Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is on the West Coast of . The potential for tourism is vast, but largely unrealised, despite the end of the Civil War in 2002, and tour operators are looking closely at what the country has to offer.
statehouse.gov.sl
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Wikipedia
Photo: Annabel Symington, CC BY 2.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations: Freetown and Kenema.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is the capital city of Sierra Leone and is the heart of the Western region, with well over a million inhabitants. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a city in the of Sierra Leone and the administrative capital of . With a population of 255,110 recorded in the 2021 mid-term Population and Housing Census, it is the second most populous city in Sierra Leone, after the national capital .

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is the second city of Sierra Leone and the main city of the Southern region. is one of the only cities in Sierra Leone to be untouched by the war, owing to a citizen militia which kept the rebel soldiers out for the entire 10 years.

Destinations to Discover

Places to explore: Makeni and Koidu.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is the largest city in the of Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of , and is the economic center of the Northern Province.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Town is the capital and largest city of the in the of Sierra Leone. Its population is 128,030 based on the 2015 census.

Photo: Rokaso, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is the highest peak in Sierra Leone and the , at 1,945 metres. It lies in the and its lower slopes are covered in rainforests, home to a wide variety of animals.

The protects Sierra Leone's largest tract of rainforest. It covers 71,070 ha in the east of the country. It forms part of the , a biodiversity hotspot that stretches from Guinea to Togo.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
is a city in Sierra Leone. is the former capital of the north of Sierra Leone. became the new capital during the war. was a stop on the Bauya - Makeni branch of the now defunct Sierra Leone Railway.

Photo: Dorothy Voorhees, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a river island and wildlife sanctuary in Sierra Leone. In 2025 it was listed as a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site together with nearby .

Photo: tormentor4555, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a coastal town located on in in the of Sierra Leone. The town lies on the eastern shore of Sherbro Island, on the Sherbro River estuary.

The are a prime tourist destination in Sierra Leone. The proximity to Freetown and the idyllic environment of a pristine tropical island make Banana Island a popular choice for daytrips and overnight excursions.

