Subdivisions of Sierra Leone: provinces and the 16 districts
Sierra Leone is divided into four provinces and the Western Area, which together hold 16 districts. This list gives each province with its ISO 3166-2 code and capital, then every district with its capital, and marks the units created or moved in the reform of 2017.
- Provinces and area
- 5
- Groups
- 1
Updated
Four provinces and the Western Area
The first-level units with their capitals and ISO 3166-2 codes. English is the official language and the only one the names are given in.
Provinces and area 5
| Province or area | Capital | ISO 3166-2 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
Eastern Province
|
Kenema
|
SL-E
|
|
Northern Province
|
Makeni
|
SL-N
|
|
North West Province
|
Port Loko
|
SL-NW
|
formed 2017
|
Southern Province
|
Bo
|
SL-S
|
|
Western Area
|
Freetown
|
SL-W
|
Codes: ISO 3166-2:SL on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:SL, checked 28 October 2026; SL-NW was added on 26 November 2018.
The 16 districts of Sierra Leone and their capitals
Every district under its province or area, with the district capital. The last column marks the districts that are new or changed province in the 2017 reform.
Eastern Province 3
| District | Capital | Change in 2017 |
|---|---|---|
Kailahun District
|
Kailahun
|
|
Kenema District
|
Kenema
|
|
Kono District
|
Koidu Town
|
Northern Province 4
| District | Capital | Change in 2017 |
|---|---|---|
Bombali District
|
Makeni
|
|
Falaba District
|
Bendugu
|
new 2017, from Koinadugu
|
Koinadugu District
|
Kabala
|
|
Tonkolili District
|
Magburaka
|
North West Province 3
| District | Capital | Change in 2017 |
|---|---|---|
Kambia District
|
Kambia
|
until 2017 Northern Province
|
Karene District
|
Kamakwie
|
new 2017, from Bombali and Port Loko
|
Port Loko District
|
Port Loko
|
until 2017 Northern Province
|
Southern Province 4
| District | Capital | Change in 2017 |
|---|---|---|
Bo District
|
Bo
|
|
Bonthe District
|
Bonthe
|
|
Moyamba District
|
Moyamba
|
|
Pujehun District
|
Pujehun
|
Western Area 2
| District | Capital | Change in 2017 |
|---|---|---|
Western Area Rural District
|
Waterloo
|
|
Western Area Urban District
|
Freetown
|
Districts and capitals: Wikipedia's Districts of Sierra Leone, which cites the 2015 census report of Statistics Sierra Leone, checked 28 October 2026. For Bonthe the list gives Mattru Jong, where the council of the mainland part of the district sits; the district headquarters town is Bonthe on Sherbro Island (Wikipedia, Bonthe District). For Kono the list writes Koidu Town-Sefadu.
From fourteen districts to sixteen
Until 2017 Sierra Leone had three provinces, Eastern, Northern and Southern, plus the Western Area, and fourteen districts. The list of that time placed Kambia and Port Loko in the Northern Province and gave the capitals Makeni for Bombali, Kabala for Koinadugu and Magburaka for Tonkolili, which still hold.
The reform of July 2017 split the north. Kambia and Port Loko moved into the new North West Province together with Karene, a district formed from parts of Bombali and Port Loko with its capital at Kamakwie. Falaba was carved out of Koinadugu, with Bendugu as its capital. The Western Area kept its two districts, Western Area Rural around Waterloo and Western Area Urban, which is Freetown.
Below the districts lie the chiefdoms. Wikipedia's Provinces of Sierra Leone counts 190 of them after the reform against 149 before it, so a chiefdom named on an older map may now be split in two.
Questions about the subdivisions of Sierra Leone
How many districts does Sierra Leone have?
16 since July 2017, when Falaba and Karene were added to the earlier 14.
What is the capital of the North West Province?
Port Loko. The province was formed in 2017 and coded SL-NW in ISO 3166-2 in 2018.
Is the Western Area a province?
No. It is a separate area, coded SL-W, made up of the Western Area Rural and Western Area Urban districts, the latter being Freetown.