Liberia is a West African country. Located on the Atlantic coast, just at the entrance to the Gulf of Guinea, it covers an area of 111 370 km2. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the north, and the Ivory Coast, and is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The main cities are Monrovia, the capital, with 557 500 residents (2004), Harbel (17 900 residents), Gbarnga (14 500 residents), Buchanan (27 500 residents) And Yekepa (23 300 residents).
The climate is equatorial in the Southeast and humid tropical in the rest of the territory.
Economy
Political and social instability has negatively influenced the economy of this country, which was once flourishing. The agricultural sector presents itself as the main activity due to the fact that half of the territory is potentially arable, although currently only 5% of the land is cultivated, producing rice, barley, coffee, cocoa and sugar cane. On the other hand, benefiting from a typically tropical climate, Liberia has in its forests one of the greatest sources of wealth, either through the timber trade or, mainly, through the production of rubber. However, the forested area has decreased by 13.2% since 1981-83. The fishing activity, above all in the high seas, has some relevance, the same can be said about the industries related to mining and processing industries, of which the pharmaceutical industry stands out, ceramics, cement, shoes and furniture. However, what appears to be economically profitable is mostly in the hands of foreign companies, and, in any case, there has been a decrease in foreign investment, caused by the unstable situation in Liberia. Liberia’s main trading partners are Belgium, South Korea, Singapore and Ukraine.
Environmental indicator: no data (1999).
Population
The population was, in 2006, 3 042 004 residents, which corresponded to a density of 28.9 residents/km2. The birth and death rates are, respectively, 44.77% and 23.1%. Average life expectancy is 39.65 years. Neither the value of the Human Development Index (HDI) nor the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) have been attributed (2001). It is estimated that, in 2025, the population will be 5,994,000 residents. Among the 22 ethnic groups in the country, the main ones are the Kpelle (19%), the Bassa (14%), the Grebo (9%), the Gio (8%), the Kru (7%) and the Mano ( 7%). Traditional beliefs are followed by 63% of the population, while Christians, especially Protestants (14%), correspond to 21%. The official language is English.
History
Liberia’s origin is closely linked to the end of slavery in the United States of America. Although the Portuguese navigator Pedro de Sintra owed the discovery of this territory in 1461, it was at the beginning of the 19th century that its structuring began definitively. It all started with the agreement established between the members of the American Colonization Society (ACS) and the chiefs of the local tribes in 1821, after those who had considered the appropriate territory to receive the freed American slaves, which began to reach from 1822. Almost at the same time, Jehudi Ashmun also arrived, a white American who was responsible for forming the first government, drafting the first laws and starting foreign trade. In 1839 the first governor, Thomas Buchanan, was appointed. The territory, at the time, it already included the cities of Greenville and Harper, located along the St. John River. After Buchanan’s death in 1841, he was succeeded by Jenkins Roberts, a free black man born in the American state of Virginia, who was responsible, first for the enlargement of the territory, both in the direction of the Ivory Coast (then French colony) and in the direction of Sierra Leone (then an English colony), and then by the declaration of the independence of Liberia in 1847 (making it the first republic in West Africa with a constitution completely identical to that of the United States of America). For Liberia democracy and rights, please check getzipcodes.
The 20th century did not start in the best way for Liberia. Despite the economic and political efforts aimed at strengthening the country, both externally and internally, this has not been achieved, especially with regard to the control of land in the interior. It was not surprising, therefore, that in 1919 Liberia was forced to restore to France a region of approximately 3200 km2inland, near the border with Côte d’Ivoire. This situation of permanent instability, especially economic, was only overcome during the Second World War, when the country assumed a leading role with the Allies when it became its sole supplier of rubber. This led to the signing of several cooperation programs, namely with the USA, programs that focused, for example, on the construction of vast communication structures – roads, railways and an international airport. This framework of stability remained until 1980, the year in which a military coup d’état led by Samuel Doe, who was to become head of state and president of the Popular Salvation Council (PRC), took place. The PRC then promised a new constitution (which happened in 1986) and a return to civil law. After the 1985 elections, considered fraudulent by observers, Samuel Doe became the first president of the Second Republic, a position from which he was deposed in 1990 with the start of a civil war between the Krahn and Gio peoples, on the one hand, and the Mano people, on the other. Despite the intervention of a multinational force from West Africa in cooperation with the United Nations, civil war remains in the daily lives of Liberians, with Charles Taylor and Roosevelt Johnson as the main protagonists.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Liberia, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Liberia. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Liberia
Browse a collection of city, country, shaded relief and political maps of this Western African country, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. View the maps of Monrovia.
