Sierra Leone

Where the name comes from

Sierra Leone means “lion mountains”, from Portuguese Serra Leoa, the name Pedro de Sintra gave the coastal mountains in 1462; what the lion referred to is uncertain.

First people

Temne, Mende and other communities lived here for centuries.¹

Known for

Sierra Leone is known for its diamonds and for Freetown, founded in 1792 with Black settlers from Nova Scotia, whose descendants formed the Krio community and language.²

Outside contact

The first settlement for formerly enslaved people began in 1787, and Britain made it a Crown colony in 1808, adding an inland protectorate in 1896.¹

The modern country

Independence came in 1961.¹