Fula people of Sierra Leone

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Fula people of Sierra Leone (Pular: 𞤊𞤵𞤤𞤩𞤫 𞤅𞤢𞤪𞤤𞤮𞤲) is the fourth major ethnic group in Sierra Leone after the Temne, Mende and Limba ethnic groups and a branch of the Fula people of West Africa. The Fula make up about 3.4% of Sierra Leone's population.^[1] The Sierra Leone Fula people settled in the Western Area region of Sierra Leone more than four hundred years ago as settlers from the Fouta Djallon Kingdom that expanded to northern Sierra Leone (Kabala, Bombali).

The Sierra Leonean Fula are traditionally a nomadic, pastoralist, trading people, herding cattle, goats and sheep across the vast dry hinterlands of their domain, keeping somewhat separate from the local agricultural populations. Many of the large shopping centers in Sierra Leone are owned and run by the Fula community.^{[citation needed]}

Today, almost all Sierra Leonean Fula are Muslims of the Sunni tradition of Islam. The overwhelming majority of Fula are adherent to the Maliki School within Sunni Islam. A significant number of the Sierra Leonean Fula population are found in all regions of Sierra Leone as traders.

The Fulas have been migrating and settling within Sierra Leone since the 17th Century. Many Fulas today in Sierra Leone are descendants of those who fled the autocratic rule of president Ahmed Sekou Toure and found refuge in the 1960s and 1970s. Others are new arrivals of the last decades due to the open borders that the Mano River Union and globalisation have created in the West African region.