There are sixteen main ethnic groups and the Krio language is spoken by 90% of the population despite English being the official country language and Sierra Leoneans are 60% Muslim, 10% Christian, while around 30% are 'indigenous believers'. Outside major conurbations, life in Sierra Leone means living in a clay and earth structure made from blocks dried in the sun, together with a thatch roof (above, top) although increasingly zinc sheets for roofs and cement to cover floors and walls are becoming more commonsplace as they require less maintenance. The houses are typically round or rectangular and have three internal rooms and a central parlour area. Cooking is traditionally undertaken outside not least to provide ventilation from the open stick fire used to cook with and the diet is primarily rice based and supplemented by cassava leaves, peppers, beans, onions etc and, for those with a larger budget or on special occasions, eaten with fish, beef or chicken.

The cooking area is where children will usually congregate after eating to hear stories and receive instruction from their elders in a society that is noted for its politeness and good manners. There are no streets as such in Sierra Leonean villages, just clusters of houses constructed as and where their anacestors owned land, however each village has its own shops and market places as well as a chuch/mosque, village school and latrines and often a cemetary on the borders of the village.