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LIBERIA

Capital
Monrovia

Area
111,300 square km (1 km = 0.62 miles) on the Atlantic Ocean, with Sierra Leone to the west, Guinea on the north and Ivory Coast to the east.

Language
English is the official language, but only 15 percent of the population speak it. Most Liberians speak one or more of about 30 African languages.

POLITICAL PROFILE | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS | ECONOMIC INDICATORS | MILITARY STATISTICS | COMMUNICATIONS

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DETAILS

Population
3.3 million (2002), 14.4 million (2050).

Ethnic group
Most belong to the the Mende, Kwa and Vai groups. Descendents of 'repatriated' US and Caribbean slaves control business and politics, but they comprise only 5 percent of the population.

Religion
Christianity is the official religion of the state, but the majority profess African religions. Muslims comprise 15 percent, and Christians slightly less.

Climate
Hot, tropical climate with little variation in temperature. May to October is the rainy season. Dry Harmattan wind blows from December to March. From November to March, the weather is generally dry and sunny.

Currency
Liberian dollar

Public holidays
2004: Jan 1, Feb 11, March 12, 15, April 9, 11, 18, May 14, July 26, Aug 24, Nov 6, 12, 29, Dec 25

Electricity
110V AC 60Hz

Travel rules
Passport, visa required. If arriving from a country without a diplomatic representation of Liberia, visa issue on arrival possible if holding telex confirmation from the station manager of delivery airline. Non-compliance with the visa requirements will result in a considerable fine.

Driving
International Driving Permit recommended, temporary licence available from local authorities on presentation of UK licence.

Health rules
Yellow fever certificate required by all. Hepatitis A, malaria, polio, tetanus, typhoid immunisation recommended. Hepatitis B, diptheria, meningitis immunisation recommended in certain circumstances; seek further advice. Malaria exists all year throughout the country. Chloroquine resistance reported. Risk of rabies. Precautions : Boil or sterilise drinking water and milk. All food should be well cooked. Avoid bathing in fresh water.

Source: Europa World Year Book 2003; NI World Guide 2003/2004

POLITICAL PROFILE

The present Liberia was formerly known as Grain Coast, and was inhabited by 16 ethnic groups. Kru speakers lived in the southwest, and Mande speaking peoples in the east and northeast. The Mande speaking Mandingo became the principal spreaders of Islam.

Even before slaves were emancipated in the United States in 1865 during its civil war, freed blacks posed a problem to US southern landowners. The American Colonization Society bought a section of Sierra Leone in 1821, and resettled about 20,000 people there.

The native population was distrustful of the new arrivals, who settled on the best lands, with the backing of the U.S. navy. The newcomers were disparaging of the local people, who they called "savages". Even today, only 15 percent of the population speaks English and practise Christianity.

The harbour was later named Monrovia, after U.S. President James Monroe. The country declared itself a self-governing republic in 1847. William Tubman was president from 1944 until his death in 1971. His successor, William Tolbert, was assassinated in a coup in April 1980 led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, a Krahn who ended the stranglehold on power of descendants of former slaves.

Doe and his National Democratic Party (NDPL) won civilian-rule elections in 1985, which opposition parties and outside observers said were blatantly rigged. In December 1989, former civil servant Charles Taylor launched an invasion from Ivory Coast with 150 guerrillas. The revolt spread.

The United States evacuated Americans and foreign nationals in 1990 as Taylor tried to take the capital. The Economic Community of West Africa States sent in a peacekeeping force, ECOMOG. A rival faction leader tortured Doe to death.

Taylor tried to seize Monrovia again in 1992. Nigerian-led ECOMOG thwarted him. Subsequent regional peace efforts came to nothing. The main warring factions and an increasing number of splinter groups agreed a dozen peace deals. In August 1995, the factions signed a deal in Abuja, Nigeria, agreeing to share power on an interim ruling council, to disarm fighters and hold elections within a year.

Civil war broke out again in April 1996, but the main leaders agreed a new truce in August, and in November the peace forces started to disarm the rival factions. Up to this point, the war had caused around 150,000 deaths and made hundreds of thousands of refugees. The war's indiscriminate violence and looting forced virtually all of the country's estimated 3 million people to flee their homes for periods ranging from a few weeks to many years.

Taylor, the man who launched the conflict, won elections in July 1997.

While the civil war ended, fighting between Guinea and Liberia began. Guinea accused Taylor of backing armed rebels who crossed from Liberia and Sierra Leone to attack Guinean village. Liberia in turn said Guinea supported dissidents fighting government troops in northern Liberia.

