[149], Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. For a treatment of earlier periods and of the country in its regional context, see western Africa. [1] An informal system of traditional courts still exists within the rural areas of the country, with trial by ordeal remaining common despite being officially outlawed. [76] In 2012, President Sirleaf granted licenses to companies to cut down 58% of all the primary rainforest left in Liberia. At $0.54 per kWh, the cost of electricity in Liberia is among the highest in the world. Today it has six colleges, including a medical school and the nation's only law school, Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law. Liberia (/labri/ (listen)), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. [68], The highest point wholly within Liberia is Mount Wuteve at 4,724 feet (1,440m) above sea level in the northwestern Liberia range of the West Africa Mountains and the Guinea Highlands. [46], The rebels soon split into various factions fighting one another. [158] Of those, 1,118,241 lived in Montserrado County, the most populous county in the country and home to the capital of Monrovia. Map of the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent, located on the African continental plate. Nimba is the largest of the counties in size at 11,551km2 (4,460sqmi), while Montserrado is the smallest at 737.069sqmi (1,909.00km2). This institution was founded in 1998. The Cavalla is the longest river in the nation at 320 mi (515 km). [20][21] By 1867, the ACS (and state-related chapters) had assisted in the migration of more than 13,000 people of color from the United States and the Caribbean to Liberia. [97], Both male and female homosexuality are illegal in Liberia. The Constitution calls for the election of various chiefs at the county and local level, but these elections have not taken place since 1985 due to war and financial constraints. It was established on land acquired for freed U.S. slaves by the American Colonization Society, which founded a colony at Cape Mesurado in 1821. [83] A 2004 UN report estimated that 99% of Liberians burned charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation. "Monrovia's 'Never-Ending' Pollution Issues In 2013, Edwin M. 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The country's major rivers include the Mano River in the northwest and the Cavalla River in the southeast. Wikidata ID. The colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo, from their inland chiefdoms. Mortality from tropical diseases was highof the 4,571 emigrants who arrived in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only 1,819 survived. Adolescent girls are the most frequently assaulted, and almost 40% of perpetrators are adult men known to victims. The presence of MSA populations in forests remains an open question; however technological differences may correlate with various ecological zones. [84] Since 2006, the international community has paid for all garbage collection and disposal in Monrovia via the World Bank. The settlers wore top hat and tails and modeled their homes on those of Southern slaveowners. [189] Approximately 58.2%[190] 66%[191] of women are estimated to have undergone female genital mutilation. Monrovia | Location, History, & Facts | Britannica [43], After Liberia adopted a new constitution in 1985, Doe was elected president in subsequent elections that were internationally condemned as fraudulent. The judiciary is further divided into circuit and speciality courts, magistrate courts and justices of the peace. [1], The Legislature is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. [35], In 1927, the country's elections again showed the power of the True Whig Party, with electoral proceedings that have been called some of the most rigged ever;[36] the winning candidate was declared to have received votes amounting to more than 15 times the number of eligible voters. [37] (The loser actually received around 60% of the eligible vote. [40], After the war, President William Tubman encouraged foreign investment, with Liberia achieving the second-highest rate of economic growth in the world during the 1950s. [120], In 2003, additional UN sanctions were placed on Liberian timber exports, which had risen from US$5 million in 1997 to over US$100 million in 2002 and were believed to be funding rebels in Sierra Leone. [citation needed]. The country's capital and largest city is Monrovia. [50], In March 2003, a second rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, began launching attacks against Taylor from the southeast. Later Stone Age (LSA) populations evidence significant technological diversification, including both microlithic and macrolithic traditions. [161] Americo-Liberians, who are descendants of African American and West Indian, mostly Barbadian (Bajan) settlers, make up 2.5%. Four types of soil are found in Liberia. [85], Liberia is divided into fifteen counties, which, in turn, are subdivided into a total of 90 districts and further subdivided into clans. [92], In the past, both of Liberia's neighbors, Guinea and Sierra Leone, have accused Liberia of backing rebels in their countries. These new inhabitants brought skills such as cotton spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting, rice and sorghum cultivation, and social and political institutions from the Mali and Songhai empires. This was because they faced racial discrimination in the form of political disenfranchisement and the denial of civil, religious, and social rights. [69], The equatorial climate, in the south of the country, is hot year-round with heavy rainfall from May to October with a short interlude in mid-July to August. [1] Senators serve nine-year terms and are elected at-large by a plurality of the popular vote. "China and Liberia: Engagement in a Post-Conflict Country 20032013". PDF A Brief History of Liberia - International Center for Transitional Justice [23], The ACS, supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed "repatriation" was preferable to having emancipated slaves remain in the United States. It is a region suitable for agriculture and forestry. [66] The inauguration marked Liberia's first fully democratic transition in 74 years. [111] Upon the end of the war in 2003, GDP growth began to accelerate, reaching 9.4% in 2007. [citation needed], The government of Liberia, modeled on the government of the United States, is a unitary constitutional republic and representative democracy as established by the Constitution. Between ~43.5ka, these societies gradually transformed into food producers, possibly through contact with northern pastoralists and agriculturalists, as the environment became more arid. Pages in category "Islands of Liberia" The following 2 pages are in this category, out of 2 total. [26], By 1877, the True Whig Party was the country's most powerful political entity. Bushrod Island Map - Island - Liberia - Mapcarta The House, led by a speaker, has 73 members apportioned among the 15 counties on the basis of the national census, with each county receiving a minimum of two members. [74] It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.79/10, ranking it 116th globally out of 172 countries. The countrys first post-conflict elections, held in 2005, were noteworthy for the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the presidency, as she was the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa. [76] In September 2014, Liberia and Norway struck an agreement whereby Liberia ceased all logging in exchange for $150 million in development aid.