Liberia

A civil war that began in December 1989 created many refugees and destroyed the Liberian economy.
(see Politics of Liberia.)

History of Liberia Main article: History of Liberia

Liberia was settled by freed American slaves in the early 1800s, and this is where the country gets its name from. Liberia became a republic in 1847.

These freed slaves were called Americo-Liberians, and became an elite group living on the coast of the country. Under their rule the country made much economic progress.

Politics of Liberia Main article: Politics of Liberia

The Americo-Liberians, though, had little in common with the tribal communities living inland. One of these tribes were the Krahn[?], to which Samuel Doe belonged. In 1980 Doe staged a coup, and executed the President of nine-years William Tolbert[?] in his mansion.

Despite his military regime, Doe made strong ties with the United States in the early 1980s, receiving a lot of money for pushing out the Soviet Union from the country, and allowing exclusive rights for the US to use Liberia's ports and land.

Doe continued his authoritarian policies, banning newspapers, outlawing opposition parties and holding staged elections. The United States accepted these, as the CIA was still using the country for its work.

In late 1989, Doe was outsted by Charles Taylor and members of the Gio tribe, and a civil war began.

Geography of Liberia Main article: Geography of Liberia

Miscellaneous topics

• Demographics of Liberia
• Economy of Liberia
• Communications in Liberia
• Transportation in Liberia
• Military of Liberia
• Foreign relations of Liberia

External links

• http://www.qsl.net/yb0rmi/liberia.htm
• http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/685.cfm
• Liberia News (http://HavenWorks.com/world/liberia)

Much of these articles originally came from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2002 U.S. Department of State website. Somewhat Wikified.