Bo

Town in central Sierra Leone, approximately 150 km/93 mi southeast of Freetown; population (2004) 167,100. The third-largest town in Sierra Leone, Bo was a former colonial administrative centre, but is now the main town in the southern province. Rice, maize, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, and ginger are grown in the area.

Bo has a large government hospital and is also an educational centre with secondary schools and teacher-training colleges, as well as a major library. It was the terminus of an old narrow gauge railway, which closed in 1971.