Sustenance

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Endangered species are hunted for human consumption as bush meat in Liberia. Species hunted for food in Liberia include elephants, pygmy hippopotamus, chimpanzees, leopards, duikers, and other monkeys. Bush meat is often exported to neighboring Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, despite a ban on the cross-border sale of wild animals. Bush meat is widely eaten in Liberia, and is considered a delicacy. A 2004 public opinion survey found that bush meat ranked second behind fish amongst residents of the capital Monrovia as a preferred source of protein. Of households where bush meat was served, 80 percent of residents said they cooked it "once in a while," while 13 percent cooked it once a week and 7 cooked bush meat daily. The survey was conducted during the last civil war, and bush meat consumption is now believed to be far higher.

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Biodiversity threat

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Liberia is a global biodiversity hotspot—a significant reservoir of biodiversity under threat from human encroach- ment. Slash-and-burn agriculture is one of the human activities eroding Liberia's natural forests. A 2004 UN report estimated that 99 percent of Liberians burned charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation. Illegal logging also has increased in Liberia since the end of the Second Civil War in 2003. In 2012, President Sirleaf granted licenses to companies to cut down 58 percent of all the primary rainforest left in Liberia. However, after international protests, many of those logging permits were canceled. In September 2014, Liberia and Norway co-signed an agreement to halt all Liberian logging in exchange for $150 million in development aid.

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Another significant issue in Liberia is pollution in the capital of Monrovia. Since 2006, the international community has paid for all garbage collection and disposal in Monrovia via the World Bank.

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Politics

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The government of Liberia, modeled on the government of the US, is a unitary constitutional republic and representative democracy as established by the Constitution. The government has three co-equal branches of government: the executive, headed by the president; the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Legislature of Liberia; and the judicial, composed of the Supreme Court and several lower courts.

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The president serves as head of government, head of state, and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Liberia. Among the president's other duties are to sign or veto legislative bills, grant pardons, and appoint Cabinet members, judges, and other public officials. Together with the vice president, the president is elected to 

a six-year term by majority vote in a two-round system that permits two consecutive terms in office.

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The Legislature is comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House, led by a speaker, has 73 members apportioned among the 15 counties on the basis of the national census, with each county receiving a minimum of two members. Each House member represents an electoral district within a county as drawn by the National Elections Commission and is elected by a plurality of the vote of their district into a six-year term.

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The Senate is made up of two senators from each county for a total of 30 senators. Senators serve nine-year terms and are elected at-large by a plurality of the popular vote. The vice president serves as the president of the Senate, with a president pro tempore serving in their absence.

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Liberia's highest judicial authority is the Supreme Court, made up of five members and headed by the Chief Justice of Liberia. Members are nominated to the court by the president and are confirmed by the Senate, serving until the age of 70. The judiciary is further divided into circuit and specialty courts, magistrate courts and justices of the peace. The judicial system is a blend of common law, based on Anglo-American law, and customary law. An informal system of traditional courts still exists within the rural areas of the country, with trial by ordeal remaining common despite being officially outlawed.

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From 1877 to 1980 the government was dominated by the True Whig Party. Today more than 20 political parties are registered in the country, based largely around personalities and ethnic groups. But most parties suffer from poor organizational capacity. The 2005 elections marked the first time that the president's party did not gain a majority of seats in the Legislature.

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Military

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The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the country's armed forces. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was renamed in 1956. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable material and training assistance from the US. For most of the 1941-89 period, training was largely provided by US advisors, with combat experience in the World War II also playing a role in training. After UN Security Council Resolution 1509 in September 2003, the United Nations Mission in Liberia was to referee the ceasefire with units from Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and China assisting the National Transitional Government of Liberia in forming the new Liberian military.

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Foreign relations, national police

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After the turmoil following the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, Liberia's internal stabilization in the 21st century brought a return to cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. As with other African countries, China is an important part of the post-conflict reconstruction of the nation. The Liberian National Police is the country's official law enforcement body. It maintains a force of 844 officers in 33 stations in Montserrado County, which contains Monrovia. The National Police Training Academy is in Paynesville City.

 

Economy

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A proportional representation of Liberian exports. The shipping related categories reflect Liberia's status as an international flag of convenience —there are 3,500 vessels registered under Liberia's flag accounting for 11 percent of ships worldwide. The Central Bank of Liberia is responsible for printing and maintaining the Liberian dollar, Liberia's primary currency. Liberia has a formal employment rate of 15 percent GDP per capita, which peaked in 1980 at US$496, when it was comparable to Egypt's (at the time). Historically the Liberian economy has depended heavily on foreign aid, foreign direct investment, and exports of natural resources such as iron ore, rubber, and timber. In 2011 the country's nominal GDP was US$1.154 billion though a strengthening agricultural sector led by rubber and timber exports. The GDP increased growth to 7.3 percent in 2011, making the economy one of the 20 fastest-growing in the world.

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Current impediments to growth include a small domestic market, lack of adequate infrastructure, high transpor- tation costs, poor trade links with neighboring countries and the high dollarization of the economy. Liberia used the US dollar as its currency from 1943-1982 and still uses the US dollar alongside the Liberian dollar.

