Sierra Leone: 10 newspapers and other news sources. Sierra Leone Facts, Sierra Leone Flag. Sierra Leone Facts Flag Map Sierra Leone is on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, with coastal swamps rising to interior plateaus and mountains. Named "lion mountain" by a 15th-century Portuguese explorer, Sierra Leone was a British colony from the early 19th century until 1961. In the 1990s democratically elected leaders were overthrown but subsequently regained power, and major hostilities have demoralized the population and destabilized the economy. In 2002 Sierra Leone emerged from a decade of civil war, with the help of some 17,000 UN peacekeepers. Industry: Mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles); petroleum refiningAgriculture: Rice, coffee, cacao, palm kernels; poultry; fishExports: Diamonds, rutile, cacao, coffee —Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition.
The World Factbook. ShowIntroduction :: SIERRA LEONE Panel - Collapsed The British set up a trading post near present-day Freetown in the 17th century. Originally the trade involved timber and ivory, but later it expanded into slaves. Following the American Revolution, a colony was established in 1787 and Sierra Leone became a destination for resettling black loyalists who had originally been resettled in Nova Scotia.
After the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, British crews delivered thousands of Africans liberated from illegal slave ships to Sierra Leone, particularly Freetown. The colony gradually expanded inland during the course of the 19th century; independence was attained in 1961. Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war (1991-2002) that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one third of the population). Sierra Leone News - Breaking World Sierra Leone News.
Sierra Leone country profile - Overview. 19 December 2013Last updated at 06:19 ET Sierra Leone, in West Africa, emerged from a decade of civil war in 2002, with the help of Britain, the former colonial power, and a large United Nations peacekeeping mission. More than 17,000 foreign troops disarmed tens of thousands of rebels and militia fighters. A decade on, the country has made progress towards reconciliation, but poverty and unemployment are still major challenges. A lasting feature of the war, in which tens of thousands died, were the atrocities committed by the rebels, whose trademark was to hack off the hands or feet of their victims. Sierra Leone has sandy beaches fringed by lush, forested hills A UN-backed war crimes court was set up to try those from both sides who bore the greatest responsibility for the brutalities. Its last case ended in The Hague in April 2012, with judges finding former Liberian leader Charles Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes in the Sierra Leone civil war.