Talk:Sierra Leone

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Dossier about Sierra Leone from Freedomhouse.org seems to be a spam. Isn't it? Dr Bug  (Volodymyr V. Medeiko) 16:14, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)

  • I don't think so. It looks legit to me. What makes you think it is spam? --Ben 16:38, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)


The phrase "Although there has been a significant amount of news coverage of the war in Sierra Leone" to me seems a little strange. I personally don't remember what I would consider a "significant amount of news coverage" regarding the civil war in Sierra Leone. There were reporters there but western media did not really pick up the stories. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough though. --Ben 16:34, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)


I have a made a page with the Districts of Sierra Leone and explained how the final 12 parliamentary seats are filled. Admittedly, I just obtained this information and am a bit confused on whether the Western Area is considered an administrative district or not. Most sites say Sierra Leone has 12 districts, but the Western Area would be 13. Can anyone clarify? - Gantry 03:53, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

  • The administration of the Western Area (which is essentially the city of Freetown) is seperate from that of the 3 provinces. Government systems for the Western Area are different and I think some property laws are different.Nick.annejohn 21:59, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Etymology of the name

The name Sierra Leone was adapted from the Spanish version: Sierra León, and in turn, from the Portuguese Serra-Leão, which stands for "lioness mountains."

"Leão" means lion, and not lioness, in Portuguese. Lioness is "leoa" and, in fact, the modern name of the country in Portuguese is "Serra Leoa". The article History of Sierra Leone states that

Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra mapped the hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbour, naming the oddly shaped formation Serra Lyoa (Lion Mountains)

"Lyoa" could well be an archaic version of "leoa", but probably not of "leão". So, it seems to me that one article contradicts the other (on the original name in Portuguese -- if they are both in fact referring to the original name; maybe Lyoa was the original name and then later it changed to Leão) and are both contradictory within themselves, as one translates Lyoa as lion, and the other Leão as lioness.

Does anyone have information to clarify this? --Cotoco 10:22, 28 August 2005 (UTC)


This article must be reviewed. In Portuguese it is "Serra Leoa" and in Spanish it is "Sierra Leona", both meaning "Lioness Mountains" and not "Lion Mountains". The name was originally in Portuguese, and not in Spanish, as the text suggests. Could we correct it as soon as possible? Tonyjeff 17:19, 14 November 2005 (UTC)


I think this is arguable. It could be that the word leoa was used as an adjective, and thus needed to agree with serra, which is feminine. The basic idea seems to have been that the mountain range was shaped like a lion, which I suppose works just as well for a male as it does for a female. FilipeS 21:54, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External links

Suggest that the external link to Vanessa Without Borders be removed. Wikipedia is generally known for its objectivity in its articles. This link to a personal blog appears to have been inserted by one of the article's earlier editors and, quite frankly, comes across as self-indulgence. The link could be included in a biographical article on the individual herself or possibly an article on the particular NGO she is working with, but not an article on an entire country. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.73.96.170 (talk • contribs) 22:54, 13 November 2006.

Why is there poverty? Because the wage system is a slave system, & USA forces it on the world! Once we can see the wage causes world poverty, we should end it! Millions of people are suffering so much, & every year 11 million children die of starvation related illnesses. We must end the wage to create a vortex that would "force" all nations to end their wage systems & say all people must OWN all things to end world poverty! Ending the wage will make the world almost perfect immediately. Let's just do it. Sundiiiaaa 03:58, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

How could anyone do that to another human being! That's just so horrible! **about the Blood Diamond conflict(s)** (Is the U.S. a big consumer of *blood* diamonds??

164.116.126.140 18:49, 8 March 2007 (UTC)Researcher007

Has anyone validated the information presented by the author of the Sierra Leone article? I suspect not. I sincerely hope nobody relies upon the information as fact.

[edit] introduction should be re-evaluated and possibly re-written

The current introduction gives the impression that the country is known only for being a colony. There should be a more comprehensive introduction, like in some other country articles. Congolese 04:19, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "It was recently nominated by the United Nations to be the worst country to live in ever."

Even though the statement is sourced, it is a long stretch to call it the worst country to live in EVER, don't you think?! I don't want to edit it as I am not a registrered member, I just thought I should point it out. 130.226.7.3 (talk) 20:21, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

It now says the worst country to live in in history which is simply wrong. The HDI indicates how Humand Development was ranked in all those countries in the year 2005. It's not a historic kind of measurement. I removed the words 'in history' from the article. 213.132.129.27 (talk) 22:48, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Population of Districts

Several unregistered users have been making apparently random changes to the population figures. Official 2004 census figures are available from two sources. User Sittaconde requests, in last edit to article, that 2007 estimates be used. I have found no source for these. Are they original research? I have asked for a source to be cited. Can Sittaconde or any other Wikipedian provide this, or is it the case that this and other Wikipedia articles are being misused? Dbfirs (talk) 09:28, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

