Sierra Leone in other languages: exonyms, Freetown, flag and provinces
Sierra Leone keeps its English name at home, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, with the ISO codes SL, SLE and 694. The name is listed here in 166 languages and variants and the capital Freetown in 53, followed by the four provinces and the Western Area.
Official languagesEnglish
Checked
- alpha-2
- SL
- alpha-3
- SLE
- numeric
- 694
Republic of Sierra Leone
- English
- Sierra LeoneRepublic of Sierra Leone
- Capital
- FreetownFreetown
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.
Sierra Leone in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Aragonese, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Welsh, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, French, Manx, Upper Sorbian, Hungarian, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Lingala, Malagasy, Maltese, Dutch, Norwegian, Occitan, Polish, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Northern Sami, Sardinian, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Võro, Zazaki, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / afr / arg / bre / cat / ces / cym / dan / dsb / est / fao / fin / fkv / fra / glv / hsb / hun / ina / ind / ita / jav / jnf / lin / mlg / mlt / nld / nor / oci / pol / roh / ron / rup / slk / slv / sme / srd / stq / swa / swe / vor / zza / deu / ltz / nds | Sierra Leone | same as written |
| Igbo, Novial, Samoan, Albanian | ibo / nov / smo / sqi | Siera Leone | same as written |
| Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak | crh / gag / kaa | Syerra-Leone / Сьерра-Леоне | Syerra-Leone |
| Basque, Spanish | eus / spa | Sierra Leona | same as written |
| Kinyarwanda, Kirundi | kin / run | Siyera Leyone | same as written |
| Portuguese, Tetum | por / tet | Serra Leoa | same as written |
| Asturian | ast | Sierra Lleona | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Syerra-Leone / Сјерра-Леоне | Syerra-Leone |
| Bambara | bam | Siyɛra-Leyɔni | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Sijera Leone / Сијера Леоне / سۀرا لەۉنە | Sijera Leone |
| Cornish | cor | Sierra Leon | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Siera-Leono | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal | frp | Siérra Leone | same as written |
| West Frisian | fry | Sierra Leöane | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Siere Leon | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Siarra Leòmhann | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Siarra Leon | same as written |
| Galician | glg | Serra Leona | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Syera Leyonn | same as written |
| Hausa | hau | Saliyo | same as written |
| Croatian | hrv | Sijera Leone | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Síerra Leóne | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Siyera Lêon, Siyera Lêonê | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Mons Leoninus, Deorum Currus | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Sjerraleone | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Siera Leonė | same as written |
| Ladin | lld | Siera Leon | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Sjera Leone | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Sierra Leone / Сиерра Леоне | Sierra Leone |
| Malay | msa | Sierra Leone / سيرا ليون | Sierra Leone |
| Nahuatl | nah | Tepētlah Leona | same as written |
| Norman French | nrm | Mounts-ès-Liouns, Sierra Leone | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Liyun Urqu, Siraluyni | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Sierra Leone / सिएर्रा लेओने | Sierra Leone |
| Sicilian | scn | Serra Liuni | same as written |
| Slovio | slo | Siera-Leone / Сиера-Леоне | Siera-Leone |
| Samogitian | smg | Sėira Leuonė | same as written |
| Somali | som | Siraaliyoon | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Sýerra-Leone / Сьерра-Леоне | Sýerra-Leone |
| Turkish | tur | Siera Leon, Siera Leone, Sierra Leone | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Syerra-Leone / Сьерра-Леоне / سيېررە-لېئانې | Syerra-Leone |
| Vietnamese | vie | Xi-ê-ra Lê-ôn | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Sieraleonän | same as written |
| Walloon | wln | Siera Leyone | same as written |
| Wolof | wol | Siraa Leyoon | same as written |
| Yoruba | yor | Sàró | same as written |
