Flag description:
Location: West Africa
Geographic coordinates:
Climate: Tropical
Independence: April 17, 1961
Nationality: Sierra Leonean
Capital City: Freetown
Population: 4,753,120
Head of State: Kaba
Area: 72,325 sq.km
Type of Government: Republic
Currency:
Major peoples: Krio,Temne,Mende,Vai,Kru
Religion: African religion 60%, Muslim 30%, Christian 10%
Official Language: English
Principal Languages: English, Krio, Temne, Mende, Kru
Major Exports: Diamonds, Bauxite
History: European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the earliest
in west Africa, and Sierra Leone was one of the first west African British
colonies. Foreign settlement did not occur until 1787, when the British
prepared a refuge within the British empire for freed slaves; that year,
the site of Freetown received 400 freedmen from Great Britain. Thousands
of slaves were returned to or liberated in Freetown. Cut off from thier
homes and traditions by the experience of slavery, they assimilated British
styles of life as well as cultural traditions from all over west Africa,
and built a flourishing trade on the west African Coast. In the 19th century,
Freetown served as the residence of the British Governor who also ruled
the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and the Gambia colonies. The colonial history
of Sierra Leone was not placid. The local people mounted several unsuccessful
revolts against British rule and Creole (freed slave) domination. The 1951
constitution provided a framework for decolonization. Local ministerial
responsibility was introduced in 1953, when Sir Milton Margai was appointed
Chief Minister.
Independence from Britain came in April 1961, and Sierra Leone opted
for a parlamentary system within the British Commonwealth. Sir Milton's
Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) led the country to independence and the
first general elections under universal adult franchise in May, 1962. Upon
Sir Milton's death in 1964, Sir Albert Margai succeeded him as Prime Minister.
Sir Albert attempted to establish a one-party political system but met
fierce resistance from the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC). In April
1971, Siaka Stevens was appointed President of the Republic; he was inaugurated
for a second five-year term in April 1977. In August 1985, the APC named
military commander Joseph Saidu Momoh as party candidate to succeed Stevens.
Momoh was elected President in a one-party referendum on October 1, 1985.
In 1990, President Momoh set up a constitutional review commission to review
the one-party constitution of 1978 with a view to broadening the existing
political process, guaranteeing fundamental human rights. The commission
recomMended reestablishment of a multiparty system of government.
