The subsequent 2005 elections were internationally regarded as the freest and fairest in Liberian history. Total capacity in 2013 was 20 MW, a sharp decline from a peak of 191 MW in 1989 before the wars. [46], The rebels soon split into various factions fighting one another. [76] After international protests, many of those logging permits were canceled. [97], Both male and female homosexuality are illegal in Liberia. Tbg and its vector Glossina palpalis gambiense are a constant presence in the rainforests here. It built the Freeport of Monrovia and Roberts International Airport under the Lend-Lease program before its entry into the Second World War. [84] Since 2006, the international community has paid for all garbage collection and disposal in Monrovia via the World Bank. The presence of MSA populations in forests remains an open question; however technological differences may correlate with various ecological zones. Protestantism was originally associated with Black American settlers and their Americo-Liberian descendants, while native peoples initially held to their own animist forms of African traditional religion before largely adopting Christianity. pp. [123] Due in large part to foreign aid and investment inflow following the end of the war, Liberia maintains a large account deficit, which peaked at nearly 60% in 2008. [68], Tropical rainforests cover the hills, while elephant grass and semi-deciduous forests make up the dominant vegetation in the northern sections. Official name: Republic of Liberia. Much of Liberia's communications infrastructure was destroyed or plundered during the two civil wars (19891996 and 19992003). [148] In 2013, Liberia began importing power from neighboring Ivory Coast and Guinea through the West African Power Pool. Edward Wilmot Blyden, Bai T. Moore, Roland T. Dempster and Wilton G. S. Sankawulo are among Liberia's more prominent authors. Mean annual temperatures range between 65 F (18 C) in the northern highlands to 80 F (27 C) along the coast. Christopolis was renamed Monrovia after President James Monroe and the colony was formally called Liberia (the free land). [205] Moore's novella Murder in the Cassava Patch is considered Liberia's most celebrated novel. [147] Construction of three new heavy fuel oil power plants is expected to boost electrical capacity by 38 MW. [90] The judicial system is a blend of common law, based on Anglo-American law, and customary law. A striking feature of the mountainous northern highlands along the Guinea frontier is Mount Nimba. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was renamed in 1956. [citation needed], Liberia has a rich history in textile arts and quilting, as the settlers brought with them their sewing and quilting skills. ", "Ellen Describes Tubman University's Opening As PRS Success", "Remarks by H.E. [202] Most Americo-Liberian men were members of the Masonic Order of Liberia, which became heavily involved in the nation's politics. [60] In 2011, July 26 was proclaimed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to be observed as National Independence Day. Stella Maris Polytechnic, a post-secondary, private institution of higher learning. [158] Of those, 1,118,241 lived in Montserrado County, the most populous county in the country and home to the capital of Monrovia. [201], The religious practices, social customs and cultural standards of the Americo-Liberians had their roots in the antebellum American South. The countrys first post-conflict elections, held in 2005, were noteworthy for the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the presidency, as she was the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa. It was among the few African countries to maintain its sovereignty during the Scramble for Africa. [86] Montserrado is also the most populous county with 1,144,806 residents as of the 2008 census. Subsequently, it was one of 32 nations to take part in the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, which ended the war and established the League of Nations; Liberia was among the few African and non-Western nations to participate in both the conference and the founding of the League. [83] A 2004 UN report estimated that 99% of Liberians burned charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation. All structured data from the file namespace is available under the Creative Commons CC0 License; all unstructured text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; . [citation needed] It was made up primarily of Americo-Liberians, who maintained social, economic and political dominance well into the 20th century, repeating patterns of European colonists in other nations in Africa. [127][128], Due to its status as a flag of convenience, Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama. [215], The Liberian government has begun transitioning away from use of United States customary units to the metric system. The government has three co-equal branches of government: the executive, headed by the president; the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Legislature of Liberia; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and several lower courts. The House, led by a speaker, has 73 members apportioned among the 15 counties on the basis of the national census, with each county receiving a minimum of two members. Name the major rivers of Liberia. [68], Liberia's main northwestern boundary is traversed by the Mano River while its southeast limits are bounded by the Cavalla River. [1] Among the president's other duties are to sign or veto legislative