Sierra Leone

  • Type: Country with 5,290,000 residents
  • Description: sovereign state in West Africa
  • Also known as: “Repubblica della Sierra Leone”, “Repubblika ta’ Sierra Leone”, “Republic o Sierra Leone”, “Republic of Sierra Leone”, “República de Serra Lleona”, “República de Sierra Leona”, “República de Sierra Leone”, “Republica di a Sierra Leone”, “Republiek Sierra Leone”, “Republik Sierra Leone”, “Republiken Sierra Leone”, “Republikken Sierra Leone”, “République de Sierra Leone”, “Respubliko Sieraleono”, “Ri̱pobi̱lik Sira Lyon”, “Serra Lleona”, “Sierra Leone dásseváldi”, “Sierra Leone Köztársaság”, “Sierra Leone tääʹssväʹldd”, “Sierra Leone täsiväldi”, “Sierra Leone Vabariik”, “Sierra Leonen tasavalta”, “Sierraleonská republika”, “Sjerraleones Republika”, “sl”, “SL”, “SLE”, “Sýerra Leone”, “Ареспублика Сиерра-Леоне”, “Республика Сьерра Леоне”, “Республика Сьерра-Леоне”, “Республіка Сьєрра-Леоне”, “جمهورية سيراليون”, “جمهوری سیرالئون”, “سيراليون جمهوريت”, “سيراليون ولسمشريزه”, “రిపబ్లిక్ ఆఫ్ సియెర్రా లియోన్”, “シエラレオネ共和国”, and “塞拉勒窝内”
  • Languages: English, Mende (Sierra Leone), and Timne
  • Neighbors: and
  • Categories: republic, sovereign state, and locality
  • Location: ,
  • View on Open­Street­Map
Latitude of center
8.57° or 8° 34′ 12″ north
Longitude of center
-11.755° or 11° 45′ 18″ west
Population
5,290,000
Area
71,740 km² (27,699 miles²)
Elevation
361 metres (1,184 feet)
Capital
Currency
Leone (SLE)
Phone code
232
Internet domain
.sl
Open­Street­Map ID
node 424314123
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­country
Geo­Names ID
2403846
Wiki­data ID
Q1044
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover this place from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Abkhazian to Zulu—“Sierra Leone” goes by many names.
  • Abkhazian: “Сиерра-Леоне”
  • Achinese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Afrikaans: “Sierra Leone”
  • Akan: “Sierra Leone”
  • Albanian: “Siera Leone”
  • Albanian: “Sierra-Leone”
  • Amharic: “ሴራሊዮን”
  • Amharic: “ሴየራ ሌዎን”
  • Amis: “Sierra leone”
  • Angika: “सिएरा लोन”
  • Arabic: “سيراليون”
  • Aragonese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Armenian: “Սիեռա Լեոնե”
  • Armenian: “Սիերա Լեոնե”
  • Armenian: “Սյերա-Լեոնե”
  • Arpitan: “Siérra Leone”
  • Assamese: “চিয়েৰা লিঅ’ন”
  • Asturian: “Sierra Lleona”
  • Atayal: “Sierra leone”
  • Azerbaijani: “Syerra-Leone”
  • Balinese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Bambara: “Sera Leon”
  • Bambara: “Siyera Lewɔni”
  • Banjar: “Sierra Leone”
  • Bashkir: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Basque: “Sierra Leona”
  • Bavarian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Belarusian: “С’ера-Леоне”
  • Belarusian: “Сьера-Леонэ”
  • Bengali: “সিয়েরা লিওন”
  • Betawi: “Gunung Singa”
  • Bhojpuri: “सिएरा लियोन”
  • Bishnupriya: “সিয়েরা লিওন”
  • Bislama: “Siera Leon”
  • Bole: “Saliyo”
  • Bosnian: “Sijera Leone”
  • Breton: “Sierra Leone”
  • Bulgarian: “Сиера Леоне”
  • Burmese: “ဆီယာရာ လီယွန်း”
  • Burmese: “ဆီရာလီယွန်နိုင်ငံ”
  • Catalan: “Sierra Leone”
  • Cebuano: “Sierra Leone”
  • Cebuano: “Syeralyone”
  • Central Bikol: “Sierra Leona”
  • Central Kanuri: “Sierra Leone”
  • Central Kurdish: “سیەرالیۆن”
  • Chavacano: “Sierra Leona”
  • Chechen: “Сьерра- Леоне”
  • Chechen: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Cherokee: “ᏏᏰᎳ ᎵᏲᏂ”
