Editing Sierra Leone (section)

===European trading===

The 15th century marked the beginning of European interaction with Sierra Leone, highlighted by Portuguese explorer [[Pedro de Sintra]] mapping the region in 1462 and naming it after the lioness mountains.<ref>''Kingfisher Geography Encyclopedia''. {{ISBN|1-85613-582-9}}, p. 180.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://slconcordtimes.com/pedro-da-cintra-did-not-name-sierra-leone-an-exploration-into-available-evidence/ |title=Pedro da çintra did not name Sierra Leone: An Exploration into available evidence |date=22 June 2017 |work=Sierra Leone Concord Times |access-date=26 May 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806061658/http://slconcordtimes.com/pedro-da-cintra-did-not-name-sierra-leone-an-exploration-into-available-evidence/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> This naming has been subject to historical reinterpretation, suggesting earlier European knowledge of the region. Following Sintra, European traders established fortified posts, engaging primarily in the [[History of slavery|slave trade]], which shaped the socio-economic landscape significantly.<ref>{{Cite book |last =LeVert |first =Suzanne |title =Cultures of the World: Sierra Leone |page =[https://archive.org/details/sierraleone0000leve/page/22 22] |publisher =Marshall Cavendish |isbn =978-0-7614-2334-8 |year =2006 |url =https://archive.org/details/sierraleone0000leve/page/22 }}</ref>

Traders from Europe, such as the [[Dutch Republic]], [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of France|France]] started to establish trading stations. These stations quickly began to primarily deal in slaves, who were brought to the coast by indigenous traders from interior areas. The Europeans made payments, called ''Cole'', for rent, tribute, and trading rights, to the king of an area. Local Afro-European merchants often acted as middlemen, the Europeans advancing them goods to trade to indigenous merchants, most often for slaves and ivory.<ref>Christopher Fyfe, ''A History of Sierra Leone'', Introduction.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last =Sibthorpe |first =A. B. C. |title =The History of Sierra Leone |page=7|publisher=Routledge |isbn =978-0-7146-1769-5 |year =1970}}</ref>
[[File:Sierra leone, sapi, olifante, 1490-1510 ca.jpg|thumb|Sierra leone, sapi, olifante, 1490-1510 ca]]