Sierra Leone has a special significance in the history of the transatlantic slave trade. Its capital, Freetown, was founded in 1787 as a home for repatriated former slaves from London and the Americas. Sitting on a coastal peninsula, the city overlooks the Sierra Leone Harbor, the world’s third largest natural harbor. The country is characterized by a humid tropical climate. Annual rainfall ranges from 1,900 mm in the northwest to over 4,000 mm on the coast, which makes Sierra Leone the wettest country in West Africa. Its landscape includes a flat coastal zone with fringing mangrove swamps. A large plain extends inland that transitions into wooded hills and an interior plateau interspersed with forested high mountains in the east. The country’s vegetation is highly complex and characterized by a matrix of patches of forest, woodland, savannas, and cropland. Sierra Leone’s economy stems from its rich natural resources but is still recovering from a civil war that destroyed most institutions before ending in the early 2000s. Agriculture, as the primary occupation, employs two-thirds of the labor force and accounts for 66.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) (CIA, 2013). Sierra Leone also possesses substantial mineral resources, particularly iron ore, and has relied on mining for its economic base in recent years. In addition, the country is among the largest producers of titanium and bauxite, a major producer of gold, and in the top ten diamond-producing nations.