Sierra Leone Krio

Sierra Leone Krio

The Sierra Leone Creole people, also called Krio, are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone, descendants of slaves resettled from Nova Scotia, the West Indies and England. They were settled in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by the British between 1787 and 1855, with arrivals as late as the 1860s. The Freetown colony was the first "Western" black community in West Africa, an antecedent to other similar colonies such as Liberia.

Disease and hostility from the indigenous people nearly eliminated the first group of returnees. This settlement was joined by other groups of freed slaves and soon became known as Freetown. In 1792, Freetown became one of Britain's first colonies in West Africa.

Today, the Krio comprise about 2% of the population of Sierra Leone. While a majority live primarily in the capital, Freetown, Krio also reside in villages and towns throughout the country.

Historically, Krio was the name for the language and Creole was the name for the people. In modern usage, the term Krio is generally used to refer to both the language and people, although the term Creole is still a popular term among foreigners. There are also populations in Nigeria, the Gambia and Bioko, Equatorial Guinea (formerly Fernando Po) with similar histories as the Krio. The Saros in Nigeria, Fernandinos in Fernando Po, and the Aku in Gambia are descendants of Krio traders and colonial officials from Sierra Leone.