[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. 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 climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the MayOctober rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century. [68], Liberia's watershed tends to move in a southwestern pattern towards the sea as new rains move down the forested plateau off the inland mountain range of Guine Forestire, in Guinea. The government does not require businesses or schools to excuse Muslims for Friday prayers. 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). Five years of military rule by the People's Redemption Council and five years of civilian rule by the National Democratic Party of Liberia were followed by the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars. The oldest counties are Grand Bassa and Montserrado, both founded in 1839 prior to Liberian independence. [54], The United Nations Mission in Liberia began arriving in September 2003 to provide security and monitor the peace accord,[55] Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}630N 930W / 6.500N 9.500W / 6.500; -9.500. Crane, Keith; Gompert, David C; Oliker, Olga; Riley, Kevin Jack; and Lawson, Brooke Stearns. Bushrod Island is an island near Monrovia, Liberia surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, . President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf At Official Launch and Fundraising Program Of the Grand Bassa Community College", "Government Moves Ahead With Education Decentralization Plans", "July 26 Celebrations Kick Off in Lofa As President Sirleaf Arrives", "Liberia's Weah announces free tuition for undergrads", "Starz University Aim For Global Success", "St Clements University College Liberia", "The State of the World's Midwifery 2011: Liberia", "Maternal health gets a new boost in Liberia", "Data: Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 1549)", "Liberia: Nurtitional "crisis" in Monrovia", "Data: Malnutrition prevalence, weight for age (% of children under 5). [50], In March 2003, a second rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, began launching attacks against Taylor from the southeast. Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes. [66] The inauguration marked Liberia's first fully democratic transition in 74 years. [50] Peace talks between the factions began in Accra in June of that year, and Taylor was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for crimes against humanity the same month. Latosols of low to medium fertility occur in rolling hill country and cover about three-fourths of the total land surface. [33] In 1914, Imperial Germany accounted for three quarters of the trade of Liberia. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Ricks said, "I had heard it often, from the time I was a child, how good the Queen had been to my peopleto slavesand how she wanted us to be free. Liberia's Latitude is 6.428055 and Longitude is -9.429499. Liberia (/labri/ (listen)), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. They intermarried largely within the colonial community, developing an ethnic group that had a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism and Protestant Christianity. [101] When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was "the major public enemy. [149], Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. [104] When dealing with public-facing government functionaries, 89% of Liberians say they have had to pay a bribe, the highest national percentage in the world according to the organization's 2010 Global Corruption Barometer. Liberia has year-round evergreen vegetation. [80] Much research into Tbg was performed in the 1970s by Mehlitz and by Gibson, both working in Bong Mine with samples from around the country. [25] Indigenous tribesmen did not enjoy birthright citizenship in their own land until 1904. In alphabetical order, the 15 counties are Bomi, Bong, Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland, Montserrado, Nimba, River Cess, River Gee, and Sinoe. Time zone: Noon = noon GMT. [1], The Legislature is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. [86] Montserrado is also the most populous county with 1,144,806 residents as of the 2008 census. [142] With low rates of adult literacy and high poverty rates, television and newspaper use is limited, leaving radio as the predominant means of communicating with the public. [164] As of 2022, 27 indigenous languages are spoken in Liberia, but each is a first language for only a small percentage of the population. The country enjoyed relative stability until a rebellion in 1989 escalated into a destructive civil war in the 1990s that did not fully cease until 2003. Founding of Liberia, 1847 The founding of Liberia in the early 1800s was motivated by the domestic politics of slavery and race in the United States as well as by U.S. foreign policy interests. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was renamed in 1956. [77], Bushmeat is widely eaten in Liberia, and is considered a delicacy. [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. Liberia Bordering Countries: August 9, 2012. 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. [16], This influx of these groups was compounded by the decline of the Mali Empire in 1375 and the Songhai Empire in 1591. It was established on land acquired for freed U.S. slaves by the American Colonization Society, which founded a colony at Cape Mesurado in 1821. [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. - 13488122 [72], Forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees, while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. [53] Liberia occupies an area of about 43,000 square miles and has a population of about 4,900,000 people. The Wologizi mountains are an isolated area of upland located in north-west of the country, to the south of the town of Voinjama. [124], Liberia has the highest ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in the world, with US$16 billion in investment since 2006. In 2008, 0.5% identified adherence to traditional indigenous religions, while 1.5% claimed no religion. [210] Liberia also has a tradition of baking imported from the United States that is unique in West Africa.[211]. As of 2016, it had approximately 9,118 students. [168], Muslims comprised 12.2% of the population in 2008, largely represented by the Mandingo and Vai ethnic groups. [202] Most Americo-Liberian men were members of the Masonic Order of Liberia, which became heavily involved in the nation's politics. The emerging chronometric record of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) indicates that core and flake technologies have been present in West Africa since at least the Chibanian (~780126 thousand years ago or ka) in northern, open Sahelian zones, and that they persisted until the Terminal Pleistocene/Holocene boundary (~12ka) in both northern and southern zones of West Africa. Liberia imports 90% of its rice, a staple food, and is extremely vulnerable to food shortages. "Congos." For much of Liberia's early history, the Congos were classed below the Americo -Liberians. 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It is located in the Northern and Western Hemispheres. Other major rivers are the Lofa in the north and, moving southward, the St. Paul, St. John, and Cestos, all of which parallel each other and flow perpendicular to the coast. [76], Pollution is a significant issue in Monrovia. Liberias terrain ranges from the low and sandy coastal plains to rolling hills and dissected plateau further inland. There was a decline in production of Liberian goods in the late 19th century, and the government struggled financially, resulting in indebtedness on a series of international loans.