Geography

Lying on the Atlantic in the Southern part of West Africa, Liberia is bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire. It’s comparable in size to Tennessee(U.S) Most of Liberia is a plateau covered by dense tropical forests, which thrive under an annual rainfall of about 160 in. a year.The name comes from the English word “liberty” and refers to the nation’s origin as a colony of free blacks repatriated to Africa from the United States in the early nineteenth century. They were known as Americo-Liberians, although they made up only 5 percent of the population, they defined the boundaries of Liberia, and made English the official language. They dominated the government and economy for almost one hundred fifty years.

Captial:

Monrovia

People:

Population: 3.441,790(2009 est)
Growth rate: 2.6%
Birth rate: 42.2/1000
Life expectancy: 48.8
Density per sq km: 34

Monetary unit:

Liberian dollar

Language:

English 20%(Official), some 20 ethnic-group languages
Ethnicity/Race: Indigenous African tribes 95%(including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma
Kissi, Vai, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende. Americo-Liberians 2.5%(descendants of former U.S Slave),
Congo People 2.5%(descendants of former Caribbean slaves)

Religions:

Traditional 40%, Christian 40%, Islam 20%

National Holiday:

Independence Day, July 26

Literacy rate:

58%(2003 est)

Economic:

GDP/PPP: $1.34 Billion; per capital $400(2007 est)
Real growth rate: 9.4%
Inflation rate: 11.2%

Unemployment:

85%(2003 est)

Agriculture:

Rubber, Coffee, Cocoa, Rice, Cassava(tapioca), Palm oil, Sugarcane, Bananas, Sheep, Goats, Timber

Labor force:

Agriculture 70%, Industry 8%, Services 22%, Gold, Hydropower.

Exports:

$910 million f.o.b.(2004 est) ,Rubber, Timber, Iron, Diamonds, Cocoa, Coffee.

Import:

$4.839 billion f.o.b.(2004 est),
Fuels, Chemicals, Machinery, Transportation, Equipment, Manufactured goods; foodstuffs.

Trading partners:

Denmark, Germany, Poland, U.S, Greece, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Croatia(2004)

Counties and Districts

Liberia is divided into 15 counties, which is subdivided into districts, and further subdivided into clans. Grand Bassa and Montserrado are the oldest counties in Liberia, both founded in 1839 prior to Liberian independence. Created in 2001, Gbarpolu is the newest county. Nimba is the largest county in size at 11,551 square kilometres(4,460 sq mi), and Monsterrado is the smallest at 1,9009 square kilometres(737 sq mi) Montserrado is the most populated county with 1, 144,806 (est 2008)