Freetown, a town of W. Africa, capital of the British colony of Sierra Leone, on the left bank of Sierra Leone river, about 5 m. from the sea; lat. 8° 29' N, Ion. 13° 9' W.; pop. estimated at 18,000. It is on an inclined plane, 50 ft. above sea level at high-water mark. The streets are wide, well laid out, and ornamented with rows of orange, lime, banana, or cocoa-nut trees. Several of the houses are commodious and substantial stone buildings. The principal public edifices are St. George's church, the church missionary and Wesleyan missionary institutions, the grammar school, market house, custom house, jail, and lunatic asylum. The governor's residence, barracks, and government offices are on hills above the town. The navigable entrance of the Sierra Leone river is narrow, there being a large shoal called the Bullom shoal in its centre.