The Republic of Liberia

The Republic of Liberia is a sparsely populated land founded in the early 1800’s by freed American slaves. The vast majority of its people belong to one of several indigenous African ethnic groups. The largest groups include the Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, and Kru peoples. Americo-Liberians, descendants of emancipated slaves who emigrated from the United States, make up less than 5% of the population.

Liberia has a population 4,853,516 (2018 estimate), which up from 3,476,608 in 2008, and covers 111,369 square kilometers (43,000 square miles). Liberians mainly inhabit coastal cities and towns. Monrovia is the capital and largest city.

GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

Liberia is located in West Africa on the Atlantic Ocean coast and is bounded on the north by Sierra Leone and Guinea, on the east by Cote d'Ivoire, and on the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean. The Liberian landscape rises gradually from the Atlantic coastal plain, through a region of hills and plateaus, toward the steep Guinea Highlands.  Tropical rainforests cover many of the hills.

The climate is hot year-round with heavy rainfall from May to October with a short interlude in mid-July to August.

RELIGION

According to the 2015 Liberia International Religious Freedom Report, 85.6% of the population practices Christianity. Muslims comprise 12.2% of the population, largely coming from the Mandingo and Vai ethnic groups. Traditional indigenous religions are practiced by .6% of the population, while 1.4% subscribe to no religion. A small number of people are Bahá'í, Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist. Concurrent participation in indigenous religious secret societies such as Poro and Sande is common.

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right. While separation of church and state is also mandated by the Constitution, Liberia is considered a de facto Christian state.

CIVIL WAR

Liberia experienced a 14 year Civil War between 1989 and 2003 with 150,000 to 250,000 people killed and an economy and infrastructure left to devastation.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of Liberians were driven into neighboring countries as refugees. In 2004, the United Nations estimated that there were approximately 335,470 Liberian refugees forced to live neighboring countries at the time. Some Liberian refugees spent more than two decades living in other West African countries.