Sherbro River
| Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone | |
|---|---|
| Country | Sierra Leone |
| Province | Southern Province |
| District | Bonthe District |
| Population (2013 estimate) | |
| • Total | 28,457 |
| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0) |
Sherbro Island is in the Atlantic Ocean, located in Bonthe District off the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The Sherbro people make up by far the largest ethnic group in the island.
The island is separated from the African mainland by the Sherbro River in the north and the Sherbro Strait in the east. It is 32 miles (51 km) long and up to 15 miles (24 km) wide, covering an area of approximately 230 square miles (600 km2). The western extremity is Cape St. Ann. Bonthe, on the eastern end, is the chief port and commercial centre.
The island has more than 65 miles (105 km) of tropical beaches. It has been earmarked by the Ministry for Tourism and Development of Sierra Leone for tourism development.
Swamp-rice cultivation, tourism, and fishing are the main economic activities.
Sherbro Island was occupied by the Sherbro people, who did extensive fishing. After abolishing the international African slave trade in 1808 in partnership with the United States, Great Britain established a post on the island as a base for naval operations against illegal slave traders.
In 1815 Paul Cuffe, a successful ship maker and prominent African-American Quaker of Boston, Massachusetts, became interested in the resettlement of free American blacks in west Africa, as the British had done at Freetown in Sierra Leone since 1792. There Black Loyalists resettled from Nova Scotia had been joined by Maroons from Jamaica, Liberated Africans freed from illegal traders, and some of the ethnic groups in Sierra Leone interested in western culture. He believed that skilled free American blacks could help develop trade between Sierra Leone and the United States, and benefit both Africans and other free blacks in the US. Although he was personally successful, Cuffe well understood that many blacks labored against strong discrimination in the US. In 1815, he settled a group of 88 freedmen on Sherbro Island. After returning to the United States, Cuffe also sought to make a profit on the cargo he had taken on at Freetown.
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