Freetown Colony: Map & History

History

The area around the Sierra Leone estuary has been inhabited for millennia. The earliest known group in the area was the Bullom people. In the 1540s and '50s, the Mane people invaded the area and established their own chiefdoms, integrating into the local Bullom. In January 1568, the English slave raider John Hawkins helped the Mane king Flansire destroy Bonga, headquarters of the rebellious chief Falma. Bonga was a town of around 10,000 people located in the area that would become Freetown.

The area was settled in 1787 by 400 formerly enslaved black people sent from London, England, under the auspices of the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, an organisation set up by the English merchant and philanthropist, Jonas Hanway, and the British abolitionist, Granville Sharp.

Government

The city of Freetown is one of Sierra Leone's six municipalities and is governed by a directly elected city council, headed by a mayor, in whom executive authority is vested. The current mayor is Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city. The mayor and members of the Freetown City Council are elected directly by the residents of Freetown every four years.

The government of the Freetown Municipality has been dominated by All People's Congress (APC) since 2004. Since 2004, the residents of Freetown have voted in municipal elections for members of the All People's Congress (APC) by an overwhelming majority.

Economy

Freetown is the economic and financial centre of Sierra Leone. The country's state television and radio station, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, is primarily based in Freetown. The other national broadcasters, such as AYV (African Young Voices) and Capital Radio, are also based in Freetown. Many of the national headquarters of the country's largest corporations, as well as the majority of international companies, are located in Freetown - predominately in Central Freetown.

The city's economy revolves largely around its natural harbour, which is the largest natural harbour on the African continent. Queen Elizabeth II Quay is capable of receiving oceangoing vessels and handles Sierra Leone's main exports.

Culture

The city has the Sierra Leone National Museum and Sierra Leone National Railway Museum. There are also various historical landmarks connected to its founding by African Americans, Liberated Africans, and Afro-Caribbeans whose descendants are the Sierra Leone Creole people. The Cotton Tree represents the christening of Freetown in March 1792. In downtown Freetown is the Connaught Hospital, the first hospital constructed in West Africa that incorporated Western medical practices.