bills, grant pardons, and appoint Cabinet members, judges, and other public officials. The "Black Continent" is divided roughly in two by the equator and surrounded by sea except where the Isthmus of Suez joins it to Asia. Congo people, descendants of repatriated Congo and Afro-Caribbean slaves who arrived in 1825, make up an estimated 2.5%. The outline map represents the West African country of Liberia. [30][31][32], The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians, who initially established political and economic dominance in the coastal areas that the ACS had purchased; they maintained relations with U.S. contacts in developing these areas and the resulting trade. [171] In other areas children are required to pay a tuition fee to attend school. [58][59], In 2006, the government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the causes and crimes of the civil war. Members are nominated to the court by the president and are confirmed by the Senate, serving until the age of 70. [91], After the turmoil following the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, Liberia's internal stabilization in the 21st century brought a return to cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. [34], Liberia remained neutral during World War I until August 4, 1917, upon declaring war on Germany. [76] In September 2014, Liberia and Norway struck an agreement whereby Liberia ceased all logging in exchange for $150 million in development aid. [8] Gradually developing an Americo-Liberian identity,[9][10] the settlers carried their culture and tradition with them. 19, [48] A peace deal between warring parties was reached in 1995, leading to Taylor's election as president in 1997. and an interim government took power the following October. During the rainy season there is often severe flooding in the coastal plains. Liberian independence was proclaimed in 1847, and its boundaries were expanded. Liberia (/labri/ (listen)), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. [26], By 1877, the True Whig Party was the country's most powerful political entity. [57] The 2005 elections marked the first time that the president's party did not gain a majority of seats in the Legislature. Liberia also helped to fund the Organisation of African Unity. This triggered the First Liberian Civil War. [13] A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. Liberia has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. [7] Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born African Americans, along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia. Santa Monica, CA: Rand. The Wologizi mountains are an isolated area of upland located in north-west of the country, to the south of the town of Voinjama. Encounters with tribal Africans in the bush often became violent. Wikidata ID. [23], The ACS, supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed "repatriation" was preferable to having emancipated slaves remain in the United States. [49] By July 2003, the rebels had launched an assault on Monrovia. [bettersourceneeded][1], English is the official language and serves as the lingua franca of Liberia. The most popular sport in Liberia is association football, with President George Weahthe only African to be named FIFA World Player of the Yearbeing the nation's most famous athlete. B. Jallah to the International Association of Law Schools Conference Learning From Each Other: Enriching the Law School Curriculum in an Interrelated World Held at Soochow University Kenneth Wang School of Law, Suzhou, China, October 1719, 2007. [14], Undated Acheulean (ESA) artifacts are well documented across West Africa. The Constitution calls for the election of various chiefs at the county and local level, but these elections have not taken place since 1985 due to war and financial constraints. The area includes Liberia's highest mountain, Mount Wuteve (Wutuwi) at 1,447 m, as well as several other peaks, including Mount Balagizi (1,100 m). [199] In early August 2014 Guinea closed its borders to Liberia to help contain the spread of the virus, as more new cases were being reported in Liberia than in Guinea. Gbarpolu is the newest county, created in 2001. Official Name: Republic of Liberia Location: West Africa coast between Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cte d'Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean Population: 5,057,681 (as of 2020) Land Area: 43,000 square miles (111,369 square kilometres) Capital: Monrovia Official Language: English Form of Government: Unitary presidential constitutional republic [16] Shortly after the Mane conquered the region, the Vai people of the former Mali Empire immigrated into the Grand Cape Mount County region. [85], Liberia is divided into fifteen counties, which, in turn, are subdivided into a total of 90 districts and further subdivided into clans. OECD Atlas of Gender and Development: How Social Norms Affect Gender Equality in non-OECD Countries, OECD Publishing, 2010. p 236. The", "Data: Improved sanitation facilities (% of population with access)", "Liberia: Breathing Life into ailing healthcare system", "Data: Health expenditure per capita (current US$)", "Data: Health expenditure, total (% of GDP)", "Liberian health authorities confirm two cases of Ebola: WHO", The Ebola response in West Africa: Exposing the politics and culture of international aid, "Liberia: War-Weary, With Echoes of Old Dixie", "Liberia: It's the Little Things A Reflection on Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Journey to the Presidency", "Liberia: "Literature