It consists of a small colony (702 sq. km., 124,000 inhabitants) on the coast and a protectorate (71,654 sq. km., with 1.9 million inhabitants) covering the remaining territory. From the flat coastal area bordered by lagoons, the land rises inland to over 1,000 meters. Forests and savannas give way locally to plantations producing rice, barley, cassava, and especially oil palm. The subsoil yields gold, diamonds, platinum, chromite, and recently hematite, whose deposits appear substantial. The inhabitants (over 2 million) are mostly Sudanese. Freetown (90,000 inhabitants), with a good port, is the capital of the colony.
For evangelization, see FREETOWN.
BIBL.: F. W. Butt-Thompson, *S. L. in history and tradition*, London 1926; N. N., *An Outline of ten-year plan for the development of S. L.*, Freetown 1946. Giuseppe Caraci.