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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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 students at the Stella Maris Polytechnic university in Monrovia, Liberia, pay only US$5 tuition per credit?

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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 Francois Massaquoi, who studied economics at New York University, later led the Lofa Defense Force during the First Liberian Civil War?
... 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 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?

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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 1Map of Liberia Colony in the 1830s, created by the ACS, and also showing Mississippi Colony and other state-sponsored colonies. (from Liberia)
Image 2African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896. The ACS sent its last emigrants to Liberia in 1904. (from Liberia)
Image 3Real GDP per capita development, since 1950 (from Liberia)
Image 4American troops in Liberia during World War II. (from History of Liberia)
Image 5American troops secure Freeport of Monrovia, 2003 (from History of Liberia)
Image 6Gyude Bryant (from History of Liberia)
Image 7A map of Liberia (from Liberia)
Image 8Liberia on a 1839 map of West Africa (from History of Liberia)
Image 9The streets of downtown Monrovia, March 2009 (from Liberia)
Image 10President Tolbert and U.S. President Jimmy Carter (in car, left) in Monrovia, 1978 (from History of Liberia)
Image 11Bassa culture. Helmet Mask for Sande Society (Ndoli Jowei), Liberia. 20th century. Brooklyn Museum. (from Liberia)
Image 12Charles 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 13INPFL militiamen in 1990 after taking control of much of Monrovia. (from History of Liberia)
Image 14Liberia, trends in the Human Development Index 1970–2010. (from 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 16A European map of West Africa and the Grain Coast, 1736. It has the archaic mapping designation of Negroland. (from Liberia)
Image 17The Buduburam refugee camp west of Accra, Ghana, home in 2005 to more than 40,000 refugees from Liberia (from History of Liberia)
Image 18A beachside barbecue at Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia (from Liberia)
Image 19Paul Cuffee in 1812. (from History of Liberia)
Image 20Map of Liberia circa 1830 (from History of Liberia)
Image 21Edward Wilmot Blyden (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 22Liberian ceremonial spoon (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 23Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (from Liberia)
Image 24The Daily Talk is a street blackboard announcing news on Monrovia's Tubman Boulevard. (from Culture of Liberia)
Image 25Development of life expectancy (from Liberia)
Image 26A one Liberian Dollar banknote from 1862 (from History of Liberia)
Image 27President 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 28A view of a lake in Bomi County (from Liberia)
Image 29Students studying by candlelight in Bong County (from Liberia)
Image 30A technical in Monrovia during the Second Liberian Civil War. (from Liberia)
Image 31Loggers and logging truck, early 1960s (from Liberia)
Image 32A 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 33Pygmy 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 34Share 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 35Liberia map of Köppen climate classification. (from Liberia)
Image 36Liberia's population pyramid, 2005. 43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15 in 2010. (from Liberia)
Image 37Liberia's population from 1961 to 2013, in millions. Liberia's population tripled in 40 years. (from Liberia)
Image 38Residence of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, first President of Liberia, between 1848 and 1852. (from Liberia)
Image 39Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. (from History of Liberia)
Image 40Map of Liberia c.1856 (from History of Liberia)
Image 41A Liberian tropical forest (from Liberia)
Image 42The Bassa Vah alphabet. (from Culture of Liberia)