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Freetown
Freetown (Krio: Fritɔun) is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political centre, as it is the seat of the Government of Sierra Leone. The population of Freetown was 1,347,559 as of the 2024 census.
The city's economy revolves largely around its harbour, which occupies a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one of the world's largest natural deep water harbours.
Although the city has traditionally been the homeland of the Sierra Leone Creole people, the population of Freetown is ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. The city is home to a significant population of all of Sierra Leone's ethnic groups, with no single ethnic group forming more than 27% of the city's population. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language of the Sierra Leone Creole people is Freetown's primary language of communication and is by far the most widely spoken language in the city.
The city of Freetown was founded on March 11, 1792, by 1,196 African Americans under the guidance of abolitionist Lieutenant John Clarkson at the foot of the Cotton Tree, and the city became a settlement for free and freed African American, Afro-Caribbean and Liberated African slaves. Their descendants are known as the Creole people. Before the arrival of Europeans, the local Temne and Loko people were living in villages on the land near the area that later became known as Freetown.
Freetown is locally governed by a directly elected Freetown City Council, headed by a mayor, who also is directly elected; elections are held every four years. The mayor of Freetown is Yvonne Aki Sawyerr, who was sworn in on 11 May 2018, after her victory in the 2018 mayoral election; she was re-elected in 2022.
The Freetown city council has its own municipal police force.
The area around the Sierra Leone estuary has been inhabited for millennia. The earliest known group in the area was the Bullom people. In the 1540s and 50s, the Mane people invaded the area and established their own chiefdoms, integrating into the local Bullom. In January 1568, the English slave raider John Hawkins helped the Mane king Flansire destroy Bonga, headquarters of the rebellious chief Falma. Bonga was a town of around 10 000 people located in the area that would become Freetown.
The area was settled in 1787 by 400 formerly enslaved black people sent from London, England, under the auspices of the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, an organisation set up by the English merchant and philanthropist, Jonas Hanway, and the British abolitionist, Granville Sharp. These black people were African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Africans, Southeast Asians, and black people born in Great Britain. They established the 'Province of Freedom' and the settlement of Granville Town on land purchased from local Koya Temne subchief King Tom and regent Naimbana. The British understood the purchase meant that their new settlers had the land "for ever." Although the established arrangement between Europeans and the Koya Temne included provisions for permanent settlement, some historians question how well the Koya leaders understood the agreement, as they had a different conception of the uses of property.[citation needed]
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Freetown
Freetown (Krio: Fritɔun) is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political centre, as it is the seat of the Government of Sierra Leone. The population of Freetown was 1,347,559 as of the 2024 census.
The city's economy revolves largely around its harbour, which occupies a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one of the world's largest natural deep water harbours.
Although the city has traditionally been the homeland of the Sierra Leone Creole people, the population of Freetown is ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. The city is home to a significant population of all of Sierra Leone's ethnic groups, with no single ethnic group forming more than 27% of the city's population. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language of the Sierra Leone Creole people is Freetown's primary language of communication and is by far the most widely spoken language in the city.
The city of Freetown was founded on March 11, 1792, by 1,196 African Americans under the guidance of abolitionist Lieutenant John Clarkson at the foot of the Cotton Tree, and the city became a settlement for free and freed African American, Afro-Caribbean and Liberated African slaves. Their descendants are known as the Creole people. Before the arrival of Europeans, the local Temne and Loko people were living in villages on the land near the area that later became known as Freetown.
Freetown is locally governed by a directly elected Freetown City Council, headed by a mayor, who also is directly elected; elections are held every four years. The mayor of Freetown is Yvonne Aki Sawyerr, who was sworn in on 11 May 2018, after her victory in the 2018 mayoral election; she was re-elected in 2022.
The Freetown city council has its own municipal police force.
The area around the Sierra Leone estuary has been inhabited for millennia. The earliest known group in the area was the Bullom people. In the 1540s and 50s, the Mane people invaded the area and established their own chiefdoms, integrating into the local Bullom. In January 1568, the English slave raider John Hawkins helped the Mane king Flansire destroy Bonga, headquarters of the rebellious chief Falma. Bonga was a town of around 10 000 people located in the area that would become Freetown.
The area was settled in 1787 by 400 formerly enslaved black people sent from London, England, under the auspices of the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, an organisation set up by the English merchant and philanthropist, Jonas Hanway, and the British abolitionist, Granville Sharp. These black people were African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Africans, Southeast Asians, and black people born in Great Britain. They established the 'Province of Freedom' and the settlement of Granville Town on land purchased from local Koya Temne subchief King Tom and regent Naimbana. The British understood the purchase meant that their new settlers had the land "for ever." Although the established arrangement between Europeans and the Koya Temne included provisions for permanent settlement, some historians question how well the Koya leaders understood the agreement, as they had a different conception of the uses of property.[citation needed]
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