[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 climate, especially on the coast, is warm and humid year-round, dominated by a dry season from November to April and by a rainy season from May to October. [61] In October 2011, peace activist Leymah Gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize in her work of leading a women's peace movement that brought to an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. [175][176][177], Due to student protests late in October 2018, newly elected president George M. Weah abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the public universities in Liberia.[178]. and an interim government took power the following October. [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. Together with the vice president, the president is elected to a six-year term by majority vote in a two-round system and can serve up to two terms in office. [164], According to the 2008 National Census, 85.6% of the population practiced Christianity, while Muslims represented a minority of 12.2%. The coastal plains are around 560 km long and 40 km wide and feature sandy beaches, lagoons, mangrove swamps, and some rocky outcrops. They are low and sandy, with miles of beaches interspersed with bar-enclosed lagoons, mangrove swamps, and a few rocky promontoriesthe highest being Cape Mount (about 1,000 feet [305 metres] in elevation) in the northwest, Cape Mesurado in Monrovia, and Cape Palmas in the southeast. [112] Liberia's external debt was estimated in 2006 at approximately $4.5 billion, 800% of GDP. Monrovia - Wikipedia [159] The population of Liberia was 1,016,443 in 1962 and increased to 1,503,368 in 1974. Founded in 1988, the school is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia. Milestones: 1830-1860 - Office of the Historian Adventist University of West Africa, a post-secondary learning environment that is situated in Margibi County, on the Roberts International Airport. [146], The repair and expansion of the Mount Coffee Hydropower Project, with a maximum capacity of 80 MW, was completed in 2018. [24], The Americo-Liberian settlers did not relate well to the indigenous peoples they encountered, especially those in communities of the more isolated "bush". For other uses, see, Please help by moving some material from it into the body of the article. It is a region suitable for agriculture and forestry. [98][99] On July 20, 2012, the Liberian senate voted unanimously to enact legislation to prohibit and criminalize same-sex marriages. [84] Since 2006, the international community has paid for all garbage collection and disposal in Monrovia via the World Bank. Area: 111,370 square kilometers (43,000 square miles) Highest point on mainland: Mount Wutivi (1,380 meters/4,528 feet) Lowest point on land: Sea level. [94] The National Police Training Academy is in Paynesville City. [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. [1][162][bettersourceneeded] These latter two groups established political control in the 19th century which they kept well into the 20th century. Outsiders' knowledge of the west of Africa began with a Portuguese sailor, Pedro de Sintra, who reached the Liberian coast in 1461. Cape Mount near the border with Sierra Leone receives the most precipitation in the nation. [102], Liberia scored a 3.3 on a scale from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt) on the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index. Monrovia (/ m n r o v i /) is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia.Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia's total population. [89], Liberia's highest judicial authority is the Supreme Court, made up of five members and headed by the Chief Justice of Liberia. [57] The 2005 elections marked the first time that the president's party did not gain a majority of seats in the Legislature. [53] When President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf moved into the Executive Mansion, she reportedly had a Liberian-made quilt installed in her presidential office. This article is about the country in Africa. [115], Following a decrease in inflation beginning in 2003, inflation spiked in 2008 as a result of worldwide food and energy crises,[116] reaching 17.5% before declining to 7.4% in 2009. [149], Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. [56] [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. [127][128], Due to its status as a flag of convenience, Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama. It lies between latitudes 4 and 9N, and longitudes 7 and 12W. [40], After the war, President William Tubman encouraged foreign investment, with Liberia achieving the second-highest rate of economic growth in the world during the 1950s. Liberia is the only Black state in Africa never subjected to colonial rule and is Africas oldest republic. Located on the West African coast, Liberia covers an area of 111,369 sq. [192] In 2007, 20.4% of children under the age of five were malnourished. The first town (1822) was on Providence Island at the mouth of the Mesurado River. [20][21] By 1867, the ACS (and state-related chapters) had assisted in the migration of more than 13,000 people of color from the United States and the Caribbean to Liberia. Liberia is situated in West Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to the country's southwest. Based on the political principles of the United States Constitution, it established the independent Republic of Liberia. [147] Construction of three new heavy fuel oil power plants is expected to boost electrical capacity by 38 MW. [citation needed], The government of Liberia, modeled on the government of the United States, is a unitary constitutional republic and representative democracy as established by the Constitution. 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. Adolescent girls are the most frequently assaulted, and almost 40% of perpetrators are adult men known to victims. The internal security is characterized by a general lawlessness coupled with the danger that former combatants in the late civil war might reestablish militias to challenge the civil authorities. However, hunter-gatherers have survived in the more forested parts of West Africa until much later, attesting to the strength of ecological boundaries in this region. