Liberia, [Latin=place of freedom], republic (43,000 sq mi/111,370 sq km; 1991 estimated population 2,730,450; 2004 estimated population 3,390,635), W Africa; (cap.) Monrovia.
Geography
Liberia fronts on the Atlantic Ocean for some 350 mi/563 km and is bordered on the NW by Sierra Leone, on the N by Guinea, and on the E by Côte d'Ivoire. Monrovia is the main port and administrative and commercial center. Other important towns include Buchanan and Harper, both ports. The nine counties of Liberia are: Montserrado, Nimba, Bong, Lofa, Grand Bassa, Maryland, Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, and Grand Cape Mount. Liberia can be divided into three distinct topographical areas. First, a flat coastal plain of some 10 mi/16 km to 50 mi/80 km, with creeks, lagoons, and mangrove swamps; second, an area of broken, forested hills with elevations from 600 ft/185 m to 1,200 ft/365 m, which covers most of the country; and third, an area of mountains in the N highlands, with elevations reaching 4,540 ft/1,384 m in the Nimba Mountains and 4,528 ft/1,380 m in the Wutivi Mountains. The six main rivers, which flow into the Atlantic, divide the country at right angles to the coast. Vegetation in much of the country is dense forest growth. The climate is tropical and humid, with a heavy rainfall, averaging 183 in/465 cm on the coast and some 88 in/224 cm in the southeastern interior. There are two rainy seasons and a dry, harmattan season in December and January.
Population
The majority of the population are members of some sixteen ethnic groups. These include the Kpelle, the Mano, the Bassa, the Grebo, the Kru, and the Vai. Decentralized political organizations are common, with government appointed chiefs directing most local affairs. Poro, a men’s organization with educational, legal, and religious functions, continues to be of importance, particularly among the Vai, Kpelle, and Gola peoples. The official religion of Liberia is Christianity, but traditional religions and Islam are practiced—the population is 40% animist, 20% Muslim, and 40% Christian. English is the official language, and African languages are used extensively. Far less numerous, but of great political importance, are the descendants of American freed slaves who migrated to Liberia in the 19th century. These people, formerly called Americo-Liberians, are concentrated in the towns, where they provide the country’s Westernized leadership and, for the most part, are adherents of various Protestant sects.
Economy
Until the 1950s, Liberia’s economy was almost totally dependent upon subsistence farming and the production of rubber. The American-owned Firestone plantation was the country’s largest employer and held a concession on some 1,000,000 acres/404,700 ha of land. With the discovery of high-grade iron ore, first at Bomi Hills, and then at Bong and Nimba, the production and export of minerals became the country’s major cash-earning economic activity. Other important minerals include gold, diamonds, barite, and kyanite. Some three-quarters of the population remain in the agricultural economy, producing such crops as rice, cassava, yams, and okra. Much rice, the main staple, is imported, but efforts have been made to develop intensive rice production and to establish fish farms. Rubber and timber, produced mainly on foreign concessions, are the main nonagricultural exports, while coffee and cacao are also exported. Iron ore, rubber, and diamonds provide the bulk of the export earnings. Much of the country’s industry is concentrated around Monrovia and is directed toward the production of iron ore. The lack of skilled and technical labor has slowed the growth of the manufacturing sector. Mineral processing plants are located near Buchanan and Bong. The government derives a sizable income from registering ships; low fees and lack of control over shipping operations have made the Liberian merchant marine one of the world’s largest. Internal communications are poor, with few paved roads and only a few short, freight-carrying railroad lines. However civil war and poor government have destroyed much of Liberia's economic infrastructure, and the current National Transition Government of Liberia will have to implement sound economic policies to revitalize the economy.
History to 1909
Liberia was founded in 1821, when officials of the American Colonization Society were granted possession of Cape Mesurado by local chiefs. African-American settlers were landed in 1822, the first of some 15,000 to settle in Liberia. The survival of the colony during its early years was due primarily to the work of Jehudi Ashmun, one of the society’s agents. In 1847, primarily due to British pressures, the colony was declared an independent republic. The Americo-Liberian minority controlled the country’s politics and new immigration virtually came to an end with the American Civil War. Liberia was involved in efforts to end the W African slave trade. Attempts to modernize the economy led to a rising foreign debt in 1871, which the republic had serious difficulty repaying. The debt problem and constitutional issues led to the overthrow of the government in 1871. Conflicts over territorial claims resulted in the loss of large areas of claimed, but uncontrolled, lands to Britain and France in 1885, 1892, and 1919, but rivalries between the Europeans colonizing W Africa and the interest of the U.S. helped preserve Liberian independence during this period. Nevertheless, the decline of Liberia’s exports and its inability to pay its debts resulted in a large measure of foreign interference.
History: 1909 to 1990
In 1909 the government was bankrupt, and a series of international loans were floated. Firestone leased large areas for rubber production in 1926. In 1930 scandals broke out over the exportation of forced labor from Liberia, and a League of Nations investigation upheld the charges that slave trading had gone on with the connivance of the government. President King and his associates resigned, and international control of the republic was proposed. Under the leadership of presidents Edwin Barclay (1930–1944) and William V. S. Tubman (1944–1971), however, Liberia avoided such control. Under Tubman, new policies to open the country to international investment and to allow the indigenous peoples a greater say in Liberian affairs were undertaken. Upon Tubman’s death in 1971, Vice President W. River Tolbert took charge, and in 1972 he was elected to the presidency. Although Tolbert cultivated a democratic climate and favorable relations abroad, an organized opposition emerged early in his regime, some of it from Liberian students living in the U.S. In 1980 Tolbert was assassinated in a coup led by Master-Sergeant Samuel K. Doe. Doe became Liberia’s first indigenous president by a fraudulent election in 1985, banning observation by opposition parties and destroying ballots. The Doe government was infamous for corruption and human-rights abuses; it also became the target of numerous coup attempts. Thousands of refugees fled to Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire during this period.
History: 1990 to Present
In 1990 Liberia was invaded by rebel forces of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, who proclaimed himself president. The U.S. sent troops to the area when the leader of the NPFL threatened to take foreign hostages. Doe was assassinated in 1990 by another group of rebels led by Prince Yormie Johnson, who also sought the presidency. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened to negotiate a peace settlement between the two rebel groups and the government. ECOWAS also sent a Nigerian-led peacekeeping force to Monrovia and installed an interim government led by Amos Sawyer. Taylor’s forces, with military aid from Libya and Burkina Faso, began a siege of Monrovia in 1992 in an attempt to seize control and engaged in fighting with ECOWAS forces. The warring parties agreed to a peace settlement in August 1995, signing the Abuja peace accords. A transitional coalition government was formed in September 1995 with Wilton Sankawulo as head of a Council of State. Fighting resumed in April 1996, causing further damage in Monrovia; thousands of foreign residents sought refuge or evacuated the city. President Taylor, who won the presidency in 1997 after eight years of civil war, was unable to completely eliminate rebel groups. Because of this and the UN-imposed sanction for Taylor's meddling in Sierra Leone's civil war, Taylor abdicated power in August 2003. A transitional government formed with rebel, government, and civil groups, assumed control in October 2003.
Government
The chief of state is President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, of the Unity Party. Johnson-Sirleaf was elected in a run-off vote following the September 2005 elections, defeating popular football star George Weah to become the first elected female president of an African country. Vice-president is Joseph Boakai.
