Krio

English-based creole language spoken in Sierra Leone

Languagenatural language creole modern languageQ35744

Also known as Krio language · Sierra Leonean Creole · kri

Speakers: 692,000(2016)
1
Sources
1.Stated in Ethnologue
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Subclass of: West African English Creole
Script: Latin script
Indigenous to: Western Area

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

The Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is the lingua franca spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone and, like other varieties of West African Pidgin English originated as a language of contact between colonizing British and African slave traders for the transatlantic slave trade. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population, and it unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other. Krio is the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad, and has also heavily influenced Sierra Leonean English. The language is native to the Sierra Leone Creole people, or Krios, a community of about 104,311 descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, United States and the British Empire, and is spoken as a second language by millions of other Sierra Leoneans belonging to the country's indigenous tribes. English is Sierra Leone's official language, and Krio, despite its common use throughout the country, has no official status.

Overview

Works in this language

2 linked to Krio in Wikidata

All data

33 statements · 24% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Native label: Krio
Wikimedia language code: kri
Different from: Sierra Leone Creole people
Ethnologue language status: 3 Wider Communication
1
Sources
1.Stated in Ethnologueethnologue.com/language/kriRetrieved 2019-05-10
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Country: Sierra Leone
1
Sources
1.“ScriptSource - Sierra Leone”scriptsource.org/country/SLRetrieved 2023-08-21
View statement on Wikidata ↗

On other databases

17 identifiers linking Krio across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

24%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 30, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Krio (Q35744). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/krio-Q35744