Freetown, Capital city and port in Western Area, Sierra Leone
Freetown is a capital city and port in Western Area, Sierra Leone, stretching across a peninsula facing the Atlantic. Its natural deepwater harbor at the Sierra Leone River estuary ranks among the largest in the world and serves heavy maritime traffic.
British officer John Clarkson founded the settlement in 1792 for more than a thousand African Americans who arrived from Nova Scotia. It later grew through additional groups seeking refuge after the abolition of slavery and forming a new community.
The name arose when the settlement offered refuge to those freed from bondage, and today markets reflect that heritage through music and dress. Visitors often hear Krio, a creole language blending English with West African idioms that remains alive in everyday conversation.
Visitors reach the harbor district on foot and can watch ships loading agricultural produce including palm oil and cocoa. The hills surrounding the city offer cooler air and broad views over the water when looking for distance from the center.
The Guma Dam project supplies the peninsula with drinking water and electricity from the mountains inland. Nearby, a chimpanzee sanctuary shelters orphaned animals intended for eventual release back into the wild.
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