Portal:Liberia

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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 five and one-half million and covers an area of 43,000 square miles (111,369 km²). The country's official language is English; however, 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 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. 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 United States war effort against 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; 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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A Liberian color guard marches on Armed Forces Day in 2010.

The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and retitled in 1956. For almost all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.

For most of the Cold War, the AFL saw little action, apart from a reinforced company group which was sent to ONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1960s. This changed with the advent of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989. The AFL became entangled in the conflict, which lasted from 1989 to 1996–97, and then the Second Liberian Civil War, which lasted from 1999 to 2003.

As of 2014, the AFL consists of an infantry brigade, an air wing, and the coast guard. For several years after the war, a Nigerian Army officer served as head of the armed forces. (Full article...)

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... that Liberian Supreme Court Chief Justice Johnnie Lewis was rescued from an angry mob after a car he was in hit and killed a pedestrian?

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... that Liberian minister of information Joe Mulbah was suspended by President Charles Taylor after a fist fight with the deputy minister of information?
... that the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission listed former Council of State vice chair Isaac Musa among dead supposed perpetrators of human rights abuses and war crimes?
... that Francois Massaquoi, who studied economics at New York University, later led the Lofa Defense Force during the First Liberian Civil War?
... that neighboring British Sierra Leone and Liberia disputed their border, and the British Empire seized the disputed territory in 1885?
... that Liberian factions voted Bismarck Kuyon to be the chair of the transitional executive branch of the government, but his nomination was revoked before he was installed?
... 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?

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Credit: Global Photographer

Robertsport, Liberia.

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

Image 1A 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 2Liberia's population pyramid, 2005. 43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15 in 2010. (from Liberia)
Image 3A map of Liberia (from Liberia)
Image 4Residence of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, first President of Liberia, between 1848 and 1852. (from Liberia)
Image 5Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (from Liberia)
Image 6American troops secure Freeport of Monrovia, 2003 (from History of Liberia)
Image 7Gyude Bryant (from History of Liberia)
Image 8Pygmy 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 9Students studying by candlelight in Bong County (from Liberia)
Image 10A technical in Monrovia during the Second Liberian Civil War. (from Liberia)
Image 11Development of life expectancy (from Liberia)
Image 12The streets of downtown Monrovia, March 2009 (from Liberia)
Image 13The Buduburam refugee camp west of Accra, Ghana, home in 2005 to more than 40,000 refugees from Liberia (from History of Liberia)
Image 14A European map of West Africa and the Grain Coast, 1736. It has the archaic mapping designation of Negroland. (from Liberia)
Image 15Liberian ceremonial spoon (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 16Edward Wilmot Blyden (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 17American troops in Liberia during World War II. (from History of Liberia)
Image 18A one Liberian Dollar banknote from 1862 (from History of Liberia)
Image 19Liberia, trends in the Human Development Index 1970–2010. (from Liberia)
Image 20Charles 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 21The Daily Talk is a street blackboard announcing news on Monrovia's Tubman Boulevard. (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 22Charles 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 23Paul Cuffee in 1812. (from History of Liberia)
Image 24Liberia's population from 1961 to 2013, in millions. Liberia's population tripled in 40 years. (from Liberia)
Image 25Map of Liberia Colony in the 1830s, created by the ACS, and also showing Mississippi Colony and other state-sponsored colonies. (from Liberia)
Image 26Liberia map of Köppen climate classification. (from Liberia)
Image 27A view of a lake in Bomi County (from Liberia)
Image 28Real GDP per capita development, since 1950 (from Liberia)
Image 29A beachside barbecue at Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia (from Liberia)
Image 30Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. (from History of Liberia)
Image 31INPFL militiamen in 1990 after taking control of much of Monrovia. (from History of Liberia)
Image 32Map of Liberia circa 1830 (from History of Liberia)
Image 33Bassa culture. Helmet Mask for Sande Society (Ndoli Jowei), Liberia. 20th century. Brooklyn Museum. (from Liberia)
Image 34African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896. The ACS sent its last emigrants to Liberia in 1904. (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 36Liberia on a 1839 map of West Africa (from History of Liberia)
Image 37The Bassa Vah alphabet. (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 38President 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 39A Liberian tropical forest (from Liberia)
Image 40President Tolbert and U.S. President Jimmy Carter (in car, left) in Monrovia, 1978 (from History of Liberia)
Image 41Map of Liberia c.1856 (from History of Liberia)
Image 42Loggers and logging truck, early 1960s (from Liberia)