Liberia

The Republic of Liberia is a democracy located on the west African coast. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean along its entire diagonal southwest coastline of 579 kilometers, Liberia borders Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the north, and Côte d'Ivoire to the east. Liberia measures 111,370 square kilometers in area, of which nearly 10 percent is water, and is slightly larger than the U.S. state of Tennessee. Much of Liberia is covered with tropical rainforest, and the country's terrain ranges from coastal plains to plateau to low mountains. Liberia's climate is tropical.

Colonized by former slaves from the United States who returned to Africa in the early nineteenth century after securing their freedom, Liberia became the first independent country in Africa during the period of Western colonization. The first president of independent Liberia, President Joseph Jenkins Roberts, was a Monrovia merchant who emigrated to Liberia from Petersburg, Virginia in 1829 and served as governor of the Commonwealth of Liberia starting in 1841, appointed by the American Colonization Society. In 1847 the Free and Independent Republic of Liberia was proclaimed, and President Roberts became the country's first president. He was elected to office in 1848 and headed the country until 1856. Roberts then served as president of Liberia College for many years, after which he again assumed the presidency of Liberia from 1872 until 1876. Following a century of uneasy and often contentious relations between the Americo-Liberian former slaves and the indigenous African ethnic groups of Liberia's interior, Liberia experienced seven highly destructive years of civil war between 1989 and 1996, which finally ended in 1997 with a peace treaty brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Democratic elections were held in July 1997 with Charles Ghankay Taylor elected president. He was inaugurated in August 1997.

As of mid-2001 full peace and stability had not yet returned to Liberia. According to a U.S. Department of State briefing of May 2001, "The presence of many illtrained and armed government security personnel continues to constitute a potential danger. The northwestern part of the country is unsettled as rebel activity in Sierra Leone and Guinea continues to affect stability along the Sierra Leone-Guinea-Liberia border areas. In particular, there have been reports of intensified hostilities in upper Lofa County [in the north of Liberia]." Liberia in 2001 had not yet recovered from the political, social, economic, and infrastructural damage caused by the war. Neither had certain key transitions to peacetime activities and development-oriented policies been made. Describing the situation in Liberia in May 2001, the State Department noted, "Although a democratically elected government was installed in August 1997, limited progress has been made toward the following goals: resettlement of refugees and displaced persons, reintegration of former combatants, reconstruction of the country's infrastructure, respect for human rights and the rule of law, a stable environment for economic development, and the elimination of corruption."

In July 2000 Liberia's population was estimated to be about 3.2 million, comprising of some 15 to 20 ethnic groups, which are grouped into 3 main categories. The ethnic composition in the late 1990s was estimated as follows: about 95 percent indigenous African tribes (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Mandingo, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), about 2.5 percent Americo-Liberians (descendents of African-American slaves who had immigrated from the United States), and about 2.5 percent "Congo People" (descendents of former Afro-Caribbean slaves who had immigrated to Liberia). Estimates of religious affiliation vary widely, depending on the source of information. Between 40 and 75 percent of the population is said to adhere to indigenous beliefs while between 10 and 40 percent of the population is Christian and 15 to 40 percent is Muslim. Many languages are spoken in Liberia. English is used by about 20 percent of the population and serves as the official language.

Approximately 44.3 percent of Liberia's population lived in urban areas in 1999 with many Liberians living in and around Monrovia, the national capital. That year, the total fertility rate was estimated to be 6.1 (i.e., a woman bearing children throughout her childbearing years at current fertility rates would have 6 children). This high rate is due in part to the desire to compensate for the extremely high infant and child-mortality rates in the country, where malaria and other tropical diseases are prevalent, HIV/AIDS claims an increasing numbers of victims, and many families do not have enough to eat. In 1999 the infant mortality rate in Liberia was 112.8 per 1,000 live births—more than 1 children in 10—while the under 5 years child-mortality rate was an astounding 188.0. About 43 percent of Liberia's population was 14 years old or younger in 1999, some 54 percent was 15 to 64 years of age, and only about 3 percent of the population was 65 or older, due to the very low life expectancy at birth prevailing in Liberia (51.0 years in the year 2000—49.6 years for men and 52.5 years for women).

Estimates of Liberia's GDP are difficult to come by, since the country's economy is not functioning at present in anything approaching a normal way. With the economy and infrastructure of the country destroyed by the seven years of civil war, Liberia's basic utilities have yet to be rebuilt. Running water and electricity are still lacking in most of Monrovia, and many war-damaged buildings remain in severely dilapidated condition, waiting to be rebuilt. War-damaged housing to some extent has been replaced throughout the country with rebuilt temporary homes, financed by UN agencies and other international, bilateral, and nongovernmental donors. However, much of the country still appears as though it has just emerged from war, although crops have been replanted, and many internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees have attempted to return to their home communities. With a very limited number of wage-paying jobs open in Liberia after the war and little means for many of Liberia's residents to earn a living, many households are barely surviving. The unemployment rate is estimated to be about 70 percent. In 1999 an estimated 70 percent of the labor force was employed in agriculture (mostly as subsistence farmers), 8 percent in industry, and 22 percent in services—quite different from many other countries in the region and around the world, including in developing areas, where the industrial and service sectors employ a larger segment of the population. The contribution to the national economy in terms of percentage of GDP by sector was estimated as 50 percent from agriculture, 15 percent from industry, and 35 percent from services in 1999. Real GDP per capita was only US$150-200 in 1998-1999, an improvement over income levels during the war but far less than the still meager prewar GDP per capita of US$450 in 1987. With rich diamond and titanium reserves and many natural resources, including exotic forest timbers, rubber plantations, and fertile land well suited for rice cultivation and the growing of cash crops like coffee and cocoa, Liberia could once again flourish economically given the right conditions. The potential clearly exists for the equitable development of Liberia to the benefit of all her citizens, provided that Liberia's human resources are concomitantly developed.