Limba people (Sierra Leone)
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The Limba people are one of the indigenous tribes, or ethnic groups, in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa.
The Limba are rice farmers who live in the savannah-woodland region of north-central Sierra Leone. They predominate in 7 of Sierra Leone's 149 rural chiefdoms, and their community affairs are dominated by the local paramount chiefs. The third-largest tribe in the country, they number about 350,000.
The Limbas were among the earliest inhabitants of Sierra Leone, and their long habitation in the same geographically diverse region has led to a high degree of linguistic variation. They are divided into three principal dialect areas -- Wara Wara in the north, Biriwa/Safroko in the south, and Tonko/Sela in the west.
The northern group is most strongly influenced by Islam, and the southern, by Christianity. The western group has been influenced by both. But traditional religious beliefs and practices, or "animism," are a powerful influence throughout the Limba region and co-exist with Islam and Christianity throughout the Limba region. Indeed, most Sierra Leoneans see the Limba as more involved in supernatural practices than any other tribe in the country.
Limbas were among the last in Sierra Leone to seek Western education and contact with the outside world, and for many years they suffered from a negative public image due to their perceived "backwardness." Their position improved considerably, though, between 1968 and 1992 when two successive presidents of Sierra Leone (Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh) identified themselves as Limbas.
Today, many Limbas live in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital city, and in the large provincial towns, and many have acquired formal education, in some cases completing postgraduate studies abroad. But the majority of Limbas still live in rural areas where they carry on their tradition way of life.
