, the process of decolonization that led to...

© Encyclopaedia Britannica