The Journal of Sierra Leone Studies - October 2015.

Yalunka, Soso, and Vai are more widely spoken in the coterminous countries of Liberia and Guinea and closely related to Mende.5 Kuranko and Kono are part of the Mandeng cluster, which includes Mandingo, the group being a relic of the collapse of the Mali Empire; none of the three is widely spoken in Sierra Leone. [...] The Mani were the original occupants of the Samu region of Guinea and Sierra Leone, who lost territory to Soso interlopers in the north, who now completely dominate the region, at least on the Guinea side of the border. [...] Contributing to the effects of the Temne attacks on the southern flank of the Samu was the more pacific but no less linguistically devastating advent of the Soso, who were themselves pushed into the Samu by the Fula in the 18th century. [...] (c) Theology is the study of the way in which Africans define the Supreme Being that is responsible for the creation and sustaining of the universe and all in it and their relationship to the Supreme Being, God. [...] Whitney Smith points out that the three horizontal colors stood for Sierra Leone’s resources and people as follows: (1) the green for agriculture and the mountains; (2) the white for unity and justice; and (3) the blue for the desire to contribute to world peace through the use of the unique natural harbor in Freetown, the country’s capital.