Play

Freetown

Capital of Sierra LeoneOn Sierra Leone's Atlantic coast, Freetown spreads across the Freetown Peninsula, on the south side of the wide Sierra Leone River estuary.

Why it's the capital

In 1787 about 400 formerly enslaved Black people sent from London set up a settlement here. Freetown itself was founded on 11 March 1792 by 1,196 African American settlers led by the abolitionist John Clarkson, and Britain made it a Crown Colony in 1808.

Fun facts

  1. Fourah Bay College, founded in 1827, is the oldest university in West Africa.
  2. A huge cotton tree, thought to be about 400 years old, was a symbol of the city's founding until much of it fell in heavy rain on 24 May 2023.
  3. The country's name comes from the Lion Mountains near Freetown, which the Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra called Serra Leoa in 1462.

Finding it on the globe

Sierra Leone sits on the Atlantic between Guinea to the north and Liberia to the south-east. Freetown is on the peninsula that points into the ocean on its western coast.

Easy to mix up

Don't confuse it with Libreville, the capital of Gabon, whose name is French for 'free town'. Freetown is the one much farther north-west, in Sierra Leone.

Sources: Wikipedia: Freetown, Wikipedia: Cotton Tree (Sierra Leone), Wikipedia: Sierra Leone River, Wikipedia: Western Area, Wikipedia: Sierra Leone