Sierra Leone

(-la-o'na,) an English colony on the W. coast of Africa, in N. Lat. 8° 30′, W. Lon. 13° 18'. It consists of a peninsula terminating in a cape, and b. N. by a river, both of the same name. Area, 468 sq. m. Soil, fertile. Climate, very unhealthy. C. Free town. This settlement was purchased in 1787, by the British govt., as a place of abode for liberated negroes. Pop. 41,497. [s. 825]