Liberia

Capital City - Monrovia
Currency - Liberian dollar
Population - 3,955,000 (2009 estimate)
National Language - English
Religion - It has been estimated that roughly 40% of Liberians are practicing Christians, 40% practice indigenous religions, and about 20% are Muslim.  Only a small handfull of the people consider themselves to be Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or atheist.
Type of Government - Presidential Republic
Leaders - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (President); Joseph Boakai (Vice President)
Country's Motto - "The love of liberty brought us here."

Geographical Highlights - The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa.  It is bordered by Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the northeast, The Ivory Coast to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. The land is made up of mangrove swamps and lagoons near the coast, while inland forests cover nearly 40% of the land.  Only roughly 5% of the land is cultivated.

History - Recent archaeological findings show that Liberia was inhabited as far back as the 12th century, if not further.  The earliest recorded arrivals of non-indigenous tribesmen included the Days, Bassa, Kru, Gola and Kissi, which were all Mende-speaking people who arrived from the east.  Their numbers compounded over the years as the Western Sudanic Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire both declined, in 1375 and 1591, respectively.  For a time, the inland regions underwent desertification and the people of Liberia had no choice but to live along the wetter Pepper Coast.  The new tribesman brought skills from the Mali and Songhai Empires which allowed them to flourish despite such difficulties.  Their skills included cotton spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting and rice and sorghum cultivation.  Between 1461 and the late 17th century, trading posts were set up in Liberia by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.  The Kru ethnic group, in particular, were known for their active trading with the Europeans; first in commodities and later in the slave trade. 

In 1822, the American Colonization Society worked with the initiative to bring black Americans back to Africa in the hopes of establishing a place for their return.  A broad group of supporters from the United States included politicians such as Henry Clay and James Monroe.  They believed it was a better choice to send the blacks back to Africa rather than emancipate them in the United States.  Clay was once quoted as saying:  because of "unconquerable prejudice resulting from their color, they never could amalgamate with the free whites of this country. It was desirable, therefore, as it respected them, and the residue of the population of the country, to drain them off."  By the mid 19th century, the population of slaves had grown to about 4 million people.  Some of those who had been freed from slavery chose to emigrate to Liberia.  Those immigrants became known as Americo-Liberians. 

On July 26, 1847, Americo-Liberian settlers declared independence for the Republic of Liberia.  Their first President was Joseph Jenkins Roberts.  Liberia, in the beginning, was considered to be the "Promised Land;" but, when the integration of the Americo-Liberians and the indigenous Africans did fit as expected, struggles mounted.  Once in Liberia, the Americo-Liberians referred to themselves only as Americans and they were viewed as such by other Africans and by the British colonial authorities in neighboring countries.  These Americans held fast to their American traditions and held religious practices, social customs and cultural standards that identically mirrored those in the antebellum American South.  This was so true, in fact, that they even began to regard the "Natives" of Liberia with the same distrust with which their white slave owners had once viewed them.  And, just the same, they also would come to dominate the "Natives" in the same ways that they had been dominated in America, believing themselves to be better than the people they considered to be savage primatives.  Sadly, a mutual hostility between the "Americans" and the "Natives" would remain a recurrent theme throughout the course of Liberia's history. 

Liberia's government was greatly modeled after that of the United States in that it was democratic in structure, though not always in substance.  In 1877, the True Whig Party monopolized the political power of the country.  Liberia was lucky enough to stay of the the "Scramble for Africa" when Britain and France were taking countries one by one.  Even still, they lost some claims to territories in their possession and suffered from an indebted economy by the late 19th century.  In order to help their economy, in 1926 they allowed the American-owned Firestone Plantation Company to build a rubber plant in their country.  Additionally, during World War II, the United States built two airports, which was thought to help their economy and introduce social change.  These were small steps, but did help in a minimal expansion of modernization in Liberia.  Of course, after a military coup in 1980, as well as the Civil Wars of 1989 and 1999, the country seemed to take a step backwards.  Things are, however, beginning to look up.  With current President, and first female head of state in Africa, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the country has restored order and is hopeful to keep rising on the world's stage.

Landmarks -

•Providence Island - The landing spot of the freed American slaves who settled in Liberia in the 1820's.

•Centennial Pavillion - This hall in Monrovia was built in 1947 to mark the country's 100th year since they gained independence.  It is also the site for all presidential inaugurations.

Interesting Trivia -

• The word "Liberia" means land of the free; and, it was aptly named due to the fact that it was a country formed by freed slaves from the United States during a "recolonization" movement of 1822.
• For the first 133 years of the country's formation, all of Liberia's presidents were descendants of freed American slaves.
• Though the nation was founded by freed American slaves, only 5% of the current Liberian populace can trace their heritage back to this group.
• Although English is the official language, only 1/5 of the people are able to speak it.
• It is the oldest Republic on the African continent.