Portal:Sierra Leone

The Sierra Leone Portal

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It shares its southeastern border with Liberia and is bordered by Guinea to the north. With a land area of 71,740 km² (27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has a tropical climate and with a variety of environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. According to the 2015 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 7,092,113, with Freetown serving as both the capital and largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are further subdivided into 16 districts.

Sierra Leone is governed as a presidential republic, with a unicameral parliament and a directly elected president. Sierra Leone is a secular state with the constitution providing for the separation of state and religion and freedom of conscience, encompassing freedom of thought and religion. Muslims constitute three-quarters of the population with a significant Christian minority. Notably, religious tolerance is very high, reflecting a social norm and part of the nation's cultural identity.

Sierra Leone's current territorial configuration was established by the British Empire through two historical phases: initially, the coastal Sierra Leone Colony was founded in 1808 to resettle returning Africans following the abolition of the slave trade; subsequently, the inland Protectorate was created in 1896 in the wake of the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885. This led to the formal recognition of the territory as the Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate, or British Sierra Leone. Independence from the United Kingdom was attained in 1961, with Sierra Leone transitioning into a Commonwealth realm as the Dominion of Sierra Leone under the leadership of Prime Minister Sir Milton Margai of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

Under prime minister Siaka Stevens of the All People's Congress (APC), the country adopted a new constitution in 1971, transforming Sierra Leone into a presidential republic with Stevens as the inaugural president. After declaring the APC the sole legal party in 1978, Stevens was succeeded by Joseph Saidu Momoh in 1985. Momoh's enactment of a new constitution in 1991 reintroduced a multi-party system. That year, a protracted civil war initiated, featuring the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group, leading to significant turmoil. The conflict, characterized by multiple coups d'état, persisted for 11 years. Intervention by ECOMOG forces and later the United Kingdom resulted in the defeat of the RUF in 2002, ushering in a period of relative stability and recovery efforts. The remaining two main political parties are the APC and the SLPP. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Ghanaian palaver sauce

Palaver sauce or palava sauce or plasas is a type of stew widely eaten in West Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The word palaver comes from the Portuguese language and means a talk, lengthy debate or quarrel. It is unclear how this led to the name of the stew. One theory is that the spices used in the stew mingle together like raised voices in an argument. It has been thought of as having the power to calm tensions, or to cause them. Other names for the dish include kontonmire, kentumere, nkontommire and pla'sas.

It has regional variations and can contain beef, fish, shrimp, pepitas, cassava, taro (cocoyam) leaves, and palm oil. It is served with boiled rice, potatoes, garri, fufu or yams. Outside of Africa, spinach is often used as a substitute for other greens. The leaves used to make this soup in Liberia are called molokhia or mulukhiyah leaves. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images -

