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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 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.
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.
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later developed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surviving leaders, Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao, were convicted in February 2009 of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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.
The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the capital by a coalition of West African troops. It was no longer a coherent and effective organization by the elections of 2002.
The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead.
The Lomé Peace Agreement was a peace agreement signed on 7 July 1999 between the warring parties in the civil war that gripped Sierra Leone for almost a decade. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah signed with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader, Foday Sankoh and granted Sankoh a position in the transitional government as well as amnesty for him and all combatants. The accord is named for Lomé, the capital of Togo, where the negotiations took place and the agreement was signed.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone, or the "Special Court" (SCSL), also called the Sierra Leone Tribunal, was a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law" committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996 and during the Sierra Leone Civil War. The court's working language was English. The court listed offices in Freetown, The Hague, and New York City.
Alimamy Pallo Bangura is a politician in Sierra Leone. Over the past 12 years, Bangura has played a major role in Sierra Leonean politics and was a member of the Revolutionary United Front Party, where he replaced rebel leader Foday Sankoh following Sankoh's May 2000 arrest and 2002 electoral disqualification. His posts have included: Ambassador to the United Nations from Sierra Leone (1994–1996); Foreign Minister (1997–1998); Minister of Energy and Power (1999–2001); and Secretary General of the Revolutionary United Front Party (2002–2007). He also ran for president in 2002 alongside former cabinet minister Peter Vandy, but the pair only received 1.7% of the presidential vote, while the RUF received only 2.2% of the parliamentary vote.
Alhassan "Al" Bangura is a Sierra Leonean footballer who plays as a midfielder.
Brigadier John Amadu Bangura, CBE served as Chief of the Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces from 1968 to 1970. Prior to this in 1967, he served as the Sierra Leonean Ambassador of to the United States. He was the acting Governor-General of Sierra Leone from 18 April 1968 until 22 April 1968. He led the Sergeants' Coup in 1968 that successfully re-instated civilian rule in Sierra Leone.
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.
Mike Lamin is a politician in Sierra Leone. He is a member of the Revolutionary United Front and former Minister of Trade, Industry and State Enterprise. Lamin was detained alongside side government ministers Pallo Bangura and Peter Vandy, among others, in 2000.
Umaru Bangura is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer plays for Neuchâtel Xamax in the Swiss Challenge League and for the Sierra Leone national team. He is a central defender who can also operate in midfield.
Mass media in Sierra Leone began when the first modern printing press in Africa arrived at the start of the 19th century. In the 1860s the country became a journalist hub for Africa with professional travelling to the country from across the continent. At the end of the 19th century the industry went into decline and when radio was introduced in the 1930s this became the primary communication media. Print media is not widely read in Sierra Leone, especially outside Freetown, partially due to the low levels of literacy in the country. In 2008 there were 15 daily newspapers in addition to those published weekly. Among newspaper readership young people are likely to read newspapers weekly and older people daily. The majority of newspapers are privately run and are often critical of the government.
Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi(UNON) since 2018, appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. She served as the second United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict with the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2012 to 2017, in succession to the first holder of the post, Margot Wallström. In 2017 she was succeeded by Pramila Patten.
Mohamed Bangura is a professional footballer from Sierra Leone who plays as a striker for Akropolis IF.
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.
India–Sierra Leone relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Sierra Leone. India maintains a resident high commission in Freetown. Sierra Leone does not have a diplomatic mission in India but Sierra Leonean embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is also accredited to India.
References
- 1 2 "Africa Sierra Leone rebels get cabinet posts". BBC News. 21 October 1999. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ↑ "Government holding 120 political detainees, including rebel officials". BBC News. 16 June 2000. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
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