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.

Geography

Rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa.

Capital

Freetown

Climate

Tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)

Language

English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)

Monetary Unit

leone (SLL)

Largest Cities

Freetown, Koidu, Makeni

Principal rivers

Sewa

Airports

Bo, BTE Bonthe, DSL Daru, HGS Freetown Hastings, FNA Freetown Lungi Intl, JMY Freetown Mammy Yoko Heliport, GBK Gbangbatok, KBA Kabala, KEN Kenema, SRK Sierra Leone, WYE Yengema