ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the background history of Sierra Leone from its creation to the end of the civil war. Sierra Leone is a former British colony on the west coast of Africa. The capital city is Freetown which is located on the Atlantic coast and is separated from the main airport by the harbour and the Sierra Leone River which flows into the sea. The European explorers the area that became Sierra Leone was amongst the first to be explored in West Africa. In 1652 the first slaves destined for North America were brought from the area that is now Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone formerly became one of the United Kingdom's first colonies in West Africa in 1808 as the nineteenth century witnessed the dramatic expansion of Britain's empire in Africa. In response, Executive Outcomes (EO), a Private Military Company with origins in South Africa, came to Sierra Leone with the blessing of Valentine Strasser.
