Districts of Sierra Leone national capital Freetown, which makes up the Western Area Urban District, is governed by a directly elected city council headed by a mayor. The districts are further divided into a total of 190 (prior to 2017, 149) chiefdoms, whose elected leaders provided most of local government from 1896 to 2004, when they were supplemented by elected local councils. Districts of Sierra Leone The provinces of Sierra Leone are divided into 16 districts, as of July 2017. Previously, the country was divided into 14 districts. The Western Area is divided into two districts. Sierra Leone's capital Freetown is located in the
Wildlife of Sierra Leone Wildlife of Sierra Leone The wildlife of Sierra Leone is very diverse due to the variety of different habitats within the country. Sierra Leone is home to approximately 2090 known higher plant species, 147 known species of mammals, 172 known breeding bird species, 67 known reptile species, 35 known amphibian species and 99 known species of fish. There are approximately 147 known species of wild mammals within Sierra Leone. Members of fourteen orders of placental mammals inhabit Sierra Leone. The endangered pygmy hippopotamus has territories around the islands on the Moa River and is widespread in the Gola Forest area.