Sherbro people

Sherbro
Bullom

Total population
(191,000)
Regions with significant populations
Bonthe District and the Western Area
Languages
Sherbro, Krio, Sierra Leone English
Religion
Christianity (90%), Islam (10%)
Related ethnic groups
Krio, Temne, Limba, Gola

The Sherbro people are a native people of Sierra Leone, who speak the Sherbro language; they make up 3% of Sierra Leone's population or about 201,000. They are also known as the Bullom people. The Sherbros are primarily found in their homeland in Bonthe District, where they make up 45% of the population, in coastal areas of Moyamba District, and in the Western Area of Sierra Leone, particularly in Freetown. During pre-colonial days, the Sherbro were one of the most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, but today only few ethnic Sherbro are found in Sierra Leone. The Sherbro speak their own language called Sherbro language which is closely related to Temne language spoken by the country's largest ethnic group the Temnes. About 90%of the Sherbro people are Christian and 10% are Muslim.

The Sherbro are primarily fisherman and traders. They have a rich culture, that has integrated some western culture and ideals. Their culture is unlike that of all other ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. The only Sierra Leonean ethnic group whose culture is similar (in terms of embrace of Western culture) are the Krio people, descended largely from African Americans who were freed by the British and came from Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War. The Sherbro and the Krios are close allies; they have intermarried from as far back as the 1790s.

As native to Sierra Leone, the Sherbro history dates to pre-colonial times. In the 18th century, the Sherbro began to get involved in the slave trade and became more powerful than the European slave traders. They began to employ the Mende people to work for them to find slaves to meet the growing demand. In the 1920s, the Sherbro people were still being ruled by their own chiefs.

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Wikipedia