Facts about Liberia
The Kpelle in central and western Liberia is the largest ethnic group.
By keeping the indigenous population from access to education and all but minimal participation in the political process, control and domination by the Americo-Liberians was maintained.
Christian music came to Liberia through Christian missionaries and is sung in the style of mixing west African rhythms with American harmonies.
The religious practices, social customs, and cultural standards of the Americo-Liberians had their roots in the antebellum American South.
Liberia is situated in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean.
Two events were of particular importance in releasing Liberia from its self-imposed isolation.
Economic development was retarded by the decline of markets for Liberian goods in the late nineteenth century and by indebtedness from a series of loans whose payments drained the economy.
Exiled Liberians are also investing in their homeland and participating in Liberia's rebuilding efforts.
The Americo-Liberians had little in common with the tribal communities living inland.
The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.
President Johnson-Sirleaf also tackled head-on the greatest looming threat to Liberia's peace and stability early in her presidency by requesting that Nigeria extradite Liberia's most infamous war criminal and war profiteer, Charles Taylor.
The long civil war has destroyed most of the country's infrastructure and Liberia is dependent on foreign aid.
Liberia is depending on international aid support and the assistance of a large United Nations peacekeeping force to make a new beginning.
Delivering a message of hope and reconciliation in her inauguration speech, President Johnson-Sirleaf, with her credentials as an economist, seeks to enlist the help of the international community in rebuilding Liberia’s economy and infrastructure.
The first was the grant in 1926 of a large concession to the American-owned Firestone Plantation Company; a move that became a first step in the modernization of the Liberian economy.
The state of inequality that had long existed between Americo-Liberian citizens and the indigenous citizens sowed the seeds of discontent, unrest, and war.
In 2001, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on timber, diamonds, and arms exports as a measure to reduce the revenues of the Liberian government being used to fuel conflict in the region.
According to statistics published by UNESCO for the years 1999-2000 (the most recent available for Liberia as of 2005), 61 percent of primary-school age and 18 percent (estimated) children were enrolled in school.
Liberia, which means "Land of the Free," was founded as an independent nation for free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans.
Africa's oldest republic, Liberia had its beginnings predating the American Civil War.
Widely celebrated for being the first elected female head of state in Africa, Johnson-Sirleaf’s election focused much international attention on Liberia.
Before the first civil war in 1989, there had been a great deal of foreign investment in Liberia's mineral and natural resources.
Daughter of the first indigenous Liberian to be elected to the national legislature, Jahmale Carney Johnson, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was born in rural Liberia.
Calling themselves the People’s Redemption Council, Doe and his associates seized control of the government and brought an end to Liberia’s "first republic."
In 2006 President Sirleaf appealed for these sanctions to be removed by the UN in order to restore national revenues for rebuilding the infrastructure of Liberia.
The second occurred during World War II, when the United States began providing technical and economic assistance that enabled Liberia to make economic progress and introduce social change.
On July 26, 1847, the Americo-Liberians declared the independence of the Republic of Liberia.
Prior to 1990 Liberia also exported rubber, timber, coffee, and diamonds.
Liberia retained its independence during the Scramble for Africa, but lost its claim to extensive territories that were annexed by Britain and France.
Liberia’s government, modeled after that of the United States, was democratic in structure, if not always in substance.
The founding of Liberia was privately sponsored by American religious and philanthropic groups, but the colony enjoyed the support and unofficial cooperation of the United States government.