fwo_308184 - SIERRA LEONE 20 Cents Sierra Leone Company - lion 1791

SIERRA LEONE

From the 16th century, the coastal populations of Sierra Leone took part in the slave trade within the framework of the triangular trade set up by European merchants. In 1787, the British bought the peninsula which would become the capital Freetown. 400 blacks from London settled there. Then, the Sierra Leone Company helps black loyalists from North America who took refuge in Nova Scotia to settle there. In 1794, Sierra Leone became the first British colony in West Africa. The country became independent in 1961.