SIERRA LEONE DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY BARCLAYS BANK D.C.O 54 LOMBARD STREET LONDON E.C.3 OFFICE OF THE SIERRA LEONE MANAGER • FREETOWN APRIL 1968 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The pictures in this booklet have been reproduced by permission of the Sierra Leone Department of Information, Freetown, and the Central Office of Information SIERRA LEONE The coastal area of Sierra Leone was first discovered by the Portuguese navigator Pedro da Sintra in 1462. The Portuguese subsequently estab¬ lished trading posts, mainly in the area of the Sierra Leone River, and gave the hilly country around what is now Freetown the name which it still bears, Sierra Leone (the Lion Mountain). In 1788 the Settlement of Freetown was established on land leased by the British Government mainly for repatriated slaves from America, Nova Scotia, the West Indies and England. The Settlement encountered considerable hostility from the surrounding tribes and the difficulties this caused led, in 1808, to its being taken over as a Crown Colony. A much larger Protectorate, over 27,000 sq. miles, was established in 1896 after British influence had been gradually extended into the interior. In 1961, the Colony and Protectorate were merged and Sierra Leone attained full independence within the Commonwealth. Since then she has been admitted to the United Nations as the one-hundredth member. situation and area. The country lies between latitudes 6° 55' and 10° 00' North and longitudes 10° 16' and 13° 18' West. The coastline is 212 miles long and nowhere in the country is more than 180 miles from the sea as the crow flies, while the longest distance from north to south is 200 miles. Sierra Leone has a total area of 27,925 sq. miles (73,326 sq. kilometres), a little smaller than Scotland. Of the total area the Western Province, the former Crown Colony, accounts for 256 sq. are three other miles. There provinces, Northern (13,925 sq. miles), Southern (7,868 sq. miles) and Eastern (5,876 sq. miles). Sierra Leone has only two neighbouring states, Guinea and Liberia, her boundaries with these two countries being largely settled between 1885 and 1905. Rivers account for just over half the total length of the inter¬ national boundary lines. geographical and economic regions. The Country falls roughly into three main areas :— (a) The Sierra Leone peninsula in the extreme west is mostly moun¬ tainous, rising to a height of nearly 3,000 feet. This small area contains the commercial centre and port of Freetown, the capital. (,b) The western part of the territory, excluding the peninsula, con¬ sists of an inland belt of plains with mangrove swamps on the coast. There are many rivers, mostly running from north-east to south-west, most of which are navigable for short distances. This region is mainly agricultural. (c) In the east and north-east the land rises sharply to a plateau with peaks of 6,000 feet in the Loma Mountains and Tingi Hills. Pastoral activities tend to supplant agriculture in the more remote parts of this region. climate. The weather usually conforms to a regular sequence of six seasons. Dry conditions, associated with the harmattan (a hot, dry wind from the interior) prevail along the coast on a score or so days from late December to early February, although inland areas (especially in the north-east), experience them for longer periods at this time. Con¬ sequently, relative humidities may fall to as low as 15 to 25 per cent while the strong, dusty easterly wind is blowing, contrasting sharply with the 80 to 90 per cent humidity normally experienced during the dry season. While day-time temperatures are likely to rise to 88°F to 90°F inland, at night it may feel cold. The short harmattan is followed by two or three months of rainless, but increasingly humid weather. From late March hot, humid days are characteristic. Maximum temperatures inland may rise to 95°F and have, at times, exceeded 100°F. Most coastal localities, however, have the benefit of sea breezes, the hills behind Freetown are especially favoured by frequent breezes and air temperatures are usually 3 to 4°F cooler than those in the city. 4 "6E06«AfHlft-LTO- "'Medina °Yana Musaia oKabala °Kamakwie Pamelac f w^Kambia , vi, ^ / n °Batkanu ^-^Sakasákala VoRqkupry*—•••••.. ^~®Kunshu cjrè Farangbaia X7°Sokoja \ f- / TINGI ^Manqp. Makeni<\ PORT L 0 K 0 i. •I BO«J WLLS P.3. -————Kumrabai ^^«SPtLoko ^r^oor^L- Lf f K o N o _^^agburaka^ T o06L3QU LUN6I ÁiRPÕR^OA /*/ L^aJ^# Js ° Matotoka HorirPeninsOIanvns MamuntaP f T (Yengema°Ko|âu %gbwej O/N/K 0 L!LI f. _ . oWoama II, ——ClineTpwn^i?1 ' % Baiama° (' .