town, south-central Sierra Leone, western Africa. Located near the intersection of roads from Freetown and Makeni, it became the largest town (and for a time capital, 1930–61) of the Sierra Leone Protectorate. The commercial hub of the interior, it trades in palm oil and kernels, ginger, coffee, cocoa, and rice, which are transported mainly by road to Freetown (108 miles 【174 km】 west-northwest). Bo has been the educational centre of the interior since the opening in 1906 of a secondary school for the sons of Mende and other chiefdoms; it now has government, Christian, and Muslim schools, a main library, and teacher-training colleges. Several periodicals are published locally. Bo also has the largest government hospital outside Freetown. Pop. (2004) 149,957.