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [121][122] These sanctions were lifted in 2006. The presence of Oldowan Earlier Stone Age (earliest ESA) artifacts in West Africa has been confirmed by Michael Omolewa, attesting to the presence of ancient humans. Parallel to the coastal plains is a region of rolling hills some 20 miles (32 km) wide with an average maximum elevation of about 300 feet (90 metres); a few hills rise as high as 500 feet (150 metres). Shallow, coarse lithosols, in the hilly and rugged terrain, cover about one-eighth of the land. [154] Among the companies to have won licenses are Repsol YPF, Chevron Corporation, and Woodside Petroleum. [83] A 2004 UN report estimated that 99% of Liberians burned charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation. [12] Americo-Liberians encouraged religious organizations to set up missions and schools to educate the indigenous peoples. Longest distances: 274 kilometers (170 miles) from north-northeast to south-southwest; 548 . Clickable Map of Africa, showing the countries, capitals and main cities. Liberia also helped to fund the Organisation of African Unity. Liberia has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. [87], Parallel to the administrative divisions of the country are the local and municipal divisions. Nimba is the largest of the counties in size at 11,551km2 (4,460sqmi), while Montserrado is the smallest at 737.069sqmi (1,909.00km2). [171] In other areas children are required to pay a tuition fee to attend school. [47] From 1989 to 1997 around 60,000 to 80,000 Liberians died, and, by 1996, around 700,000 others had been displaced into refugee camps in neighboring countries. [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. [159] Nimba County is the next most populous county, with 462,026 residents. 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 settlers wore top hat and tails and modeled their homes on those of Southern slaveowners. [citation needed]. It has 3,500 vessels registered under its flag, accounting for 11% of ships worldwide. [148] In 2013, Liberia began importing power from neighboring Ivory Coast and Guinea through the West African Power Pool. Located on Capitol Hill, the school has approximately 2,000 students. Under heavy pressure from the international community and the domestic Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement,[52] [66] The inauguration marked Liberia's first fully democratic transition in 74 years. [57] Upon her inauguration, Sirleaf requested the extradition of Taylor from Nigeria and transferred him to the SCSL for trial in The Hague. Tbg and its vector Glossina palpalis gambiense are a constant presence in the rainforests here. A striking feature of the mountainous northern highlands along the Guinea frontier is Mount Nimba. [57] Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a US-educated economist, former Minister of Finance and future Nobel Prize for Peace winner, was elected as the first female president in Africa. [111] This decline was accelerated by the outbreak of civil war in 1989; GDP was reduced by an estimated 90% between 1989 and 1995, one of the fastest declines in modern history. pp. [50], In March 2003, a second rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, began launching attacks against Taylor from the southeast. The three countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast bound Liberia to the northwest, north, and east respectively. St. Clements University College (Liberia), a private higher education institution that was founded in 2008. [57] Public schools offer biblical studies, though parents may opt their children out. Liberia mountains | peakery Providence Island is situated between Mesurado River and Stockton creek, can be described as an interesting period in the history of Liberia and is very symbolic as a testament of how freed slaves forged nationhood out of their forced calamity upon gaining freedom when slavery was abolished. [80] The West African pariah dog is also a host for Tbg. The ethnic Kru opposed the influx of Vai, forming an alliance with the Mane to stop further influx of Vai.[17]. [73] Four terrestrial ecoregions lie within Liberia's borders: Guinean montane forests, Western Guinean lowland forests, Guinean forestsavanna mosaic, and Guinean mangroves. At $0.54 per kWh, the cost of electricity in Liberia is among the highest in the world. [197] In 2008, Liberia had only one doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people. On average, children attain 10 years of education (11 for boys and 8 for girls). [51] Overview: Map: Directions: Satellite: Photo Map: Overview: Map: . Four physiographic regions run nearly parallel to the Atlantic coast of the country. Along the coast lie beds of sandstone, with occasional crystalline-rock outcrops. The 2000s saw an expansion of protected regions in Liberia, with new and enlarged wildlife reserves at Gola National Forest, the Wonegizi National Forest Reserve, and Lake Piso, and ecotourism was seen as a potential growth industry for the country. Liberia - Wikipedia [82], Slash-and-burn agriculture is one of the human activities eroding Liberia's natural forests. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was renamed in 1956. Professor of Geography, East Carolina College, Greenville, North Carolina. European traders would barter commodities and goods with local people. Liberian Muslims are divided between Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Sufis, and non-denominational Muslims.[169]. [206], One-third of married Liberian women between the ages of 1549 are in polygamous marriages. [68], Liberia's main northwestern boundary is traversed by the Mano River while its southeast limits are bounded by the Cavalla River. [189], In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus in Guinea spread to Liberia. The dusty and dry harmattan (desert winds) blow from the Sahara to the coast in December, bringing relief from the high relative humidity. Stella Maris Polytechnic, a post-secondary, private institution of higher learning. (April 2014). As in other African countries, China is an important part of the post-conflict reconstruction. Competition for office was usually contained within the party; a party nomination virtually ensured election. Encounters with tribal Africans in the bush often became violent. 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. Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire, Sierra Leone. [68] Climate change in Liberia causes many problems as Liberia is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Mande-speaking people expanded from the north and east, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean. Liberia is divided into 15 counties which are subdivided into 90 and further into clans. The Atlantic Ocean borders Liberia to the south-southwest. The Republic of Liberia is a country located in western Africa off the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Next is the region of rolling hills about 32 km wide and an average elevation of 90 m. Beyond that is a dissected plateau with scattered mountains. [86] Montserrado is also the most populous county with 1,144,806 residents as of the 2008 census.