1. Sierra Leone

2. Sierra Leone , on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa, is half the size of Illinois. Guinea, in the north and east, and Liberia, in the south, are its neighbors. Mangrove swamps lie along the coast, with wooded hills and a plateau in the interior. The eastern region is mountainous.

3. Port city and commercial hub. It became capital in 1961. Freetown, Sierra Leone A common method of government fund-raising is selling postage stamps to collectors

4. Freetown In 1787 the English transferred 351 freed slaves and European settlers to the area now known as Sierra Leone. A Creole society was born from this, which collected in Free Town.

5. Archaeological finds

6. Serra Leoa

7. Shown in the rough is the third largest diamond ever found, weighing nearly a half a pound in the rough. Star Of Sierra Leone

8. Sierra Leone Half the size of Illinois, Sierra Leone is trying to recover from a devastating civil war also known as the “Diamond Conflict” which killed thousands and displaced 2 million people in 1991-93. This seventeen-year- old lost both hands to rebels’ machetes .

9. Timeline: Sierra Leone 1787 - British abolitionists and philanthropists establish a settlement in Freetown for repatriated and rescued slaves. 1808 - Freetown settlement becomes crown colony. 1896 - Britain sets up a protectorate over the Freetown hinterland. 1961 - Sierra Leone becomes independent. 1967 - Military coup deposes Premier Siaka Stevens' government. 1968 - Siaka Stevens returns to power at the head of a civilian government following another military coup. 1978 - New constitution proclaims Sierra Leone a one-party state with the All People's Congress as the sole legal party. 1985 - Major-General Joseph Saidu Momoh becomes president following Stevens's retirement. 1987 - Momoh declares state of economic emergency. 1991 - Start of civil war. Former army corporal Foday Sankoh and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) begin campaign against President Momoh, capturing towns on border with Liberia.