Kailahun

Kailahun
Kailahun, Sierra Leone
Kailahun Government Hospital at its reopening in 2004
Kailahun Government Hospital at its reopening in 2004
Coordinates: 8°16′38″N 10°34′26″W / 8.27722°N 10.57389°W / 8.27722; -10.57389
Country Sierra Leone
ProvinceEastern Province
DistrictKailahun District
Government
 • Town Chief of KailahunAlpha Ndoleh [1]
Elevation
303 m (994 ft)
Population
 (2013)
 • Total30,411
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)

Kailahun is the capital of Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Kailahun is a major business and commercial center of Kailahun District. The population was 13,108 in the 2004 census,[1] a 2006 estimate of 18,411 [2] and a current estimate of about 30,411.[citation needed] Kailahun lies in the far east of Sierra Leone, approximately 200 miles east of Freetown (320 miles by road), about 51 miles north east of Kenema (75 miles by road), and near the border of Liberia.[3]

Kailahun is a trade center, and is one of the major towns in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of Kailahun is largely from the Mende ethnic group. As with most parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language of the Sierra Leone Creole people is by far the most widely spoken language in Kailahun and is the primary means of communication in the city.[2][3]

  1. ^ Republic of Sierra Leone: 2004 Population and Housing Census: Analytical Report on Population Distribution, Migration and Urbanisation in Sierra Leone.
    Ibrahim Mohamed Sesay, Andrew A. Karam, Jinnah J. Ngobeh. Published November 2006.
  2. ^ "Krio Translation Services". Language9.com. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  3. ^ Oyètádé, B. Akíntúndé; Fashole-Luke, Victor (15 February 2008). "Sierra Leone: Krio and the Quest for National Integration". Language and National Identity in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 122–140. ISBN 978-0-19-928675-1.