  • Chinese: “Sàilālì’áng”
  • Chinese: “塞拉利昂 / 獅子山”
  • Chinese: “塞拉利昂”
  • Chinese: “獅子山”
  • Cornish: “Sierra Leon”
  • Corsican: “Sierra Leone”
  • Crimean Tatar: “Syerra Leone”
  • Croatian: “Sijera Leone”
  • Czech: “Sierra Leone”
  • Dagbani: “Sierra leone”
  • Dagbani: “Sierra Leone”
  • Danish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Dhivehi: “ސެރެލިއޯން”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Sierra Leone”
  • Dotyali: “सियरा लियोन”
  • Dutch: “Sierra Leone”
  • Dzongkha: “སི་ཡ་ར་ལིའོན།”
  • Dzongkha: “སི་ར་ ལི་འོན”
  • Eastern Mari: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “سييراليون”
  • Esperanto: “Siera-Leono”
  • Esperanto: “Sieraleono”
  • Estonian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Ewe: “Sierra Leone nutome”
  • Ewe: “Sierra Leone”
  • Ewe: “Sira Liɔ̃”
  • Extremaduran: “Sierra Leona”
  • Farefare: “Sierra Leone”
  • Faroese: “Sierra Leona”
  • Fiji Hindi: “Sierra Leone”
  • Finnish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Fon: “Sierra Leonetò”
  • French: “Sierra Leone”
  • Fulah: “Sarliyon”
  • Fulah: “Seraa liyon”
  • Ga: “Sierra Leone”
  • Gagauz: “Syerra Leone”
  • Galician: “Serra Leoa”
  • Ganda: “Sierra Leone”
  • Ganda: “Siyeralewone”
  • Georgian: “სიერა ლეონე”
  • Georgian: “სიერა-ლეონე”
  • German: “Sierra Leone”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Sierra Leone”
  • Gilaki: “سيرالئؤن”
  • Greek: “Σιέρα Λεόνε”
  • Guarani: “Siérra Leõ”
  • Guianese Creole French: “Syéra Léonn”
  • Gujarati: “સિએરા લિઓન”
  • Gujarati: “સિએરા લિયોન”
  • Gujarati: “સીએરા લેઓન”
  • Haitian: “Syera Leòn”
  • Haitian: “Syera Leyòn”
  • Hakka Chinese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Hausa: “Salewo”
  • Hausa: “Saliyo”
  • Hawaiian: “Sielaleone”
  • Hebrew: “סיארה לאונה”
  • Hebrew: “סיארה ליאון”
  • Hebrew: “סיירה לאון”
  • Hebrew: “סיירה לאונה”
  • Hindi: “सिएरा लियोन”
  • Hindi: “सियरालेओन”
  • Hindi: “सीएरा लिओन”
  • Hungarian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Icelandic: “Síerra Leóne”
  • Ido: “Sierra Leone”
  • Igbo: “Sierra Leone”
  • Iloko: “Sierra Leone”
  • Inari Sami: “Sierra Leone”
  • Indonesian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Interlingua: “Sierra Leone”
  • Interlingue: “Sierra Leone”
  • Irish: “Siarra Leon”
  • Italian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Jamaican Creole English: “Siera Lyuon”
  • Japanese: “シエラレオネ”
  • Javanese: “Giri Sima”
  • Javanese: “Siéra Léoné”
  • Javanese: “Siérra Léoné”
  • Kabiyè: “Siyeeraa Leyɔɔnɩ”
  • Kabyle: “Sierra Leone”
  • Kalaallisut: “Sierra Leone”
  • Kalmyk: “Сьералегонмудин Орн”
  • Kannada: “ಸಿಯೆರ್ರಾ ಲಿಯೋನ್”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Serra-Leone”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Syerra-Leone”
  • Karachay-Balkar: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Kashmiri: “سیرا لِیٛون”
  • Kashmiri: “سیٖرالیوون”
  • Kazakh: “Сиерра-Леоне”
  • Kazakh: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Khmer: “សៀរ៉ាឡេអូន”
  • Kikuyu: “Siera Leoni”
  • Kikuyu: “Sierra Leone”
  • Kinyarwanda: “Siyera Lewone”
  • Kirghiz: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Komering: “Sierra Leone”
  • Kongo: “Siera Leone”
  • Kongo: “Sierra Leone”
  • Korean: “시에라 리온”
  • Korean: “시에라레온”
  • Korean: “시에라리온”
  • Kotava: “Sierraleona”
  • Kurdish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Kurdish: “سیەرالیۆن”
