LIBERIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 111,370 km2; land area: 96,320 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries: 1,585 km total; Guinea 563 km, Ivory Coast 716 km,
Sierra Leone 306 km
Coastline: 579 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;
Territorial sea: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool
to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers
Terrain: mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling
plateau and low mountains in northeast
Natural resources: iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures
2%; forest and woodland 39%; other 55%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: West Africa's largest tropical rain forest, subject to
deforestation
PEOPLE
Population: 2,730,446 (July 1991), growth rate 3.4% (1991)
Birth rate: 45 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 124 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 59 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Liberian(s); adjective--Liberian
Ethnic divisions: indigenous African tribes, including Kpelle,
Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and
Bella 95%; descendants of repatriated slaves known as Americo-Liberians
5%
Religion: traditional 70%, Muslim 20%, Christian 10%
Language: English (official); more than 20 local languages of the
Niger-Congo language group; English used by about 20%
Literacy: 40% (male 50%, female 29%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 510,000, including 220,000 in the monetary economy;
agriculture 70.5%, services 10.8%, industry and commerce 4.5%, other
14.2%; non-African foreigners hold about 95% of the top-level management
and engineering jobs; 52% of population of working age
Organized labor: 2% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Liberia
Type: republic
Capital: Monrovia
Administrative divisions: 13 counties; Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa,
Grand Cape Mount, Grand Jide, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland,
Montserrado, Nimba, Rivercess, Sino
Independence: 26 July 1847
Constitution: 6 January 1986
Legal system: dual system of statutory law based on Anglo-American
common law for the modern sector and customary law based on unwritten
tribal practices for indigenous sector
National holiday: Independence Day, 26 July (1847)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly consists of an
upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--interim President Dr.
Amos SAWYER (since 15 November 1990); interim Vice President Ronald DIGGS
(since 15 November 1990); note--this is an interim government appointed
by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that will be
replaced after elections are held under a West African-brokered
peace plan; rival rebel factions led by Prince Y. JOHNSON and Charles
TAYLOR are challenging the Sawyer government's legitimacy while
observing a tenuous cease fire; the former president, Gen. Dr. Samuel
Kanyon DOE, was ousted and killed on 9 September 1990 in a coup led by
Prince Y. JOHNSON
Political parties and leaders:
National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), Augustus CAINE, chairman;
Liberian Action Party (LAP), Emmanuel KOROMAH, chairman;
Unity Party (UP), Carlos SMITH, chairman;
United People's Party (UPP), Gabriel Baccus MATTHEWS, chairman
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held on 15 October 1985 (next to be held NA);
results--Gen. Dr. Samuel Kanyon DOE (NDPL) 50.9%, Jackson DOE (LAP)
26.4%, other 22.7%; note--President Doe was killed by rebel forces
on 9 September 1990;
Senate--last held on 15 October 1985 (next to be held NA);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(26 total) NDPL 21, LAP 3, UP 1, LUP 1;
House of Representatives--last held on 15 October 1985 (next
to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(64 total) NDPL 51, LAP 8, UP 3, LUP 2
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Eugenia A.
WORDSWORTH-STEVENSON; Chancery at 5201 16th Street NW, Washington DC
20011; telephone (202) 723-0437 through 0440; there is a Liberian
Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Peter J. de VOS; Embassy at 111 United Nations
Drive, Monrovia (mailing address is P. O. Box 98, Monrovia, or APO New
York 09155); telephone 231 222991 through 222994
Flag: 11 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom)
alternating with white; there is a white five-pointed star on a blue
square in the upper hoist-side corner; the design was based on the US
flag
ECONOMY
Overview: Civil war during 1990 destroyed much of Liberia's
economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Expatriate
businessmen fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them.
Many will not return. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources,
forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a
producer and exporter of basic products, while local manufacturing,
mainly foreign owned, had been small in scope. Political instability
threatens prospects for economic reconstruction and repatriation of
some 750,000 Liberian refugees who fled to neighboring countries.
GDP: $988 million, per capita $400; real growth rate 1.5% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 43% urban (1988)
Budget: revenues $242.1 million; expenditures $435.4 million,
including capital expenditures of $29.5 million (1989)
Exports: $505 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--iron ore 61%, rubber 20%, timber 11%, coffee;
partners--US, EC, Netherlands
Imports: $394 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.);
commodities--rice, mineral fuels, chemicals, machinery,
transportation equipment, other foodstuffs;
partners--US, EC, Japan, China, Netherlands, ECOWAS
External debt: $1.6 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 1.5% in manufacturing (1987);
accounts for 22% of GDP
Electricity: 400,000 kW capacity; 730 million kWh produced,
290 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: rubber processing, food processing, construction
materials, furniture, palm oil processing, mining (iron ore, diamonds)
Agriculture: accounts for about 40% of GDP (including fishing and
forestry); principal products--rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa, rice,
cassava, palm oil, sugarcane, bananas, sheep, and goats; not
self-sufficient in food, imports 25% of rice consumption
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $665
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $853 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $25 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $77 million
Currency: Liberian dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Liberian dollar (L$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Liberian dollars (L$) per US$1--1.00 (fixed rate
since 1940); unofficial parallel exchange rate of L$2.5 = US$1, January
1989
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 480 km total; 328 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 152 km
1.067-meter narrow gauge; all lines single track; rail systems owned and
operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with
Liberian Government
Highways: 10,087 km total; 603 km bituminous treated, 2,848 km
all weather, 4,313 km dry weather; there are also 2,323 km of private,
laterite-surfaced roads open to public use, owned by rubber and timber
companies
Ports: Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, Harper (or Cape Palmas)
Merchant marine: 1,563 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
53,053,254 DWT/94,597,871 DWT; includes 18 passenger, 1 short-sea
passenger, 156 cargo, 47 refrigerated cargo, 15 roll-on/roll-off cargo,
67 vehicle carrier, 74 container, 5 barge carrier, 450 petroleum, oils,
and lubricants (POL) tanker, 104 chemical, 60 combination ore/oil, 44
liquefied gas, 6 specialized tanker, 485 bulk, 1 multifunction large-load
carrier, 30 combination bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry; all
ships are foreign owned; the top four owning flags are US 19%, Japan 17%,
Hong Kong 12%, and Norway 10%; China owns at least 28 ships, Bulgaria
owns 3, and Poland owns 1
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
Airports: 75 total, 58 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: telephone and telegraph service via radio relay
network; main center is Monrovia; 8,500 telephones; stations--3 AM, 4 FM,
5 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Armed Forces of Liberia (includes Army, Navy, Air Force),
Coast Guard, National Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 648,636; 346,349 fit for
military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: $NA, 2.4% of GDP (1987)