subject: A Brief History Of Liberia [print this page] The history of Republic of Liberia has a very complex record. It is located along the African coast with its direct neighbors - Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. (Liberia means freedom in Latin) Liberia was born in 1822 when freed American slaves arrived and formed the country. Earlier, the land was not claimed as a European colony or a country. Liberia is a relatively young nation.
Liberia is located in West Africa harboring the North Atlantic Ocean. It is geographically known for its equatorial forest and beaches. Monrovia is its capital with a population of over 1 million people. It makes 29% of the total 3.5 million population.
Christianity is the state religion with close to 20 different ethnicities. English is the official language of Liberia. The estimated GDP of the country is roughly $840MM which mostly comes from agriculture and lesser extent of industrial activities. The major resources of Liberia are cocoa, rice, coffee and minerals.
An American organization called The American Colonization Society initiated an activity to give opportunity to the freed African-American slaves to go back to their roots in Africa. The migration started in 1822 and about 10000 people arrived in Liberia to colonize it. These Americo-Liberians started settling and after 25 years in 1847, the Republic of Liberia was formed. Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the first elected president. The migrants had brought their American culture and way of life with them and had settled in Monrovia, the newly founded capital. The name of the capita was inspired from the former US President James Monroe who supported the creation of Liberia.
The cultural differences and initial discrimination made the integration of native Liberians into the new society more difficult. For example, they were refused to vote till the early 20th century. The US supported the budding country for establishing its feasible economy. However the countrys political and economic development was significantly hampered by ethnic rivalries.
By early 20th century, Liberia had stabilized geographically and settled its border issues with Sierra Leone. However the economy was weak because of the countrys increasing debts. In 1926, as an American rubber producer called Firestone acquired the rights of a large plantation which helped in the positive increase of Liberian economy.
Liberia continued with its economic development but with hiccups till the 1980s. Then, tensions between domestic political parties gripped the country resulting in the first Civil War. A civil war leader, Charles Taylor was the elected president in 1997. He served his personal interests for six years neglecting the countrys drained economy. In 1999, a second civil war erupted which led to the ousting of Taylor by an international coalition in 2003.
In 2005, a Harvard educated former corporate executive named Ellen Sirleaf won the elections and became the first female president of the country and is responsible for re-building Liberia.
