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 surrounds the northern half of the nation. 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 serving a five-year term with a maximum of two terms. The current president is Julius Maada Bio. Sierra Leone is a secular nation with the constitution providing for the separation of state and religion and freedom of conscience. Muslims make up about three-quarters of the population, though with an influential Christian minority. Religious tolerance in the West African nation is very high and is generally considered a norm and part of Sierra Leone's cultural identity.
Sorious Samura is a Sierra Leonean journalist. He is best known for two CNN documentary films: Cry Freetown (2000) and Exodus from Africa (2001). The self-funded Cry Freetown depicts the most brutal period of the civil war in Sierra Leone with RUF rebels capturing the capital city. The film won, among other awards, an Emmy Award and a Peabody. Exodus from Africa shows the harrowing effort by the best of young African male blood to break through to Europe via death- and danger-ridden paths from Sierra Leone and Nigeria, via Mali, the Sahara desert, Algeria, and Morocco through the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain.
Sierra Leone's music is a mixture of native, French, British, West Indian and Creole musical genres.
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed 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.
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.
Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 87% of Sierra Leone's population and unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other. Krio is the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad. The language is native to the Sierra Leone Creole people, or Krios, a community of about 95,000 descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, Canada, United States and the British Empire, and is spoken as a second language by millions of other Sierra Leoneans belonging to the country's indigenous tribes. English is Sierra Leone's official language, and Krio, despite its common use throughout the country, has no official status.
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.
Kambia District is a district in the North West Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the town of Kambia. As of the 2015 census, The District had a population of 343,686. Kambia District borders the Republic of Guinea to the north, Port Loko District to the south and Bombali District to the east. The district provides an important Trade route to or from the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown to the Guinean capital Conakry.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a band from Sierra Leone which was formed by a group of refugees displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War. Since their return to Freetown in 2004, the band has toured extensively to raise awareness for humanitarian causes. Their story is documented in the 2005 documentary film Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.
Joseph Gerald Adolphus Cole better known by his stage name Daddy Saj is a Sierra Leonean rapper and arguably the biggest and most famous musician from Sierra Leone. He uses his music to address political corruption and general corruption in Sierra Leone. His rap is a blend of hip hop and traditional goombay music. While his music is mostly in Krio, Sierra Leone's national language, he does also performs in English. His first album 'Corruption e do so' struck a chord not only in Sierra Leone, but across Africa.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Sierra Leone:
Morlai Bai Kamara Jr. is a singer-songwriter, producer, performer and activist based in Brussels, Belgium. Bai was born in Bo Town, Sierra Leone, and spent his childhood years there. His father was a politician and his mother was one of Sierra Leone's longest serving ambassadors. His exposure to the harsh realities of African politics at a young age has led to the themes of corruption, abuse of power, and social justice being prevalent in much of his music today.
Mohamed SaccohJames Sesay, 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.
Living Like a Refugee is the debut album from Sierra Leonian band Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, released in the Europe on 25 September 2006 and in the United States on 26 September 2006.
Rise & Shine (2010) is the second album by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, following their debut album Living Like a Refugee (2006). The album was produced by Steve Berlin, renowned for his work with Los Lobos, Angélique Kidjo, Michelle Shocked, Rickie Lee Jones and Ozomatli, and recorded in their hometown of Freetown, Sierra Leone and New Orleans, Louisiana. Reflecting the influences of both recording locations, the album's sound is "a fusion of traditional West African music and roots reggae, inflected with New Orleans styles."
Radio Salone (2012) is the third album from Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars. It was produced by artist and producer Victor Axelrod aka "Ticklah," who has worked with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse and the Easy Star All Stars, and recorded at Dunham Studios in Brooklyn, NY.
Zach Niles, is an American filmmaker and film producer. He is best known as the director and producer of the critically acclaimed film Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars. Apart from acting, he is also a strategist, entertainment producer and a social justice advocate.
Banker White, is an American filmmaker and film producer. He is best known as the director and producer of the critically acclaimed films Survivors, The Genius of Marian and Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.
Midnight Traveler is a 2019 documentary film directed by Hassan Fazili. Filmed on three smartphones by Fazili and his wife, Fatima Hussaini, and their two daughters, it chronicles their three-year journey from their home in Afghanistan to Europe in search for asylum.