  • Ladin: “Sierra Leone”
  • Ladino: “Sierra Leona”
  • Ladino: “Syerra León”
  • Lao: “ເຊຍຣາ ລີໂອນ”
  • Latin: “Mons Leoninus”
  • Latvian: “Sjerraleone”
  • Ligurian: “Særa Lion”
  • Ligurian: “Sierra Lion”
  • Limburgan: “Sierra Leone”
  • Lingala: “Siera Leonɛ”
  • Lingala: “Sierra Leone”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Siera Leon”
  • Literary Chinese: “塞拉利昂”
  • Literary Chinese: “獅子山共和國”
  • Lithuanian: “Siera Leonė”
  • Livvi: “Sierra Leone”
  • Lojban: “sieras. leon”
  • Lombard: “Sierra Leone”
  • Low German: “Sierra Leone”
  • Lower Sorbian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Luba-Katanga: “Siera Leone”
  • Luxembourgish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Macedonian: “Сиера Леоне”
  • Maithili: “सिएरा लियोन”
  • Malagasy: “Siera Leôna”
  • Malagasy: “Sierra Leone”
  • Malay: “Siera Leon”
  • Malay: “Sierra Leone”
  • Malayalam: “സിയെറ ലിയോൺ”
  • Malayalam: “സീറാ ലിയോൺ”
  • Maltese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Manipuri: “ꯁꯤꯑꯦꯔꯔꯥ ꯂꯤꯑꯣꯟꯅꯦ”
  • Manx: “Sierra Leone”
  • Maori: “Te Araone”
  • Marathi: “सिएरा लिओन”
  • Marathi: “सियेरा लिओन”
  • Mazanderani: “سیرالئون”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Minangkabau: “Sierra Leone”
  • Mingrelian: “სიერა-ლეონე”
  • Moksha: “Сьерра-Лэонэ”
  • Mongolian: “Сьерра Леон”
  • Mongolian: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “سييرا ليون”
  • Mossi: “Sierra Leone”
  • N'Ko: “ߛߙߊ߬ߟߏ߲߫”
  • Nauru: “Sierra Leone”
  • Navajo: “Náshdóítsoh Bitsiijįʼ Daditłʼooʼígíí Bidził”
  • Nepali: “सिएरा लियोन”
  • Nepali: “सिएर्रा लिओन”
  • Nepali: “सीयेरा लीओन”
  • Newari: “सिएरा लियोन”
  • Nigerian Pidgin: “Sierra Leone”
  • North Ndebele: “Sierra Leone”
  • Northern Frisian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Northern Luri: “سیرالئون”
  • Northern Sami: “Sierra Leone”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Sierra Leone”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Sierra Leone”
  • Norwegian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Novial: “Siera Leone”
  • Nupe-Nupe-Tako: “Sierra Leone”
  • Obolo: “Siera Leyon”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Sierra Leone”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Sierra Leone”
  • Oriya: “ସିଏରା ଲିଓନ”
  • Oromo: “Seraa Liyoon”
  • Ossetian: “Сьеррæ-Леоне”
  • Pali: “सियारा-लियोन”
  • Pampanga: “Sierra Leone”
  • Panjabi: “ਸਿਏਰਾ ਲਿਓਨ”
  • Papiamento: “Serra Leoa”
  • Papiamento: “Sierra Leone”
  • Pedi: “Sierra Leone”
  • Persian: “سیرا لیون”
  • Persian: “سیرالئون”
  • Piemontese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “Sierra Leone”
  • Polish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Portuguese: “Serra Leoa”
  • Pushto: “سيراليون”
  • Pushto: “سییرا لیون”
  • Quechua: “Liyun Urqu”
  • Quechua: “Sierra Leona”
  • Romanian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Romansh: “Sierra Leone”
  • Rundi: “Siyeralewone”
  • Russia Buriat: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Russian: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Sakizaya: “Sierra Leone”
  • Samoan: “Sierra Leone”
  • Samogitian: “Sėira Leuonė”
  • Samogitian: “Siera Leuonė”
  • Sango: “Sierä-Leône”
  • Sanskrit: “सियारा-लियोन”
  • Santali: “ᱥᱤᱭᱮᱨᱟ ᱞᱤᱭᱚᱱ”
  • Sardinian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Saterfriesisch: “Sierra Leone”