The following are images from various Sierra Leone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Moa River Bridge, Sierra Leone. Lisk-Carew Brothers, Freetown, Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 2A radio listener in Kailahun (from Sierra Leone)
Image 3A farmer with his rice harvest in Sierra Leone. Two-thirds of Sierra Leone's population are directly involved in subsistence agriculture. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 4A proportional representation of Sierra Leone exports, 2019 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 5An APC political rally in the northern town of Kabala outside the home of supporters of the rival SLPP in 1968 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 6African Naval ratings march past the Governor of Sierra Leone, Sir Hubert Stevenson. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 7Houses at Sierra-Leone (May 1853, X, p. 55) (from Sierra Leone)
Image 8The Koindu dance (from Sierra Leone)
Image 9A secondary school class in Pendembu, Kailahun District (from Sierra Leone)
Image 10National Stadium in Freetown (from Sierra Leone)
Image 11The road from Kenema to Kailahun District (from Sierra Leone)
Image 12Temne leader Bai Bureh seen here in 1898 after his surrender, sitting relaxed in his traditional dress with a handkerchief in his hands, while a Sierra Leonean West African Frontier Force soldier stands guard next to him (from Sierra Leone)
Image 13A proportional representation of Sierra Leone exports, 2019 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 14Sierra Leone map of Köppen climate classification (from Sierra Leone)
Image 15Bai Bureh, Temne leader of the Hut Tax War of 1898 against British rule (from Sierra Leone)
Image 16The road from Kenema to Kailahun District (from Sierra Leone)
Image 17The 14 districts and 2 areas of Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 18Rice farming in Rolako (from Sierra Leone)
Image 19Isata Mahoi shown editing radio programmes in Talking Drum studio Freetown; she is also an actress in the Sierra Leone radio soap opera Atunda Ayenda (from Sierra Leone)
Image 20A mosque and a church in Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 21A situation map of the Ebola outbreak as of 8 August 2014 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 22A radio listener in Kailahun (from Sierra Leone)
Image 23Houses at Sierra-Leone (May 1853, X, p. 55) (from Sierra Leone)
Image 24Sierra Leone electricity production by source (from Sierra Leone)
Image 25A school in Koindu destroyed during the Civil War; in total 1,270 primary schools were destroyed in the War. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 26An 1835 illustration of liberated Africans arriving in Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 27Bunce Island, 1805, during the period the slave factory was run by John and Alexander Anderson (from Sierra Leone)
Image 28Isata Mahoi shown editing radio programmes in Talking Drum studio Freetown; she is also an actress in the Sierra Leone radio soap opera Atunda Ayenda (from Sierra Leone)
Image 29An 1835 illustration of liberated Africans arriving in Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 30Moa River Bridge, Sierra Leone. Lisk-Carew Brothers, Freetown, Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 31Odelay mask by Temne people. Brooklyn Museum. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 32African Naval ratings march past the Governor of Sierra Leone, Sir Hubert Stevenson. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 33Bai Bureh, Temne leader of the Hut Tax War of 1898 against British rule (from Sierra Leone)
Image 34Sierra Leone's total population, from 1961 to 2013 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 35The Koindu dance (from Sierra Leone)
Image 36A school in Koindu destroyed during the Civil War; in total 1,270 primary schools were destroyed in the War. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 37Historical GDP per capita development (from Sierra Leone)
Image 38The Sierra Leone Supreme Court in the capital Freetown, the highest and most powerful court in the country (from Sierra Leone)
Image 39Odelay mask by Temne people. Brooklyn Museum. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 40Rice farming in Rolako (from Sierra Leone)
Image 41A map of Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 42A farmer with his rice harvest in Sierra Leone. Two-thirds of Sierra Leone's population are directly involved in subsistence agriculture. (from Sierra Leone)
Image 43Sierra Leone electricity production by source (from Sierra Leone)
Image 44A situation map of the Ebola outbreak as of 8 August 2014 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 45British West African Campaign troops in Freetown, 1914–1916. Published caption: "British expeditionary force preparing to embark at Freetown to attack the German Cameroons, the main object of the attack being the port of Duala. Auxiliary native troops were freely used in African warfare." (from Sierra Leone)
Image 46The Sierra Leone Supreme Court in the capital Freetown, the highest and most powerful court in the country (from Sierra Leone)
Image 47Bunce Island, 1805, during the period the slave factory was run by John and Alexander Anderson (from Sierra Leone)
Image 48The distribution of major ethnic groups within Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 49National Stadium in Freetown (from Sierra Leone)
Image 50A map of Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 51British West African Campaign troops in Freetown, 1914–1916. Published caption: "British expeditionary force preparing to embark at Freetown to attack the German Cameroons, the main object of the attack being the port of Duala. Auxiliary native troops were freely used in African warfare." (from Sierra Leone)
Image 52An APC political rally in the northern town of Kabala outside the home of supporters of the rival SLPP in 1968 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 53The 14 districts and 2 areas of Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 54Temne leader Bai Bureh seen here in 1898 after his surrender, sitting relaxed in his traditional dress with a handkerchief in his hands, while a Sierra Leonean West African Frontier Force soldier stands guard next to him (from Sierra Leone)
Image 55Historical GDP per capita development (from Sierra Leone)
Image 56A secondary school class in Pendembu, Kailahun District (from Sierra Leone)
Image 57Fragments of prehistoric pottery from Kamabai Rock Shelter (from Sierra Leone)
Image 58A mosque and a church in Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 59Sierra Leone map of Köppen climate classification (from Sierra Leone)
Image 60The distribution of major ethnic groups within Sierra Leone (from Sierra Leone)
Image 61Sierra Leone's total population, from 1961 to 2013 (from Sierra Leone)
Image 62Fragments of prehistoric pottery from Kamabai Rock Shelter (from Sierra Leone)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Sierra Leone sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the nation's third time competing at the Summer Paralympic Games after it made its debut twenty years prior at the 1996 Summer Paralympics. The delegation consisted of a single athlete, table tennis player George Wyndham, who lost both of his preliminary round matches to Zhang Yan of China and Thailand's Wanchai Chaiwut in the men's singles class 4 tournament and advanced no further in the competition. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles
Aniru Conteh British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War Sierra Leone women's national football team 2017 Sierra Leone mudslides Sierra Leone at the 2012 Summer Olympics Western African Ebola virus epidemic Pygmy hippopotamus Operation Barras

Did you know

... that Femi Claudius Cole offers free health checks as she campaigns to become President of Sierra Leone?

Topics

Provinces: Eastern Province • Northern Province • Southern Province • Western Area

History: Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate • Kingdom of Koya • British West Africa • Sierra Leone Liberated Africans • Sierra Leone Civil War • United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone

Law: Sierra Leone Police • Special Court for Sierra Leone • Truth and Reconciliation Commission • Prisons in Sierra Leone

Politics: List of Presidents • Political Parties • Parliament • Foreign relations • Elections • Military of Sierra Leone

Geography: Protected • Sierra Leone River • Western Guinean lowland forests • Outamba-Kilimi National Park • Transport

Society: Sport • Demographics • Education • Cuisine • Media • Music

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free)

Selected picture -

Credit: L. Lartigue and USAID
Diamond mining in Kono District, diamonds are key part of the economy of Sierra Leone. (read more . . . )

Related portals

Religions in Sierra Leone

West Africa

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WikiProjects

Sierra Leone

Africa

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Article requests : Culture of Sierra Leone (presently a redirect)
Cleanup : Communications in Sierra Leone, Hinduism in Sierra Leone, Telecommunications in Sierra Leone
Stubs : Bo Airport,Loko language, Brima Dawson Kuyateh, Roman Catholicism in Sierra Leone
Verify : John Akar, Mohamed B. Daramy, Bunce Island
Other : St. George Cathedral (Freetown)

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