| Zulu | zul | iSiyeraleyone | same as written |
| Abaza, Altai, Avar, Chuvash, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Ossetian, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmyk | abq / alt / ava / chv / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mon / oss / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xal | Сьерра-Леоне | S'jerra-Leone |
| Bashkir, Chechen | bak / che | Сьерра-Леоне / Syerra-Leone | Syerra-Leone |
| Abkhaz | abk | Сиерра-Леоне | Sierra-Leone |
| Belarusian | bel | С’ера-Леоне / Siera-Leonie, Сьера-Леонэ / Siera-Leone | Siera-Leonie, Siera-Leone |
| Bulgarian | bul | Сиера Леоне | Siera Leone |
| Kazakh, Kyrgyz | kaz / kir | Сьерра-Леоне / سيەررا-لەونە / Syerra-Leone | Syerra-Leone |
| Kabardian | kbd | Сьеррэ-Леоне | S'jerră-Leone |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Сийер’а-Леоне / Sîyêṟa-Lêonê | Sîyêṟa-Lêonê |
| Macedonian | mkd | Сијера Леоне | Sijera Leone |
| Rusyn | rue | Сіера Леоне | Siera Leone |
| Serbian | srp | Сијера Леоне / Sijera Leone | Sijera Leone |
| Tatar | tat | Сьерра-Леоне / Sierra-Leone / سيېررا-لېئونې | Sierra-Leone |
| Tajik | tgk | Сиерра-Леоне / سییره لیئانه / Sierra-Leone | Sierra-Leone |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Сьєрра-Леоне | S'jerra-Leone |
| Arabic | ara | سيراليون, سييرا ليون | Sīrāliyūn, Siyīrā Liyūn |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | سیئررا لئونئ / Syerra-Leone | Syerra-Leone |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | سیرالیۆن / Sîraliyon | Sîraliyon |
| Persian | fas | سیرالئون / Siyerâleon | Siyerâleon |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | سیرالیون | Syarā Liyōn |
| Dari | prs | سیرالیون | Syerālēōn |
| Pashto | pus | سيرالېون | Syərāleōn |
| Uyghur | uig | سيېررا لېئونې / Syérra Léoné / Сьерра-Леоне | Syérra Léoné |
| Urdu | urd | سیئیرا لیؤن, سیرالیون | Sīʾērā Lēʾon, Siyarāliyōn |
| Dhivehi | div | ސިއެރާ ލިއޯން | Sierā Liōn |
| Hebrew | heb | סירה־לאונה / סיירה־לאונה, סיירה־ליאונה, סירה־לאון, סירה־ליאון / סיירה־ליאון | Syerah-Leʾōneh, Syerah-Lēʾōneh, Syerah-Leʾōn, Syerah-Lēʾōn |
| Ladino | lad | סיירה ליאונה / Sierra Leona | Sierra Leona |
| Yiddish | yid | סיערע לעאָנע | Syere Leone |
| Amharic | amh | ሴራሊዮኔ, ሲዬራ ሊዮን, ሴየራ ሌዎን | Seraliyone, Siyera Liyon, Seyära Lewon |
| Greek | ell | Σιέρα Λεόνε, Σιέρρα Λεόνε | Siéra Leóne, Siérra Leóne |
| Armenian | hye | Սիերա Լեոնե, Սյերա Լեոնե | Siera Leone, Syera Leone |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | სიერა-ლეონე | Siera-Leone |
| Laz | lzz | სიერა-ლეონე / Siera-Leone | Siera-Leone |
| Hindi | hin | सियरालेओन | Siyarāleon |
| Bengali | ben | সিয়েরা লিওন | Siyerā Lion |
| Gujarati | guj | સિયેરા લિઓન | Siyerā Liyon |
| Odia | ori | ସିଏରା ଲିଓନ | Sierā Lion |
| Punjabi | pan | ਸਿਏਰਾ ਲਿਓਨ | Sierā Lion |
| Sinhala | sin | සියෙරා ලියෝන් | Siyerā Liyōn |
| Kannada | kan | ಸಿಯೆರ್ರಾ ಲಿಯೋನ್ | Siyerrā Liyōn |
| Malayalam | mal | സിയറ ലിയോൺ, സീറാ ലിയോൺ | Siyaṟa Liyōṇ, Sīṟā Liyōṇ |
| Tamil | tam | சியெரா லியொன் | Ciyerā Liyoṉ |
| Telugu | tel | సియెర్రా లియోన్ | Siyerrā Liyōn |
| Chinese | zho | 塞拉利昂 | Sèlālì'áng |
| Japanese | jpn | シエラレオネ | Shierareone |
| Korean | kor | 시에라리온 | Sieralion |
| Tibetan | bod | སི་ར་ལེ་ཨོན། | Si.ra.le.on |
| Burmese | mya | ဆီရာလီယွန် | Sʰiẏa Liyũ |
| Thai | tha | เซียร์ราลีโอน | Siya[r]rā Lī'ōn |
| Khmer | khm | សេរ៉ាឡេអូន | Serā Ḷe'ūn |
Portuguese and Tetum keep the oldest form, Serra Leoa; Spanish and Basque write Sierra Leona, Croatian and Bosnian Sijera Leone. Arabic gives the name as one word or as two.
Serra Leoa, Sierra Leona, Sijera Leone
English is the only official language, so the country has one native name, Sierra Leone, and one official form, the Republic of Sierra Leone. The adjective is Sierra Leonean, the currency the leone.
The Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra named the coast Serra Leoa, lioness mountains, in 1462, and Portuguese still writes it that way. The form Sierra Leone came through Venetian spelling and the maps that copied it. Spanish has Sierra Leona, and the Spanish form travelled: Asturian has Sierra Lleona, Galician Serra Leona. Many languages respell the first word by sound, from Siera Leone in Albanian and Samoan to Sijera Leone in Croatian and Bosnian and Siera Leonė in Lithuanian.
Freetown varies far less. Most languages in Latin script keep it unchanged, and the Cyrillic Фритаун and Arabic فريتاون follow the English sound.