I have reinstated confirmed 2004 census data to this and a number of related articles. Games are being played with distances between cities (I must find my atlas!), and names of well-known people. Does anyone know which of these are genuine and which are fictitious? dbfirs 22:09, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
A recent edit by unregistered user 71.163.213.244 claims authority for population figures from “the country’s official website”. In fact Sierraeye.net was set up in December 2007 and is administered by someone called Davide Baldoni who appears to live in Ancona, Italy. Information from this website cannot be as reliable as the official 2004 census data available elsewhere on the web (see footnotes and external links). This user, who refuses to engage in discussion, has changed the population figures many times, replacing the genuine figures with strangely varying values. I propose to reinstate the genuine figures. Please let me know if you disagree. I would be particularly pleased to hear from 71.163.213.244 or any of the other editors who have been playing games with the numbers. dbfirs 10:31, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
  • We now have reasonable estimates from three different sources for the populations of major towns. Unfortunately, these three sources do not agree. I would prefer to keep 2004 census figures where available, but I have left the conflicting estimates because some editors seem to feel strongly about the drop in urban populations during the civil war, and I agree that urban areas will have recovered much of their former populations by now. Does anyone know of reliable recent estimates? dbfirs 21:04, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
Population-of.com website seems to give reasonable-sounding estimates. Does it just take the last census figure and apply an inflation formula, or does it use a more reliable method? In either case, the figures ought to be rounded sensibly if the numbers are estimates rather than counts. Does anyone know? dbfirs 13:06, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Confused Over Official Languages Status

I read this article and it mentions that Bengali is one of the two official languages of Sierra Leone, and there are two sources in the article to confirm it, but I want a clarification just in case, because I'm doing a school report about Sierra Leone, please and thanks. =) Kotakkasut (talk) 11:13, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

It was someone's strange idea of a joke, of course. Dbfirs 07:02, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] First inhabited

The current article claims that certain tribes were the "first" inhabitants. This is unlikely, historically, but may well be true if we have some dates rather than just "first" which could mean any date in the last 60,000 years. I propose to change the wording to "early inhabitants include" if no-one can come up with approximate chronology. Dbfirs 07:02, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

I've made the change I suggested, but I'm not convinced that the information is accurate. One cited reference (from 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica) says:
"Sierra Leone is inhabited by various ethnic groups, the chief being the Timni, the Sulima, the Susu and the Mendi. From the Mendi district many curious steatite figures which had been buried have been recovered and are exhibited in the British Museum. They show considerable skill in carving. Of semi-negro races the Fula inhabit the region of the Scarcies. Freetown is peopled by descendants of nearly every negro tribe, and a distinct type known as the Sierra Leoni has been evolved; their language is Kreo is a vernacular language of its own right, order and substance, equivalent to any other world language. Kreo is equally influenced by French, Portugese, Yoruba and other local languages. It has its own grammar and structure. Since 1900 a considerable number of Syrians and Lebanese migrants have settled in the country as traders. Most of the African population are pagans and each tribe has its secret societies and fetishes. These are very powerful and are employed often for beneficent purposes, such as the regulation of agriculture and the palm-oil industry. There are many Christian converts (chiefly Anglicans and Wesleyans) and Muslims. In the Northern areas are some Muslim tribes, as for instance the Susu. The majority of the Sierra Leonis are nominally Christian. The European population numbers about Soo. Towns. - Besides Freetown (q.v.) the capital (pop., Igor, 34,463), the most important towns are Bonthe, the port of Sherbro, Port Lokko, at the head of the navigable waters of a stream emptying itself into the Sierra Leone estuary, and Songo Town, 30 m. S.E. of Freetown, with which it is connected by railway. In the interior are many populous centres. The most noted is Falaba, about 190 m. N.E. of Freetown on the Fala river, a tributary of the Little Scarcies. It lies about 1600 ft. above the sea. Falaba was founded towards the end of the 18th century by the Sulima who revolted from the Muslim Fula, and its normadic inhabitants soon attained supremacy over the neighbouring villages and country."
Obviously, the situation has changed since 1911, but I wonder how accurate are the statements in the Wikipedia article. I'm not qualified to judge. Does anyone know? Dbfirs 07:27, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Population inflation

Further inflated figures have been entered for population figures. Some of these edits are so obviously false that one wonders what is the motivation for such edits (e.g. adding 100,000 to official census figures). Would the false editors care to reply? Dbfirs 08:24, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Official Language

Below are some of the sources that state English as the only official Language of Sierra Leone:

I can only find the newspaper articles The Daily Times (2002) from Pakistan that reports Bengali as an official language.

I don't know if this was an official language at the time of the newspaper report but in order to include this in the article an official source from Sierra Leone will be needed that says Bengali is an official Language of the country. --Kaly99 (talk) 21:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Population of Bo district

I've reverted the change I made to the population figures for Bo district after checking the official figures (from Statistics Sierra Leone). The mistake came about because for local government the Bo district administration area is split into Bo district and Bo Township and it was Bo district local council figures on the other site under Bo district. There's only minor variations between the figure in the table and the official 2004 census results so it may be a good idea to change so they are in line with this and then use this as the source for the data. What do people think? --Kaly99 (talk) 19:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)