Voting Station

Freetown, Sierra Leone

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Location

The Resume

    (March 11, 1792- )
    Founded by a group of freed slave from North America under the leadership of John Peters (soldier/former slave) and Lt. John Clarkson (Royal Navy officer/abolitionist)
    Capital of British West Africa (1808-74)
    Capital of Sierra Leone
    Population (city): 1,055,964 (2015 census)
    Population (metro area): 1,500,234

Why Freetown, Sierra Leone might be annoying:

    The settlers rebelled against the ruling agents of the Sierra Leone Company, claiming they were still being treated as slaves (1800).
    The rebellion was crushed by importing 500 Jamaican Maroons (descendants of blacks who had escaped from slavery), who later settled in their own district of Freetown.
    A wave of looting, rape, and murder swept through the city after it was occupied by the Revolutionary United Front during the Sierra Leone Civil War (1997).
    Three days of heavy rain coupled with years of deforestation resulted in mudslides in the city and its suburbs that killed more than a thousand people and left over 3,000 homeless (August, 2017).
    Only a fifth of its garbage is properly collected and disposed of, leaving the rest – over 500 tons per day – to be burned or dumped in the streets, waterways, or illegal dumpsites.

Why Freetown, Sierra Leone might not be annoying:

    It is located on the largest natural harbor in Africa.
    It served as the base for the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron, which enforced the ban on the slave trade.
    Many slaves liberated by the Royal Navy settled here, giving the city an ethnically diverse population.
    It was a base for the Royal Navy during both World Wars.
    It has a distinctive Creole architecture blending American and Caribbean influences.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying