Liberia is a country on the Atlantic coast of West Africa with a history unlike any other on the continent. It was founded in the early nineteenth century as a home for freed slaves and free-born Black people from the United States, who established a republic modelled on the one they had left, making Liberia Africa's first and oldest republic. A land of rainforest, rubber plantations, and a long Atlantic shore, it has endured devastating civil wars in recent decades but has worked toward peace and recovery.
Liberia was established from 1822 by the American Colonization Society as a settlement for freed and free-born African Americans, who founded the capital, Monrovia, named for a United States president, and in 1847 declared an independent republic, the first in Africa. These settlers, the Americo-Liberians, governed the country and its indigenous peoples for over a century, modelling its institutions on those of the United States. That long-standing divide between settler descendants and the indigenous majority shaped a turbulent later history of coups and civil war.
Liberia is a hot, humid, and heavily forested country, with a low Atlantic coastline of lagoons and sandy beaches rising to rolling plateaus and low mountains inland. It receives some of the highest rainfall in West Africa, and much of the land was once covered by dense tropical rainforest, part of the great Upper Guinean forest belt, which shelters rare wildlife and holds valuable timber. Rivers run from the interior to the sea, and the green, wet landscape supports farming and rubber growing.
The flag of Liberia closely resembles that of the United States, a reflection of the country's founding by African American settlers. It has eleven red and white horizontal stripes and a blue square in the upper hoist bearing a single white star. The stripes represent the signatories of the country's declaration of independence, the red and white stand for courage and moral excellence, and the lone white star, which gives Liberia the nickname the Lone Star, represents Africa's first independent republic.
Liberia is a predominantly Christian country, the legacy of its founding by African American settlers and of missionary activity, with the majority belonging to various Protestant churches and a smaller number to the Roman Catholic Church. There is a significant Muslim minority, especially in the north, and traditional African religions are also practised, often alongside Christianity. Religion plays a prominent role in Liberian society, and churches and faith leaders have been important voices in the country's public life.
Liberian cuisine reflects both West African traditions and the influence of the African American settlers. Rice is the absolute staple, eaten at nearly every meal and central to the culture, served with rich, spicy stews and sauces such as the popular cassava-leaf and potato-greens dishes, often made with palm oil, meat, or fish. Fufu, dumboy, and other cassava preparations, along with plenty of chili and fresh seafood from the Atlantic, characterise a hearty and flavourful food culture.
Agriculture is the livelihood of most Liberians, who grow rice, the staple food, along with cassava and vegetables on small farms, while rubber has long been the country's most important commercial crop and export, grown on large plantations, including one of the largest in the world. Palm oil, cocoa, and coffee are also produced, and the country is rich in iron ore, gold, and diamonds. Fishing and timber from the rainforests add further to Liberia's resources.
The founding of Liberia as a republic for freed slaves, and its long rule by the Americo-Liberian settler community, are unique in African history. The overthrow of that order in 1980 was followed by a period of instability and then by two devastating civil wars between 1989 and 2003, conflicts marked by terrible violence. Peace brought the election in 2005 of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman elected to lead an African nation, and the country later faced the Ebola epidemic.
Liberia has a population of around 5 million people, the great majority belonging to the country's indigenous ethnic groups, such as the Kpelle and the Bassa, with the descendants of the original American settlers, the Americo-Liberians, forming a small but historically dominant minority. English is the official language, alongside many indigenous tongues. The population is young and concentrated along the coast, especially in the capital, Monrovia, as the country continues to recover from years of conflict.
