Portal:Liberia

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The Liberia Portal

Liberia (/laɪˈbɪəriə/ ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It has a population of around 5.5 million and covers an area of 43,000 square miles (111,369 km²). The official language is English. Over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. The capital and largest city is Monrovia.

Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed that black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. 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. Gradually developing an Americo-Liberian identity, the settlers carried their culture and tradition with them while colonizing the indigenous population. Led by the Americo-Liberians, Liberia declared independence on July 26, 1847, which the U.S. did not recognize until February 5, 1862.

Liberia was the first African republic to proclaim its independence and is Africa's first and oldest modern republic. Along with Ethiopia, it was one of the two African countries to maintain its sovereignty and independence during the European colonial "Scramble for Africa". During World War II, Liberia supported the U.S. war effort against Nazi Germany and in turn received considerable American investment in infrastructure, which aided the country's wealth and development. President William Tubman encouraged economic and political changes that heightened the country's prosperity and international profile; Liberia was a founding member of the League of Nations, United Nations, and the Organisation of African Unity.

The Americo-Liberian settlers did not relate well to the indigenous peoples they encountered. Colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. Americo-Liberians formed into a small elite that held disproportionate political power, while indigenous Africans were excluded from birthright citizenship in their own land until 1904.

In 1980, political tensions from the rule of William R. Tolbert resulted in a military coup, marking the end of Americo-Liberian rule and the seizure of power of Liberia's first indigenous leader, Samuel Doe. Establishing a dictatorial regime, Doe was assassinated in 1990 in the context of the First Liberian Civil War which ran from 1989 until 1997 with the election of rebel leader Charles Taylor as president. In 1998, the Second Liberian Civil War erupted against his own dictatorship, and Taylor was overthrown by the end of the war in 2003. The two wars resulted in the deaths of 250,000 people (about 8% of the population) and the displacement of many more, with Liberia's economy shrinking by 90%. A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. The country has remained relatively stable since then. (Full article...)

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The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003). At its peak it consisted of up to 15,000 UN military personnel and 1,115 police officers, along with civilian political advisors and aid workers.

UNMIL superseded the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), which had been established in 1993 to support the peacekeeping efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) during the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996). Two years of relative peace ended with another civil war, triggered by conflict between rebel groups and Taylor's administration. Large scale fighting ended following the Accra Peace Agreement in August 2003, and UNMIL was subsequently formed to implement the terms of the agreement and help establish a new transitional government.

Through a unanimous resolution of the UN Security Council (UNSC), UNMIL was initially given a one-year mandate that included providing security, protecting UN personnel and facilities, supporting humanitarian assistance, promoting security reform, and implementing the peace process, which included elections in 2005. The mission would be regularly extended for another fifteen years, during which it successfully facilitated two free and fair elections, maintained security, and helped rebuild infrastructure and political institutions, often in close cooperation with local civil society groups. (Full article...)

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... that after the 1980 coup d'état that overthrew and killed Liberian President William Tolbert, the People's Redemption Council took power pending a rewrite of the country's constitution?

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... that neighboring British Sierra Leone and Liberia disputed their border, and the British Empire seized the disputed territory in 1885?
... that Liberian minister of information Joe Mulbah was suspended by President Charles Taylor after a fist fight with the deputy minister of information?
... that Liberian paramount chief Tamba Taylor worked as a tailor and claimed to have sewn clothes for Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie and Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah?
... that James W. Lugenbeel's journal became the only known record of the proceedings of the 1847 Liberian Constitutional Convention?
... that through their participation in the Liberian National Transitional Government, warlords could gain access to state resources whilst continuing hostilities between each other?
... that in Liberia, self-induced abortions are performed with herbal remedies known as "rocket-propelled grenade" and "Christmas leaf"?

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Credit: Harris & Ewing

President Charles D. B. King in 1919.

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The following are images from various Liberia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Real GDP per capita development, since 1950 (from Liberia)
Image 2Pygmy hippos are among the species illegally hunted for food in Liberia. The World Conservation Union estimates that there are fewer than 3,000 pygmy hippos remaining in the wild. (from Liberia)
Image 3Liberia on a 1839 map of West Africa (from History of Liberia)
Image 4Liberian ceremonial spoon (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 5A map of Liberia (from Liberia)
Image 6Paul Cuffee in 1812. (from History of Liberia)
Image 7A proportional representation of Liberian exports. The shipping related categories reflect Liberia's status as an international flag of convenience—there are 3,500 vessels registered under Liberia's flag accounting for 11% of ships worldwide. (from Liberia)
Image 8Charles D. B. King, 17th President of Liberia (1920–1930), with his entourage on the steps of the Peace Palace, The Hague (the Netherlands), 1927. (from Liberia)
Image 9Map of Liberia circa 1830 (from History of Liberia)
Image 10Development of life expectancy (from Liberia)
Image 11The streets of downtown Monrovia, March 2009 (from Liberia)
Image 12Liberia's population from 1961 to 2013, in millions. Liberia's population tripled in 40 years. (from Liberia)
Image 13President Sirleaf with (left to right) British Prime Minister David Cameron, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and United States Secretary of State John Kerry in September 2015 (from Liberia)
Image 14The Bassa Vah alphabet. (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 15Charles D. B. King, 17th President of Liberia (1920–1930), with his entourage on the steps of the Peace Palace, The Hague (the Netherlands), 1927. (from History of Liberia)
Image 16Map of Liberia Colony in the 1830s, created by the ACS, and also showing Mississippi Colony and other state-sponsored colonies. (from Liberia)
Image 17A European map of West Africa and the Grain Coast, 1736. It has the archaic mapping designation of Negroland. (from Liberia)
Image 18President Tolbert and U.S. President Jimmy Carter (in car, left) in Monrovia, 1978 (from History of Liberia)
Image 19INPFL militiamen in 1990 after taking control of much of Monrovia. (from History of Liberia)
Image 20A one Liberian Dollar banknote from 1862 (from History of Liberia)
Image 21Map of Liberia c.1856 (from History of Liberia)
Image 22Liberia, trends in the Human Development Index 1970–2010. (from Liberia)
Image 23A Liberian tropical forest (from Liberia)
Image 24A view of a lake in Bomi County (from Liberia)
Image 25The Buduburam refugee camp west of Accra, Ghana, home in 2005 to more than 40,000 refugees from Liberia (from History of Liberia)
Image 26Gyude Bryant (from History of Liberia)
Image 27American troops in Liberia during World War II. (from History of Liberia)
Image 28Loggers and logging truck, early 1960s (from Liberia)
Image 29American troops secure Freeport of Monrovia, 2003 (from History of Liberia)
Image 30African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896. The ACS sent its last emigrants to Liberia in 1904. (from Liberia)
Image 31Bassa culture. Helmet Mask for Sande Society (Ndoli Jowei), Liberia. 20th century. Brooklyn Museum. (from Liberia)
Image 32Residence of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, first President of Liberia, between 1848 and 1852. (from Liberia)
Image 33A technical in Monrovia during the Second Liberian Civil War. (from Liberia)
Image 34Liberia's population pyramid, 2005. 43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15 in 2010. (from Liberia)
Image 35Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021). Liberia has the ninth highest percentage of forest cover in the world. (from Liberia)
Image 36Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. (from History of Liberia)
Image 37Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (from Liberia)
Image 38A beachside barbecue at Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia (from Liberia)
Image 39The Daily Talk is a street blackboard announcing news on Monrovia's Tubman Boulevard. (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 40Edward Wilmot Blyden (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 41Students studying by candlelight in Bong County (from Liberia)
Image 42Liberia map of Köppen climate classification. (from Liberia)