Freetown in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, German, Luxembourgish, Low German, Irish | eng / fra / deu / ltz / nds / gle | Freetown | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Turkmen | aze / tuk | Fritaun / Фритаун | Fritaun |
| Bosnian | bos | Freetown / Фритаун / فرٖىتاۆن | Freetown |
| Esperanto | epo | Fritaŭno | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Frîtawn | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Frītauna | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Fritaunas | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Freetown / Фритаун | Freetown |
| Malay | msa | Freetown / فريتاون | Freetown |
| Samogitian | smg | Fritauns | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Fritaun / Фритаун / فرىتەئۇن | Fritaun |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Фритаун | Fritaun |
| Bashkir, Serbian | bak / srp | Фритаун / Fritaun | Fritaun |
| Belarusian | bel | Фрытаўн / Frytaŭn | Frytaŭn |
| Kazakh | kaz | Фритаун / فريتاۋن / Frïtawn | Frïtawn |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Фритаун / فرئتاۇن / Fritaun | Fritaun |
| Tatar | tat | Фритаун / Fritawn / فرىتاۇن | Fritawn |
| Tajik | tgk | Фритаун / فریتئون / Fritaun | Fritaun |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Фрітаун | Fritaun |
| Arabic | ara | فريتاون / فريتاون | Farītāwn |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | فریتاون / Fritaun | Fritaun |
| Persian | fas | فریتاون / Feritâun, فریتائون / Feritâun | Feritâun, Feritâun |
| Pashto | pus | فريټون / فريټون, فريټاون / فريټاون | Frīṫaun, Frīṫāwn |
| Uyghur | uig | فرىتاۋن / Fritawn / Фритаун | Fritawn |
| Urdu | urd | فریٹاؤن | Frīṫāʾun |
| Hebrew | heb | פריטאון | Frīṭaʾūn |
| Yiddish | yid | פֿריטאַון | Fritaun |
| Amharic | amh | ፍሪታውን | Fritawn |
| Greek | ell | Φρήταουν, Φρίταουν | Frī́taoyn, Frítaoyn |
| Armenian | hye | Ֆրիթաուն | Frit̕aoun |
| Georgian | kat | ფრიტაუნი, ფრითაუნი | Ṗritauni, Ṗriṭauni |
| Hindi | hin | फ़्रीटाउन | Frīṭāun |
| Nepali | nep | फ्रिटाउन | Pʰriṭāun |
| Bengali | ben | ফ্রিটাউন | Pʰriṭāun |
| Punjabi | pan | ਫਰੀਟਾਊਨ, ਫਰੀਟਾਉਨ | Pʰrīṭāūn, Pʰrīṭāun |
| Kannada | kan | ಫ್ರೀಟೌನ್ | Pʰrīṭaun |
| Malayalam | mal | ഫ്രീടൌൺ | Pʰrīṭauṇ |
| Tamil | tam | பிறீடவுண் | Piṛīṭavuṇ |
| Telugu | tel | ఫ్రీటౌన్ | Pʰrīṭaun |
| Chinese | zho | 弗裡敦/弗里敦 | Fúlǐdūn |
| Japanese | jpn | フリータウン | Furītaun |
| Korean | kor | 프리타운 | Peuritaun |
| Thai | tha | ฟรีทาวน์ | Frītʰāw[n] |
| Khmer | khm | ហ្វ្រីថោន | Hvrītʰōn |
Chinese writes the city in traditional and simplified characters, 弗裡敦 and 弗里敦; Arabic gives a second spelling that keeps the two parts apart with a zero-width non-joiner.
The provinces and the Western Area of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has four provinces and the Western Area around Freetown, five units in ISO 3166-2:SL. Until 2017 there were three provinces; the North West Province was carved out of the Northern Province in that year.
| ISO 3166-2 | Name | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provinces and area5 | ||||
| SL-E | Eastern Province | Eastern | KenemaKenema | |
| SL-N | Northern Province | Northern | MakeniMakeni | |
| SL-NW | North West Province | North Western | Port LokoPort Loko | 2017 Formed in 2017 from the Kambia and Port Loko districts of the Northern Province and the new district of Karene; ISO 3166-2 added the code on 26 November 2018. |
| SL-S | Southern Province | Southern | BoBo | |
| SL-W | Western Area | Western Area (Freetown) | FreetownFreetown | |
Codes and ISO names: ISO 3166-2:SL on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:SL, checked 28 October 2026. Capitals: Wikipedia's Provinces of Sierra Leone, checked the same day.
Four provinces since 2017
The provinces are named after their compass points, and the Western Area, the peninsula with Freetown, has never been a province. In July 2017 the administrative map was redrawn: the North West Province with its capital Port Loko was formed, and the number of districts grew from 14 to 16.
The national anthem, High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free, dates from independence in 1961. Its words were written by Clifford Nelson Fyle and its music composed by John Akar.
Questions about the names and provinces of Sierra Leone
What does the name Sierra Leone mean?
Lioness mountains. Pedro de Sintra called the coast Serra Leoa in 1462, and Portuguese keeps that spelling.
How many provinces does Sierra Leone have?
Four since 2017, Eastern, Northern, North West and Southern, plus the Western Area; ISO 3166-2 codes all five.
What is the national anthem of Sierra Leone?
High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free, adopted in 1961, with words by Clifford Nelson Fyle and music by John Akar.