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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 first became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago.The Limba were the first tribe known to inhabit Sierra Leone. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cultures, and it became a refuge for peoples escaping violence and jihads. Sierra Leone was named by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who mapped the region in 1462. The Freetown estuary provided a good natural harbour for ships to shelter and replenish drinking water, and gained more international attention as coastal and trans-Atlantic trade supplanted trans-Saharan trade.
Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai was a Sierra Leonean doctor and politician who served as the country's head of government from 1954 until his death in 1964. He was titled Chief Minister from 1954 to 1960, and then Prime Minister from 1961 onwards. Margai studied medicine in England, and upon returning to homeland became a prominent public health campaigner. He entered politics as the founder and inaugural leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party. Margai oversaw Sierra Leone's transition to independence, which occurred in 1961. He died in office aged 68, and was succeeded as prime minister by his brother Albert. Margai enjoyed the support of Sierra Leoneans across classes, who respected his moderate style, friendly demeanor, and political savvy.
The Mende people are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone; their neighbours, the Temne people, have roughly the same population. The Mende and Temne each account for slightly more than 30% of the total population. The Mende are predominantly found in the Southern Province and the Eastern Province, while the Temne are found primarily in the Northern Province and the Western Area, including the capital city of Freetown. Some of the major cities with significant Mende populations include Bo, Kenema, Kailahun, and Moyamba.
Siaka Probyn Stevens was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was often characterized by patrimonial rule and self-indulgence, consolidating power by means of corruption and exploitation.
Moyamba District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 318,064 in the 2015 census. Its capital and largest city is Moyamba. The other major towns include Njala, Rotifunk and Shenge. The district is the largest in the Southern Province by geographical area, occupying a total area of 6,902 km2 (2,665 sq mi) and comprises fourteen chiefdoms.
Brigadier David Lansana was the first indigenous Force Commander of the Sierra Leone Military during the colonial era. After Sierra Leone became independent, he served as Military Attaché to the United States.
Sir Albert Michael Margai was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister. He is also the father of Sierra Leonean politician Charles Margai.
Charles Francis Kondo Margai is a Sierra Leonean politician and constitutional lawyer who served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Sierra Leone in 2018.
The Albert Academy (AA) is a secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Articles related to Sierra Leone include:
Moyamba is the capital and largest city of Moyamba District, in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 11,485 in the 2004 census.. The population of the city is ethnically diverse, although the Mende people make up the majority. The city is home to the Hatford Secondary School for girls, which is one of the elite secondary schools in Sierra Leone. The school attract some of the most gifted students from all parts of Sierra Leone and abroad. The school is an all-girls secondary school, and the students are in a boarding home in the school campus. The city has a history of producing some of Sierra Leone's most prominent politicians, including the country's first president Siaka Stevens.
Ella Koblo Gulama OBE, GCOR was a Sierra Leonean paramount chief and politician. In 1957, she became the first elected female Member of Parliament in Sierra Leone. She was re-elected in 1962. During the government of Milton Margai, Gulama became Sierra Leone and sub-Saharan Africa's first female Cabinet Minister.
Julius Momoh Gulama was a Sierra Leonean paramount chief, statesman and educator in the preindependence era. As paramount chief of Kaiyamba Chiefdom, he ruled the largest and most powerful Mende chiefdom in the Sierra Leone.
Bai Koblo Pathbana II, was a paramount chief and politician in Lunsar, Port Loko District, Sierra Leone. He was crowned the 43rd Paramount Chief of Marampa-Masimera Chiefdom in 1943.
Komeh Gulama Lansana was the wife of Brigadier David Lansana, Force Commander of the Sierra Leone Army until his execution in 1975.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 17 March 1967. They were won by the opposition All People's Congress, marking the first time that a ruling party had lost an election in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the APC was overthrown in a military coup hours after taking power. The party was later restored to office after a counter-coup the following year.
Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET), formerly known as Milton Margai Teachers College (MMCET), is a technical university located in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was established in 1963 and is named after Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai. The university has become affiliated with the University of Sierra Leone, and has been upgraded to a degree-awarding status in selected subjects.
In April 1961, Sierra Leone became politically independent of Great Britain. It retained a parliamentary system of government and was a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), led by Sir Milton Margai were victorious in the first general election under universal adult franchise in May 1962. Upon Sir Milton's death in 1964, his half-brother, Sir Albert Margai, succeeded him as Prime Minister. Sir Albert attempted to establish a one-party state had the ready cooperation of the opposition All People' Congress but met fierce resistance from some cadre within his party Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and ultimately abandoned the idea.
Sierra Leone was a sovereign state with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state between independence on 27 April 1961 and becoming the Republic of Sierra Leone on 19 April 1971.
References
- ↑ Berewa, Solomon E. (December 2011). A New Perspective on Governance, Leadership, Conflict and Nation Building in Sierra Leone. AuthorHouse. p. 39. ISBN 9781467888868.
- ↑ Kritz, Neil J. (1995). Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes. US Institute of Peace Press. p. 252. ISBN 9781878379450.
- ↑ Harris, David John (2014). Sierra Leone: A Political History. Oxford University Press. p. 39. ISBN 9780199361762.
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