•••■ Yonibana MN6AHI FREETOV^^Ç y HILLS \ A- ; Mongeri ;RotifunkT>vt{gaaya /"Taiama \ t Mo^amba^N^. Niala °Serïëhynj ; Banana ls.~ ^4 M 0 Y A'M B" iSilíL Bafnima b o Sembehuno \ Mo Sherbroi Island— SIERRA LEONE Robertsport Province Boundaries District » Railways Monrovia: As the season proceeds, the rainless weather is interrupted by thunder¬ storms which increase in frequency to give, from mid-April to early July, the first squall period. The cooling effect of the rain is short-lived as the succeeding weather is usually hot, bright and sunny. Towards mid-June there is a sudden change in the weather pattern. Steady winds from the sea penetrate far inland bringing heavy and steady rainfall. This is the rainy season proper, during which the country receives most of its rainfall. In the north-west 95 per cent of the rain falls in this period. No part of the country receives much less than 100 inches. The rainfall in the Freetown area of the peninsula ranges from 120 inches to over 200 inches according to altitude. The maximum rainfall occurs in the peninsular mountains near the Guma Valley, one of the wettest areas in all Africa, where a 15-year average of 250 inches is recorded. A few sunny days are occasionally experienced in early August, but generally it is cool and damp. From mid-September, thunderstorm conditions are re-established (the second squall period), with bright days intervening although temperatures do not rise as high as during the corresponding period earlier in the year. Gradually the rainfall diminishes and there is a short rainless spell before the onset of the next harmattan. Climatic statistics for Freetown over ten years were as follows :—■ Sunshine Rainfall (daily average) Temperature (°F) Inches Hours Mean max. Mean min. Mean January 0.53 7.9 84.3 75.3 79.5 February 0.62 7.8 85.0 76.0 80.5 March 0.60 7.9 85.8 76.7 81.3 April 2.13 7.2 86.3 77.4 81.9 May 5.85 6.2 86.2 76.3 81.3 June 15.52 5.1 85.0 74.7 79.9 July .. 31.42 2.9 82.3 73.5 77.9 77.6 August .. 29.19 2.5 81.7 73.4 83.0 73.9 78.5 September .. 19.49 4.0 October 9.09 6.3 84.3 74.1 79.2 November 4.49 6.9 84.8 75.1 80.0 December 1.10 7.4 84.4 75.9 80.2 120.08 6.0 84.4 75.2 79.8 6 population. The official census of 1963 showed that the popu¬ lation of Sierra Leone was 2,180,354. The geographical breakdown was as follows :— Northern Province 897,565 Eastern Province 545,579 Southern Province 542,187 Western Province City of Freetown 127,917 Rural Areas .. 67,106 195,023 2,180,354 In December 1966, the population was estimated to be 2,367,000. The average density of the population for the country as a whole in 1963 was 78 to the square mile, but that of the Western Province was 762 per square mile (slightly less than that of England and Wales). More than 35 per cent of the population were under 15 years of age; yet at the same time there were few old people, only 7.7 per cent being 60 years of age and older. The population is predominantly tribal in character, and relatively static, although in recent years migration towards Freetown and the diamond producing areas has occurred. The Mende tribe are dominant in the south, and the Temne in the north; both have their own language as do the various other tribes. Krio, the language of the Creoles, the liberated Africans, has a vocabulary drawn from many sources, English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, and is spoken mainly in and around Freetown. Principal Towns. Freetown, the capital, is situated four miles up the Sierra Leone river and possesses one of the finest natural harbours in Africa with anchorage for over 200 ships of unrestricted draught. The city has several hotels, departmental stores, cinemas, a thriving commercial area and a steadily expanding industrial estate at nearby Wellington. Freetown is just over 3,000 miles by sea from Liverpool and the direct air journey to the United Kingdom takes approximately six hours. The second largest town is Bo, with an estimated population of 30,000, 7 with Makeni, Lunsar, Magburaka, Kenema, Kabala and Koidu all with more than 5,000 population. occupations. Although mining is increasingly important to the economy, contributing £24.82 million out of total exports of £31.82 million for the period June 1966-May 1967, agriculture remains the occupation of the majority of the working population. Over 700,000 of the labour force of 908,000 (over 10 years of age) were engaged in farming, forestry, hunting and fishing at the time of the 1963 census.