The country's name derives from Serra Lyoa, or Lion Mountains, the name the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Cintra gave to the hills surrounding the harbor at present-day FREETOWN, now the nation's capital.
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| Creole history begins in 1787 when British opponents of the slave trade founded a colony for freed slaves on the coast that ultimately became Freetown. In 1896 the hinterland became a British protectorate, although the coastal area remained a colony. |
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The country's name derives from Serra Lyoa, or Lion Mountains, the name the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Cintra gave to the hills surrounding the harbor at present-day FREETOWN, now the nation's capital. |
Sierra leone became an independent nation in 1962. |