The Western Area or Freetown Peninsula (formerly the Colony of Sierra Leone) is one of five principal divisions of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. It comprises the oldest city and national capital

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

and its surrounding

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s and countryside. It covers an area of 1,310 km² and has a population of 1,447,271. The Western Area is located mostly around the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

and is divided into two districts: the Western Area Rural and the Western Area Urban.

Geography

Western Area is the wealthiest region of Sierra Leone, having the largest economy, the country's financial and cultural center, as well as the seat of the country's national government. Unlike the other regions in Sierra Leone, the western area is not a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. It is divided into two districts: * Western Area Rural * Western Area Urban Freetown serves as the administrative headquarters of both the Western Area and the Urban District, and served as the capital of the Rural District until 2009 when it was formally moved to the city of Waterloo.

Borders

To the northeast, the Western Area borders the North-Western Province, and to the southeast it borders the Southern Province. However, most of the boundaries of the Western Area is the shoreline of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The Western Area is the only region of Sierra Leone without a foreign border.

Cities, towns and villages include

* Adonkia * Banana Islands, including ( Dublin Island and Ricketts Island) * Bathkump * Bathurst * Baw Baw * Benguema * Bunce Island * Bureh Town * Charlotte * Cole Town *

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

* Fogbo *

, largest city and national capital *

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

* Grafton * Joe Town * Kebbie Town *

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

* Kerry Town * Kola Town * Kossoh Town * Koya * Kwama * Lakka *

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

* Newton * Ricketts * Rokel * Rokupa * Russell * Samuel Town * Stones Town *

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

* Tissana * Tokeh * Tombo * Waterloo, second largest city and capital of the Western Area Rural District *

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Religion

References

External links