Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, informally Salone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea to the northeast. Sierra Leone has a tropical climate with a diverse environment ranging from savanna to rainforests, a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi) and a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census. The capital and largest city is Freetown. The country is divided into five administrative regions which are subdivided into sixteen districts. Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a unicameral parliament and a directly elected president. Sierra Leone is a Muslim-majority country at approximately 78%, though with an influential Christian minority at about 21%. Muslims and Christians in Sierra Leone are extremely tolerant of each other, and all the major Muslim and Christian holidays are officially national holidays in the country.
The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) is the armed forces of Sierra Leone, responsible for the territorial security of Sierra Leone's border and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone, within the framework of its international obligations. The armed forces were formed after independence in 1961, on the basis of elements of the former British Royal West African Frontier Force, then present in the country. The Sierra Leone Armed Forces currently consist of around 13,000 personnel.
Makeni is the largest city in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of Bombali District, and is the economic center of the Northern Province. Makeni is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population. The city of Makeni had a population of 80,840 in the 2004 census and a 2013 estimate of 112,428. Makeni lies approximately 110 miles east of Freetown. Makeni is home to the University of Makeni, the largest private university in Sierra Leone.
Koidu Town is the capital and largest city of the diamond-rich Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of Koidu Town is 124,662 based on the 2015 Sierra Leone national census. Koidu Town is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population, after Freetown, Kenema, Bo and Makeni. Koidu Town is a major urban, business, commercial and diamond trade center. Koidu Town lies approximately 280 miles east of Freetown, and about 60 miles north of Kenema.
Julius Maada Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current president of Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. He is a retired brigadier general in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leone from January 16, 1996, to March 29, 1996, in a military Junta government known as the NPRC. As the candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party, Bio defeated Samura Kamara of the ruling All People's Congress in the runoff vote of the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential election with 51.8% of the votes to Kamara's 48.2%. International and local observers declared the election free and fair. Bio succeeded Ernest Bai Koroma as president. As the main opposition leader, Bio was a critic of his predecessor president Ernest Bai Koroma and his administration. As president, Bio has overturned most of the policies of Ernest Bai Koroma, whom he accuses of corruption, and the two men rarely speak to each other.
Bombali is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Makeni, which is also the largest city in the north. The Bombali district is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bombali is one of the largest districts in Sierra Leone by geographical area, after Koinadugu district, and is the second most populous district in the Northern part of Sierra Leone, after Port Loko district. In the 2015 Sierra Leone national census, the population of Bombali district was 606,183. Other major towns in Bombali District include Kamabai, Karina and Binkolo.
The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Ernest Bai Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.
The Susu people are a Mande ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and Northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District. Influential in Guinea, smaller communities of Susu people are also found in the neighboring Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
The Wusum Stars of Bombali commonly referred to as simply Wusum Stars, is a Sierra Leonean professional football club based in Makeni, Sierra Leone. They are member of Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in Sierra Leone. The club represent the Bombali District. Their home matches are played at Wusum Stadium in Makeni. Wusum Stars won the Sierra Leone FA Cup in 1979.
Bai Bureh was a Sierra Leonean ruler, military strategist, and Muslim cleric, who led the Temne and Loko uprising against British rule in 1898 in Northern Sierra Leone.
Lamin Conteh, widely known by his nickname Junior Tumbu, is a Sierra Leonean former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He represented the Sierra Leone national team between 1994 and 202.
Mandinka people of Sierra Leone is a major ethnic group in Sierra Leone and a branch of the Mandinka people of West Africa. Most Sierra Leonean Mandingo are the direct descendants of Mandinka settlers from Guinea, who settled in the north and eastern part of Sierra Leone, beginning in the late 1870s to the 1890s under the rule of prominent Mandinka Muslim cleric Samori Ture. Also later a significantly large population of Mandinka from Guinea migrated and settled in Eastern Sierra Leone and Northern Sierra Leone in the early to mid 20th century. The Mandingo people of Sierra Leone have a very close friendly and allies relationship with their neighbors the Mandingo people of Guinea and Liberia, as they share pretty much identical dialect of the Mandingo language, tradition, culture and food.
Mohamed Saccoh, better known by his stage name K-Man, is a Sierra Leonean rapper and one of the most famous musicians from Sierra Leone. K-Man is known for his soft rap tone. He rapped mainly in English and the Krio language as well as occasionally in the Madinka language.
Khadyjah Fofanah better known by her stage name Khady Black is a Sierra Leonean rastafarian and Roots reggae musician. She is Sierra Leone's first international female reggae artist. Khady Black sings mainly in English, Krio and in her native Mandinka language.
Alice Rosalyn Koroma was the mother of Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma, and a longtime primary school teacher in Makeni. She was a longtime member of the Wesleyan Church congregation in Makeni, and in the 1960s she was a member of the Makeni city council from the All People's Congress (APC) party. Koroma, whose political career stems back to the 1960s, "was a strong supporter" and "advocate of women's rights". She was very active in the political scene of Sierra Leone and was a former leader of the All People's Congress (APC) Women's Congress in Bombali District in the later half of the 1960s.
Sunkari Kabba-Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician and the current mayor of the city of Makeni.
Sierra Leone is home to about sixteen ethnic groups, each with its own language. In Sierra Leone, membership of an ethnic group often overlaps with a shared religious identity.
Sylvanus Fornah Koroma was a noted educationist in Sierra Leone and the father of Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma.
Femi Claudius Cole is a Sierra Leonean politician. In 2016 she founded the Unity Party, making her the first Sierra Leonean woman to form a political party. In 2018, she was the first woman to run for the office of President of Sierra Leone. She is the only woman party leader in Sierra Leone.
