Place:Kabala, Northern, Sierra Leone

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Kabala is the capital and largest town of Koinadugu District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Kabala is one of the main towns in Northern Sierra Leone and is set in a rural landscape, surrounded by mountains.

Kabala lies approximately north-east of Makeni, the largest city in the north, and approximately east of the capital Freetown. Kabala had a population of 14,108 in the 2004 census, and a current estimate of 18,770 The population of Kabala is predominantly Muslim, though there is a substantial Christian minority.

Kabala is an agricultural centre and lies on the far north of Sierra Leone, with close proximity to Kono District and the international border with Guinea . Kabala is one of the largest towns in Sierra Leone in total land area; but is less densely populated.

Kabala is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Sierra Leone, with no single ethnic group forming a majority. Like the rest of Koinadugu District, the inhabitants of Kabala are largely from the Kuranko, Mandingo, Yalunka, Limba and Fula ethnic groups.

Sierra Leone's president Ernest Bai Koroma celebrated the 2012 new year in Kabala. President Koroma held a townhall meeting at the Yogomaia Field in Kabala and attended new year church services at the Holy Martyrs Catholic Church in the town.

History

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After the Anglo-Franco settlement of 1895, the British colonial administration post was moved from Falaba to Kabala, then an insignificant village not shown on the detailed maps of the British.

Kabala is a place name in the Limba and Fula languages literally meaning 'at Bala' or 'Bala's place.' Both languages utilizes the prefix 'ka-' as a place identifier. Postmarks on King George VI postage stamps use the spelling Kaballa.

The town incorporates two chiefdom centers: Gbawuria the center for the Limba chiefdom of Wara Wara Yagala and Yogomaia the center for the Koranko chiefdom of Sengbe. With respect to native governance, Kabala is split between the Limba and Koranko Paramount Chiefs. Kabala grew rapidly under British rule. Traders and merchants were attracted to this colonial administrative town from the 1930s, and, after 1947, shop premises were opened by Lebanese traders.

In 2000 the United Nations reported that, after the Civil War, "Kabala, in the north, life appears to be returning to normal following fighting". In 2002 newspapers reported a visit to the town by "Bangladesh's visiting foreign minister", suggesting that the town had sufficiently recovered for it to be shown to important overseas visitors.

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