Must Be Given Priority", "Baa Salaka: Sacrificial Lamb A Book Review & Commentary", "George Weah: Ex-AC Milan, Chelsea & Man City striker elected Liberia president", "Liberia:Chaos Mars Grand Bassa and Nimba Clash", "Reforming Cocoa and Coffee Marketing in Liberia", "Gov't Pledges Commitment to Adopt Metric System", Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, List of countries by English-speaking population, List of countries where English is an official language, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liberia&oldid=1150057700, English-speaking countries and territories, States and territories established in 1847, Articles with dead external links from May 2020, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from September 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in Liberian English, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from January 2023, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from January 2023, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Pages using infobox country or infobox former country with the symbol caption or type parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2019, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2006, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles lacking reliable references from May 2022, Articles lacking reliable references from November 2015, Articles containing potentially dated statements from November 2014, Articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Moumouni, Guillaume. [26][27] On August 24, Liberia adopted its 11-striped national flag. [150] The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. [68] Liberia's three largest rivers are St. Paul exiting near Monrovia, the river St. John at Buchanan, and the Cestos River, all of which flow into the Atlantic. [12] Americo-Liberians encouraged religious organizations to set up missions and schools to educate the indigenous peoples. [33] In 1914, Imperial Germany accounted for three quarters of the trade of Liberia. Later Stone Age (LSA) populations evidence significant technological diversification, including both microlithic and macrolithic traditions. What are the major mountains of Liberia and their location? Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. King and Vice President Allen N. Yancy resigned. Monrovia is the largest and capital city of Liberia. St. Clements University College (Liberia), a private higher education institution that was founded in 2008. During World War II, Liberia supported the United States war effort against Germany, and in turn received considerable American investment in infrastructure, which aided the country's wealth and development. [1] Senators serve nine-year terms and are elected at-large by a plurality of the popular vote. Liberia declared independence on July 26, 1847, which the U.S. did not recognize until February 5, 1862. [citation needed] On July 16, 1892, Martha Ann Erskine Ricks met Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle and presented her a handmade quilt, Liberia's first diplomatic gift. [210] Liberia also has a tradition of baking imported from the United States that is unique in West Africa.[211]. The four physiographic regions of Liberia parallel the coast. Highly fertile alluvial soils represent a small percentage of the land area and are utilized largely for agriculture. [77] Bushmeat is often exported to neighboring Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, despite a ban on the cross-border sale of wild animals. [167] A multitude of diverse Protestant confessions such as Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) denominations form the bulk of the Christian population, followed by adherents of the Catholic Church and other non-Protestant Christians. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Sirleaf's Vision With Passion", "Notes, Presented by Professor and Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, David A. [44] Government repression intensified in response, as Doe's troops retaliated by executing members of the Gio and Mano ethnic groups in Nimba County. [citation needed] Liberia struggled to attract investment to develop infrastructure and a larger, industrial economy. [146], The repair and expansion of the Mount Coffee Hydropower Project, with a maximum capacity of 80 MW, was completed in 2018. [1] The country's education sector is hampered by inadequate schools and supplies, as well as a lack of qualified teachers. [92], In the past, both of Liberia's neighbors, Guinea and Sierra Leone, have accused Liberia of backing rebels in their countries. Adventist University of West Africa, a post-secondary learning environment that is situated in Margibi County, on the Roberts International Airport. Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes. The 16 officially recognized ethnic groups include the Kpelle, Bassa, Mano, Gio or Dan, Kru, Grebo, Krahn, Vai, Gola, Mandingo or Mandinka, Mende, Kissi, Gbandi, Loma, Dei or Dewoin, Belleh, and Americo-Liberians or Congo people (so named because many immigrants including those freed from slave ships arrived from ports at the mouth of the Congo River). [40] In international affairs, it was a founding member of the United Nations, a vocal critic of South African apartheid,[41] a proponent of African independence from European colonial powers, and a supporter of Pan-Africanism. On May 9, 2015, Liberia was declared Ebola free after six weeks with no new cases. One of the most well-known Liberian quilters was Martha Ann Ricks,[203] who presented a quilt featuring the famed Liberian coffee tree to Queen Victoria in 1892. [110] Historically the Liberian economy has depended heavily on foreign aid, foreign direct investment and exports of natural resources such as iron ore, rubber, and timber. [15], Microlithic industries with ceramics became common by the Mid-Holocene, coupled with an apparent intensification of wild food exploitation. The colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo, from their inland chiefdoms. As of October 2007 it has 844 officers in 33 stations in Montserrado County, which contains Monrovia. [50], In March 2003, a second rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, began launching attacks against Taylor from the southeast. [74] It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.79/10, ranking it 116th globally out of 172 countries. It is a region suitable for agriculture and forestry. For other uses, see, Please help by moving some material from it into the body of the article. Liberia Population What Is The Population Of Liberia? Other trees of value are rubber, cacao, coffee, and the raffia palm. [80], The Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is a constant presence here. [98][99] On July 20, 2012, the Liberian senate voted unanimously to enact legislation to prohibit and criminalize same-sex marriages. However, Lincoln in 1862 described Liberia as only "in a certain sensea success", and proposed instead that free people of color be assisted to emigrate to Chiriqu, today part of Panama. The three countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast bound Liberia to the northwest, north, and east respectively. Coauthor of. During World War II, the United States made major infrastructure improvements to support its military efforts in Africa and Europe against Germany. [108] Liberia is one of the world's poorest countries, with a formal employment rate of 15%. The University of Liberia is the country's largest and oldest university. What part of Africa is Liberia located in? Their passage of the 1865 Ports of Entry Act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes, ostensibly to "encourage the growth of civilized values" before such trade was allowed in the region. This gave it a ranking 87th of 178 countries worldwide and 11th of 47 in Sub-Saharan Africa. [77] Species hunted for food in Liberia include elephants, pygmy hippopotamus, chimpanzees, leopards, duikers, and other monkeys. [54], The United Nations Mission in Liberia began arriving in September 2003 to provide security and monitor the peace accord,[55] The country's major rivers include the Mano River in the northwest and the Cavalla River in the southeast. B Bushrod Island P Providence Island, Liberia Islands by country Islands of Africa by country Landforms of Liberia Hidden category: Commons category link is on Wikidata [63], Following the 2017 Liberian general election, former professional football striker George Weah, one of the greatest African players of all time,[64][65] was sworn in as president on January 22, 2018, becoming the fourth youngest serving president in Africa. [68], Following a peak in growth in 1979, the Liberian economy began a steady decline due to economic mismanagement after the 1980 coup. [189], In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus in Guinea spread to Liberia. Deforestation and drought in the Sahel have affected the climate, lengthening the dry season by almost a month in some areas. [81], The Hairy Slit-Faced Bat (Nycteris hispida) suffers from malaria here. [100], Corruption is endemic at every level of the Liberian government. 2278117. Liberia has year-round evergreen vegetation. [79] Of households where bushmeat was served, 80% of residents said they cooked it "once in a while," while 13% cooked it once a week and 7% cooked bushmeat daily. Colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. [70] Because of its location in Africa, it is vulnerable to extreme weather, the coastal effects of sea level rise, and changing water systems and water availability. [43] The coup leaders formed the People's Redemption Council (PRC) to govern the country. Clickable Map of Africa, showing the countries, capitals and main cities. [216] However, this change has been gradual, with government reports concurrently using both United States Customary and metric units. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). It has a population of around 5 million and covers an area of 43,000 square miles (111,369km2). Financial Time's World Desk Reference (2004) Dorling Kindersley Publishing, p. 368. [45] By September 1990, Doe's forces controlled only a small area just outside the capital, and Doe was captured and executed in that month by rebel forces. This was a cause for concern among the British colonial authorities of Sierra Leone and the French colonial authorities of French Guinea and the Ivory Coast as tensions with Germany increased. [62] In November 2011, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was re-elected for a second six-year term. The 7 Best Small Towns In Nevada To Chill Out, 11 Coolest Small Towns in Washington for a Summer Vacation. [56] Rainfall is irregular, and the rainy season varies in intensity and begins earlier at the coast than in the interior. Mande-speaking people expanded from the north and east, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean. Americo-Liberians formed into a small elite that held disproportionate political power; indigenous Africans were excluded from birthright citizenship in their own land until 1904.[11][12].