In July 1999, Liberia and Guinea signed an agreement to end the war but the fighting continued.

In March 2000, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone committed themselves to ending the use of territory for cross-border raids by rebels and planned to sign a non-aggressive pact.

The U.S. and British ambassadors to the Security Council accused Taylor in August 2000 of fuelling the war in Sierra Leone and profiting from the illegal sale of diamonds mined there.

Although Taylor denied the allegations, the U.N. planned to impose sanctions on diamonds and timber and implement a flight ban. In February 2001, West African foreign ministers asked the U.N. to delay the embargo for two months.

Hopes for peace continued to dim as Liberia put its army on full alert after threats from Guinea.

The U.N. sanctions against Taylor's government finally came into effect in May 2001.

In November 2001, rebel forces launched a surprise assault on Gbopolu, 100 km from Monrovia, getting closer to the capital.

Approximately 215,000 Liberians were refugees at the end of 2001, including about 100,000 in Ivory Coast and some 90,000 in Guinea. Approximately 80,000 were internally displaced. Up to 80,000 Liberians fled their homes in 2001.

Shooting in Kley in February 2002 sent thousands of terrified civilians fleeing towards the capital. A staff member of the British-based aid agency ActionAid was killed when the car in which he was travelling was caught up in the fighting.

Taylor declared a state of emergency but lifted it in September 2002, calling on the international community to lift sanctions.

The United States extended its caution on travel to Liberia in January 2003, warning of increasing anti-foreigner sentiment as a result of vague government allegations about foreign assassins in the country, appeals for demonstrations against U.S. policies and suggestions the United States is to blame for Liberia's problems.

Late in 2002, hundreds of Liberian fighters crossed into Ivory Coast to join rebels trying to overthrow Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.

In January 2003, rebels crossed from Ivory Coast to seize the small southeastern border town of Gbein. The Liberian government said they were dressed in uniforms of the Ivory Coast army, but were former members of Ulimo-J. Ulimo-J -- one of the factions in the 1990s war of seven years -- hailed from the Krahn tribe of Samuel Doe, near the Ivorian border.

Source: Reuters and U.S. Committee for Refugees

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

Infant mortality
157 per 1,000 live births (2001)

Maternal mortality
580 per 100,000 live births (1985-2001)

Life expectancy
40.2 years male, 42.4 years female (2001)

Illiteracy
28.6 percent male, 61.9 percent female (2001)

Access to basic care
0-49 percent (access to essential drugs) (1999)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2003

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

GDP
$560 million (2002)

Per capita
$174 (2002)

Growth
-5.0 percent (2002)

Inflation
15.0 percent (2002)

Debt
$1.9 billion (2002)

Defence expenditure
$25 million (2002) (estimated)

Source: Military Balance 2003/2004, IISS

MILITARY STATISTICS

Armed forces
11,000-15,000 (estimated) mobilised.

Total includes militias supporting government forces. No further details are available.

Opposition rebels
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (several thousand reported), Movement for Democracy in Liberia (1,000 forces)

Source: Military Balance 2003/2004, IISS

COMMUNICATIONS

Civil aviation
Liberia's principal airports are Robertsfield International Airport at Harbel, 56 km east of Monrovia, and James Spriggs Payne Airport. There are more than 100 other airfields and airstrips.

ADC Liberia Inc, Monrovia, serves destinations in the United Kingdom, the United States and West Africa.

Air Liberia, Monrovia, provides scheduled passenger and cargo services.

Roads
In 1996, there were 10,600 km of roads, of which 657 km were paved. The main trunk road is the Monrovia-Sanniquellie motor road, extending northeast from the capitol to the border with Guinea, near Ganta, and eastward through the hinterland to the border with Cote d'Ivoire. The use of the road network was subject to considerable disruption from 1990 on, but in 1997, most principal roads were reopened.

Telecomms
6,000 main telephone lines in use (1997)

(Country Profiles on AlertNet have been compiled by Reuters bureaux around the world and from other named sources).

Copyright © 2001 AlertNet.

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Related links

BBC Focus on Africa magazine

BBC World Service

Humanitarian Information Centre

Index on Africa

Liberia Post - WorldNews Network

Liberian embassy in Washington

ReliefWeb- Liberia

University of Pennsylvania resources

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding

West Africa News

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Last updated:Sat Nov 28 19:06:12 2009