Country Profile
OFFICIAL
NAME: Republic of Liberia
Geography
Area: 111,369 sq. km. (43,000 sq. mi.).
Slightly larger than Ohio.
Cities: Capital--Monrovia (est. 1,000,000).
Principal towns--Buchanan (est. 300,000),
Ganta (est. 290,000), Gbarnga (est. 150,000),
Kakata (est. 100,000), Harbel (est. 136,000).
Terrain: Three areas--Mangrove swamps
and beaches along the coast, wooded
hills and semideciduous shrublands
along the immediate interior, and dense
tropical forests and plateaus in the
interior. Liberia has 40% of West Africa's
rain forest
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Liberian(s).
Population (2004): 3.4 million.
Annual growth rate (2004): 2.4%.
Ethnic groups: Kpelle 20%, Bassa
16%, Gio 8%, Kru 7%, 49% spread over
12 other ethnic groups.
Religions: Christian 40%, Muslim
20%, animist 40%.
Languages: English is the official
language. There are 16 indigenous
languages.
Education: Literacy (2003)--20%.
Health: Life expectancy (2003)--47
years.
Work force: Agriculture--70%; industry--15%;
services--2%. Unemployment is 80%
in the formal sector.
Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: From American Colonization
Society July 26, 1847.
Constitution: January 6, 1986.
Political parties: 30 registered
political parties
Economy
GDP (IMF 2005 est.): $548.4million.
Real GDP growth rate (2004): 2.0%.
Per capita GDP (2005): $119.4.
Consumer Price Index (2004): 7.0%.
Natural resources: Iron ore, rubber,
timber, diamonds, gold and tin.
The Government of Liberia has reported
in recent years that it has discovered
sizable deposits of crude oil along
its Atlantic Coast.
Agriculture: Products--coffee,
cocoa, sugarcane, rice, cassava,
palm oil, bananas, plantains, citrus,
pineapple, sweet potatoes, corn,
and vegetables.
Industry: Types--agriculture, iron
ore, rubber, forestry, diamonds,
gold, beverages, construction.
Trade (2004): Exports--$103.8 million:
rubber 93%; cocoa 3.5%. Major markets--Germany,
Poland, U.S., Greece. Imports--$268.1
million: mineral fuels and lubricants;
food and live animals; machinery
and transport equipment; manufactured
goods; pharmaceuticals; and tobacco.
(*Bureau of African Affairs, September 2006)
Timeline
1847 - Constitution modeled on that of the
USA drawn up.
Independence
1847 July - Liberia becomes independent.
1917 - Liberia declares war on Germany,
thus giving the Allies a base in West
Africa.
1926 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
opens a rubber plantation on land granted
by the government. Rubber production
becomes backbone of economy.
1936 - Forced-labor practices abolished.
1943 - William Tubman elected president.
1944 - Government declares war on the
Axis powers.
1951 May - Women and indigenous property
owners vote in the presidential election
for the first time.
1958 - Racial discrimination outlawed.
1971 - Tubman dies and is succeeded by
William Tolbert Jr.
1974 - Government accepts aid from the
Soviet Union for the first time.
1978 - Liberia signs trade agreement
with the European Economic Community.
1979 - More than 40 people are killed
in riots following a proposed increase
in the price of rice.
Years of instability
1980 - Master Sergeant Samuel Doe stages
military coup. Tolbert and more than
12 of his aides are killed. A People's
Redemption Council headed by Doe suspends
constitution and assumes full powers.
1984 - Doe's regime allows return of
political parties following pressure
from the United States and other creditors.
1985 - Doe wins presidential election.
Taylor's uprising
1989 - National Patriotic Front of Liberia
(NPFL) led by Charles Taylor begins an
uprising against the government.
1990 - Economic Community of West African
States (Ecowas) sends peacekeeping force.
Doe is executed by a splinter group of
the NPFL.
1991 - Ecowas and the NPFL agree to disarm
and set up an Interim Government of National
Unity.
1992 - The NPFL launches an all-out assault
on West African peacekeepers in Monrovia,
the latter respond by bombing NPFL positions
outside the capital and pushing the NPFL
back into the countryside.
Tentative cease-fire
1993 - The warring factions draw up a
plan for a National Transitional Government
and a cease-fire, but this fails to materialize
and fighting resumes.
1994 - The warring factions agree on
a timetable for disarmament and the setting
up of a joint Council of State.
1995 - Peace agreement signed.
1996 April - Factional fighting resumes
and spreads to Monrovia.
1996 August - West African peacekeepers
initiate disarmament program, clear land
mines and reopen roads, allowing refugees
to start returning.
1997 January - Disarmament program declared
a success.
1997 July - Presidential and legislative
elections held. Charles Taylor wins a
landslide and his National Patriotic
Party wins a majority of seats in the
National Assembly. International observers
declare the elections free and fair.
Border fighting
1999 January - Ghana and Nigeria accuse
Liberia of supporting Revolutionary United
Front rebels in Sierra Leone. Britain
and the US threaten to suspend international
aid to Liberia.
1999 April - Rebel forces thought to
have crossed from Guinea attack the town
of Voinjama. Subsequent fighting leads
to the displacement of more than 25,000
people.
1999 September - Guinea accuses Liberian
forces of entering its territory and
attacking border villages.
2000 July - The US threatens to impose
sanctions on Liberia unless it curtails
its ties with Sierra Leone's Revolutionary
United Front.
2000 September - Liberian forces launch "massive
offensive" against rebels in the
north. Liberia accuses Guinean troops
of shelling border villages.
2001 8 February - Liberian government
announces that Sierra Leonean rebel leader
Sam Bockarie, also known as Mosquito,
had left the country and that the rebels'
liaison office had been closed.
2001 7 March - UN Security Council imposes
tough measures against Liberia, accusing
it of fomenting war in west Africa. The
measures, which include a ban on diamond
exports and restrictions on travel by
Liberian officials, will not come into
force for two months. The Security Council
also re-imposed, with immediate effect,
an arms embargo against Liberia which
first came into effect during the country's
civil war between 1989 and 1996.
2001 19 March - Liberia closes its border
with Sierra Leone, after expelling the
ambassadors of both Sierra Leone and
Guinea for acts incompatible with their
status.
2001 5 May - Fighting between the government
and rebels moves south to within 200
km of the capital, Monrovia, extending
the humanitarian crisis.
2002 January - More than 50,000 Liberians
and Sierra Leonean refugees flee fighting.
In February Taylor declares a state of
emergency.
2002 September - President Taylor lifts
an eight-month state of emergency and
a ban on political rallies, citing a
reduced threat from rebels.
Rebel Offensives
2003 March - Rebels open several battlefronts
and advance to within 10km of Monrovia.
Tens of thousands of people displaced
by fighting.
2003 April - New rebel group, Movement
for Democracy in Liberia, makes gains
in southeast.
2003 June - Talks in Ghana aimed at ending
ongoing rebellion overshadowed by indictment
accusing President Taylor of war crimes
over his alleged backing of rebels in
Sierra Leone.
2003 July - Despite a ceasefire, fighting
intensifies. Rebels battle for control
of Monrovia. Several hundred people are
believed to have been killed. West African
regional group Ecowas agrees to provide
peacekeeping troops.
2003 4 August - First Nigerian peacekeepers
arrive.
2003 11 August - Taylor leaves Monrovia
after stepping down from office and handing
power to his deputy, Moses Blah.
(*BBC News Timeline: Liberia)
