Here is what I found in my research of Freetown. Freetown is the capital and largest city in Sierra Leone. It is a major port city in Africa and is one of the major sources of the countries economy. About 1.2 million people live in Freetown and their population is ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse, among Muslims and Christians. the most widely spoken language in the city is Krio which is the language of the local tribe Creole which makes up about 5% of the population in Freetown. Their education system is made up of 6 years of primary school (ages 6-12) and 6 years of secondary school (ages 13-18). they also have Fourah Bay College, founded in 1827. It is the oldest college in West Africa. Soccer is their most popular sport. The Leone Stars is the local team and they compete in the Sierra Leone national football league. One notable monument in Freetown is the Cotton Tree which represents the the Christening of Freetown in 1792.
In 1998 while the country was taking place in the civil war, Freetown was under intense fighting in the city between the RUF's and the ECOWAS who were trying to restore President Ahmad Kabbah back into power. In 2002 after the war ended Freetown ha an increase in robberies and violent crime such as; murder, home invasion, and assault. Most of the crime is found in the eastern side of the city which is considered the slums or ghetto of the city.
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| This is the Cotton Tree in downtown Freetown. |
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad45
How did they tree never get cut down? Did the people just see that as a sign of freedom and peace?
ReplyDeleteits very interesting how they set up the schools
ReplyDeleteIs there a special reason this city was named the capital? Maybe whoever settled there first or things along those lines.
ReplyDeletethis finally gives me a visual of what Ishmael was talking about when he saw this tree and talked about it.
ReplyDelete