Freetown is the capital of the West African state of Sierra Leone and has a population of just over 600,000. The city is located on the Freetown Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Atlantic Ocean and lies on the delta of the Sierra Leone River.

The area around Freetown was settled in 1787 by freed slaves from England, Canada and the USA, as well as Jamaican Maroons. Before the whites arrived on the coast, Freetown was called “Romarong”, the “City of Lamentations”. This name came from the constant “crying” and “weeping” of the wretched in the strong storms at the mouth of the Sierra Leone River.