  • Scots: “Sierra Leone”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Siarra Leòmhann”
  • Serbian: “Sijera Leone”
  • Serbian: “Сиера Леоне”
  • Serbian: “Сијера Леоне”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Sijera Leone”
  • Shan: “မိူင်းသီႇဢႄႇရႃႇလီႇယူၼ်ႇ”
  • Shona: “Siera-Leyoni”
  • Shona: “Sierra Leone”
  • Sicilian: “Serra Liuni”
  • Silesian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Sindhi: “سيرا ليون”
  • Sinhala: “සියරාලියෝන්”
  • Sinhala: “සියෙරා ලියෝන්”
  • Skolt Sami: “Sierra Leone”
  • Slovak: “Sierra Leone”
  • Slovenian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Somali: “Sierra Leone”
  • Somali: “Siraaliyoon”
  • South Azerbaijani: “سیرالئون”
  • Southern Sotho: “Sierra Leone”
  • Spanish: “Sierra Leona”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⵙⵉⵔⴰⵍⵢⵓⵏ”
  • Sundanese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Swahili: “Siera Leoni”
  • Swahili: “Sierra Leone”
  • Swati: “ISiriya-Liyoni”
  • Swedish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Swiss German: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tagalog: “Bulubunduking Leona”
  • Tagalog: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tajik: “Сиерра Леоне”
  • Tajik: “Сиерра-Леоне”
  • Talysh: “Sierra Leone”
  • Talysh: “Sijerra Leone”
  • Tamil: “சியாரா லியோன்”
  • Tamil: “சியேரா லியோனி”
  • Taroko: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tatar: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Telugu: “సియెరా లియోన్”
  • Telugu: “సియెర్రా లియాన్”
  • Thai: “เซียร์ราลีโอน”
  • Thai: “ประเทศเซียร์ราลีโอน”
  • Tibetan: “སི་ར་ལེ་ཨོན།”
  • Tibetan: “སེ་ཡར་ར། ལིའོན།”
  • Tigrinya: “ሴራሊዮን”
  • Tok Pisin: “Siera Lion”
  • Tok Pisin: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tonga (Tonga Islands): “Siela Leone”
  • Tsonga: “Siyera Liyona”
  • Tswana: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tumbuka: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tunisian Arabic: “سياراليوني”
  • Turkish: “Sierra Leone”
  • Turkmen: “Sýerra-Leone”
  • Twi: “Sierra Leone”
  • Tyap: “Sira Lyon”
  • Udmurt: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Uighur: “سيېررا لېئونې”
  • Uighur: “سېررالېئون”
  • Ukrainian: “С’єра Леоне”
  • Ukrainian: “С’єрра-Леоне”
  • Ukrainian: “Сьєрра-Леоне”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Urdu: “سیرا لیون”
  • Urdu: “سیرالیون”
  • Uzbek: “Syerra Leone”
  • Uzbek: “Syerra-Leone”
  • Venetian: “Siera Leon”
  • Venetian: “Siera Łeon”
  • Veps: “Sjerra Leone”
  • Vietnamese: “Sierra Leone”
  • Vietnamese: “Xi-ê-ra Lê-ôn (Sierra Leone)”
  • Vietnamese: “Xi-ê-ra Lê-ôn”
  • Volapük: “Sieraleonän”
  • Võro: “Sierra Leone”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Sierra Leone”
  • Welsh: “Sierra Leone”
  • Western Armenian: “Սիերա Լէոն”
  • Western Armenian: “Սիերա Լէոնէ”
  • Western Frisian: “Sierra Leöane”
  • Western Frisian: “Sierra Leone”
  • Western Mari: “Сьерра-Леоне”
  • Western Panjabi: “سیرالیون”
  • Wolof: “Siraa Leyoon”
  • Wolof: “Siyera Lewon”
  • Wu Chinese: “塞拉利昂”
  • Yakut: “Сьерра Леоне”
  • Yiddish: “סיערע לעאנע”
  • Yoruba: “Siẹrra Léònè”
  • Yoruba: “Siria looni”
  • Yue Chinese: “塞拉利昂”
  • Zeeuws: “Sierra Leone”
  • Zhuang: “Sierra Leone”
  • Zulu: “i-Sierra Leone”
  • Zulu: “ISiera Liyoni”
  • “ma Sijelalijon”
  • “Tepētlah Leona”
  • “सिएरा लियोन”

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