42 Fun Facts About Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone borders Guinea and which other country?

Liberia's civil war spilled over to ignite Sierra Leone's own conflict in 1991.

Which British actor was born in London to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother?

Idris Elba: he worked as a DJ under the name Big Driis before The Wire made his name.

Explorers from which country gave Sierra Leone its name?

Portugal, not Spain: one very early account traces the name to thunder roaring in the mountains.

Freetown was founded by Black Loyalists who sailed from which Canadian province?

Nova Scotia: facing racial discrimination there, nearly 1,200 Black Loyalists moved to Sierra Leone in 1792.

Which captive from Sierra Leone led the revolt aboard the slave ship La Amistad?

Joseph Cinqué: he ordered the Spaniards to sail for Africa, but they secretly steered north, and the ship was seized off Long Island.

Which Graham Greene novel draws on his wartime posting in Freetown?

The Heart of the Matter: its hero, a kindly colonial police officer, is driven by pity for his wife and his mistress to take his own life.

Which Sierra Leone leader was ousted by a military coup within days of being sworn in as prime minister?

Siaka Stevens: a counter-coup restored him in 1968, and he ruled until 1985, making his APC the only legal party in 1978.

Which private military company did Sierra Leone's government hire in 1995 to fight RUF rebels?

Executive Outcomes: within a month its force drove the rebels back from Freetown, and it then chased them out of the diamond fields.

Which British prime minister sent the troops who helped end Sierra Leone's civil war?

Tony Blair: troops sent in May 2000 to evacuate foreigners stayed on in what critics called mission creep, and the war was declared over in 2002.

Which former president was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for backing RUF rebels?

Charles Taylor: convicted in 2012 of aiding and abetting the rebels' war crimes, he was sentenced to 50 years and sent to a British prison to serve it.

Which hymn writer worked in the slave trade on the Plantain Islands off Sierra Leone before captaining slave ships?

John Newton: a violent storm on his voyage home turned him to faith, and he later wrote 'Amazing Grace' and backed the abolition of the slave trade.

Which mineral does Sierra Leone hold in some of the world's largest deposits?

Rutile, a titanium ore: the civil war interrupted operations at the Sierra Rutile mine in 1995.

Sierra Leone's July 2022 redenomination swapped how many old leones for one new leone?

1,000: officials said the change would make cash easier to carry and to use for payments.

Which language, spoken by almost every Sierra Leonean, is the country's lingua franca?

Krio: the writer Thomas Decker translated Shakespeare into this English-based creole.

Which two ethnic groups, each roughly a third of the population, dominate Sierra Leone?

The Temne lead in the north and the Mende in the southeast, and national politics runs along that axis.

Which religion do about three in four Sierra Leoneans follow?

Islam: yet Christmas and Easter are public holidays alongside Eid.

Which language did Sierra Leone declare an honorary official language in 2002?

Bengali: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's government declared it in recognition of Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers' work during the civil war.

What are the three colours of Sierra Leone's flag, top to bottom?

Green, white, blue: in 2010 Sierra Leone stopped letting foreign-owned fishing ships register under its flag, to curb illegal fishing.

Freetown's historic Cotton Tree, a symbol of the city, is what species of tree?

Kapok: legend says formerly enslaved settlers prayed beneath it when they arrived.

What happened to Freetown's historic Cotton Tree on the night of 24 May 2023?

Much of it toppled in heavy rain: afterwards the president said he wanted pieces of the fallen tree kept, including in a museum.

Bunce Island, the British slave fort near Freetown, shipped most of its captives to planters in which region?

The Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry planters prized rice-growing skills, and the Gullah people of the Sea Islands trace roots to Sierra Leone.

Which special forces unit took part in the 2000 rescue of soldiers held by Sierra Leone's West Side Boys?

The SAS: working with paratroopers, it freed the hostages in a September 2000 raid and captured the gang's leader.

Sierra Leone claims Africa's largest what, next to the capital?

Natural harbour: it made Freetown an important Allied naval base during World War II.

How have most passengers travelled between Lungi airport and Freetown?

By ferry across the estuary: in 2018 the government scrapped a China-funded new airport and proposed a bridge to Lungi instead.

Tiwai Island in southern Sierra Leone, with one of the world's densest primate populations, also shelters which rare animal?

A pygmy hippopotamus population shares Tiwai with over 135 bird species; the Tacugama sanctuary near Freetown shelters chimpanzees.

What is Sierra Leone's staple food, eaten at virtually every meal?

Rice is the staple, eaten at almost every meal and served under 'plasas' such as cassava-leaf, potato-leaf or groundnut stew.

Poyo, a popular Sierra Leonean drink, is what?

Palm wine: the sap starts fermenting as soon as it is tapped, and after about a day it begins turning into vinegar.

Which rapper's 2005 hit "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" sampled a Shirley Bassey Bond theme?

Kanye West: it began as a song about his record label, but after Q-Tip told him about conflict diamonds he renamed it.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak killed which leading Sierra Leonean physician who was fighting it?

Sheik Umar Khan: a dose of an experimental Ebola drug was on hand, but his doctors decided not to give it to him.

Besides its directly elected MPs, Sierra Leone's parliament reserves 14 seats for whom?

Paramount chiefs: these hereditary rulers still head the chiefdoms, though since 2004 elected local councils have shared much of their power.

Which supermodel testified at a Sierra Leone war crimes trial about 'dirty-looking stones' she was given?

Naomi Campbell: she said two men appeared at her door in the middle of the night after a 1997 dinner in South Africa and handed her a pouch.

Sierra Leone forms the Mano River Union with two of its neighbours and which other country?

Ivory Coast: the region's civil wars left the union almost inoperative for years before it was revived.

The 1992 coup that installed Valentine Strasser also involved which future president?

Julius Maada Bio: in 1996 he ousted Strasser, the junta's leader, and then handed power to an elected president.

Which former army corporal founded the RUF, the rebel group that started Sierra Leone's civil war?

Foday Sankoh: captured in May 2000, he died of natural causes in 2003 while awaiting trial for war crimes.

Where did the Special Court for Sierra Leone hold its trial of a former head of state?

The Hague: the court moved this trial out of Freetown over security fears.

Which navy's patrols landed thousands of Africans freed from illegal slave ships at Freetown?

The Royal Navy: before the captives could be released, a court set up at Freetown had to condemn each captured slave ship.

Which force helped drive a junta out of Freetown and return President Kabbah to office in 1998?

ECOMOG: the Nigerian-led force restored him, yet in January 1999 rebels fought their way back into Freetown.

Before entering politics, Sir Milton Margai qualified in Britain in which profession?

Milton Margai qualified in medicine at Durham University's school in Newcastle in 1926 and served as a colonial medical officer for two decades before founding the SLPP in 1951.

Which two Freetown clubs are Sierra Leone's fiercest football rivals?

East End Lions and Mighty Blackpool: Blackpool is the West End's club, so their meetings divide the capital, east against west.

The 969-carat Star of Sierra Leone diamond was found in 1972 in which district?

Kono: jeweller Harry Winston bought the stone, and it was eventually cut into 17 separate diamonds.

Tiwai Island shares a UNESCO World Heritage listing with which other Sierra Leone protected area?

Gola Rainforest: logging and deforestation threatened it for years before it was made a protected national park.

During the dry season, which wind brings cool, dry air off the Sahara to Sierra Leone?

The harmattan: the dust it carries from the Sahara can severely limit visibility, interfering with aircraft.