An Overview Of Liberia For Travelers

An Overview of Liberia for Travelers

Summary: The Republic of Liberia was on of the more stable African countries until a massive civil war. For extreme travelers, the war is over and Liberia is back on the map. Heres a look at where the country has been and where it is going.

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Article Body: The Republic of Liberia was on of the more stable African countries until a massive civil war. For extreme travelers, the war is over and Liberia is back on the map. Heres a look at where the country has been and where it is going.

An Overview of Liberia for Travelers

Liberia means the land of the free. It is a fitting name considering the country was established by freed slaves from the United States in . Referred to as Americo-Liberians, the freed slaves established Monrovia which is named after U.S. President James Madison.

Although there were minor disputes throughout Liberias history, it was generally saved the problems faced by much of colonized Africa. Indeed, Liberia was known for its hospitality, strong education system, booming rubber industry and strong liberal arts. Unfortunately, political unrest led to a brutal civil war from till during which the country fell apart and over , Liberians were killed.

Prior to , the country was ruled by the True Whig Party, which consisted ostensibly of descendents from the freed slaves. On April , , Samuel Doe led a military coup, executed the elected President and put the Peoples Redemption Council in power. The new leaders increasingly pursued ethnic policies favoring the indigenous Krahn peoples. This led to massive resistance from non-Krahn peoples.

In , full blown civil war broke out between various factions. The country was ripped apart and Doe was ultimately defeated and killed on September , . One of the rebel leaders, Charles Taylor, was put in charge of an interim government. Instead of uniting the country, he more or less declared himself dictator and continued the factional fighting.

A cease fire was worked out in and rebel groups agreed to disarm. Taylor won elections in under questionable circumstances. Once again, he failed to do anything to heal the country, instead funding a guerilla attack on neighboring Sierra Leone. Under massive international pressure of the dont make us come there type, he resigned and fled into exile on June , .

On October , , free elections were finally held. After a runoff, Liberia elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf the first female president of Liberia. She took office in January of . Her election is viewed as a very positive step by Liberia to get back on track.

As to basic information, Liberia covers roughly , square miles. The capital is Monrovia and the total population is . million. Liberia has % of West Africa's rain forest. Liberia is the second-largest maritime licenser in the world with more than , vessels registered under its flag, including % of the world's tanker fleet.

The people of Liberia are known as Liberians. The ethnic breakdown is Kpelle percent, Bassa percent, Gio percent, Kru percent and percent spread over other ethnic groups. Religious break down is Christian percent, Muslim percent, and animist percent. English is the official language, but there are also indigenous languages. Life expectancy is years and the literacy rate is percent.

Liberia has gone from a stable, beautiful country to civil war and back. Although the war is over, it isnt entirely stable at this time. Travelers seeking an extreme experience may find it to be a good destination, but it is still a very dangerous country.