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Following a decrease in inflation beginning in 2003, inflation spiked in 2008 as a result of a global food and energy crises, reaching 17.5 percent before declining to 7.4 percent in 2009. Liberia's external debt was estimated in 2006 at approximately $4.5 billion, 800 percent of GDP. As a result of bilateral, multilateral and commercial debt relief from 2007 to 2010, the country's external debt fell to $222.9 million by 2011.

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While official commodity exports declined during the 1990s as many investors fled the civil war, Liberia's wartime economy featured the exploitation of the region's diamond wealth.The country acted as a major trader in Sierra Leonian blood diamonds, exporting over $300 million in diamonds in 1999.This led to a United Nations ban on Liberian diamond exports in 2001, which was lifted in 2007 following Liberia's accession to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

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In 2003, additional UN sanctions were placed on Liberian timber exports, which had risen from US$5 million in 1997 to over US$100 million in 2002. These sanctions were lifted in 2006. Due in large part to foreign aid and investment inflow following the end of the war, Liberia maintains a large account deficit, which peaked at nearly 60 percent in 2008. Liberia gained observer status with the World Trade Organization in 2010 and became an official member in 2016.

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Liberia has the highest ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in the world, with US$16 billion in investment since 2006. Following Sirleaf's inauguration in 2006, Liberia signed several multi-billion-dollar concession agreements in the iron ore and palm oil industries with numerous multinational corporations, including Arcelor- Mittal, BHP and Sime Darby. Since 1926 Firestone has operated the world's largest rubber plantation in Harbel, Margibi County. As of 2015 it had more than 8,000 employees, making it Liberia's largest private employer.

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Shipping, industry, agriculture

 

Due to its status as a flag of convenience, Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama. It has 3,500 vessels registered under its flag, accounting for 11 percent of ships worldwide. Agriculture,

including forestry, is the primary livelihood for more than 60 percent of Liberia’s population and accounted for 31 percent of Liberia’s 2020 real gross domestic product (GDP). It provides sustenance for many households engaging in cassava, rubber, rice, oil palm, cocoa, or sugarcane production. Cassava and rice are the primary staple food crops. More households engage in cassava production than any other food crop.

 

However, overall agricultural productivity is low. As a result, Liberia imports more than 80 percent of its rice, making the country vulnerable to global food price volatility. Poorly integrated, the sector lacks basic infrastructure such as machines, farming equipment and tools, farm-to-market roads, fertilizers and pesticides, and food storage capacity. The main cash crops and foreign exchange earners are rubber, oil palm, cocoa, and timber.

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Rubber is a dominant revenue generator, accounting for 13.5 percent of total export receipts in 2020. Various estimates put the number of people employed by commercial rubber farms at 22,000 and the number of small- holder households involved in growing rubber trees at 38,000. The Firestone Natural Rubber concession, covering almost 200 square miles, is the largest contiguous natural rubber operation in the world and the biggest private sector employer in Liberia.

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Palm oil is another significant cash crop.  Traditionally it is a domestically consumed product but there has been some export development with smallholders and large investors expressing interest in expanding cash crop production. Nevertheless, the Central Bank of Liberia’s (CBL) 2020 report showed a slight decline in palm oil production (from 22,465 metric tons to 22,200 metric tons) due to limited labor mobility because of COVID-19 related restrictions. Access to markets is a concern to most smallholder farmers and large concessions alike. 

 

Stakeholders in the palm oil sector include smallholder farmer cooperatives, individual farmers, large multi- national-owned corporations, and concessionaires such as Golden Veroleum Limited. The Ministry of Agriculture is the government ministry responsible for the governance, management, and promotion of the agriculture sector in Liberia. Liberia has a favorable climate and fertile soil for cocoa production.  There has been substantial investment in the rehabilitation of cooperative and smallholder cocoa farms.  he country’s international partners, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), continue to invest in cocoa smallholder producers to improve livelihoods and raise incomes by modernizing cocoa farming, increasing production, and developing market access. Small scale cocoa production will likely increase as farmers continue to reclaim and rehabilitate their farms.

 

As with the agriculture sector in general, smallholder cocoa farmers and local cooperatives suffer inadequate farm-to-market roads, lack of familiarity with measurement and quality standards, lack of storage facilities, and limited access to updated price and market information. Rubber production declined in 2020 due to replanting of trees, while production of cocoa, round logs, and sawn timber dropped due to the slowdown in economic activity.

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Land rights is a critical issue for concessionaires in Liberia. The Land Rights Act, promulgated in 2018, clarified land tenure as well as land governance, administration, and management. Only the comprehensive implemen- tation of the law, however, will resolve uncertainty around land ownership. Other obstacles to investment in agriculture include the lack of capital and professional expertise to increase farm productivity, and a government approach to the sector that is inconsistent and politically driven rather than strategic.

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Mining

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The mining industry of Liberia has witnessed a revival after the civil war which ended in 2003. Gold, diamonds, and iron ore form the core minerals of the mining sector with a new Mineral Development Policy and Mining Code being put in place to attract foreign investments. In 2013, the mineral sector accounted for 11 percent of GDP in the country and the World Bank has projected a further increase in the sector by 2017.

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Mining sector is considered the prime mover for the economic growth of the country and its exploitation has to be appropriately balanced with sustainable environmental preservation of its rich biodiversity. Apart from iron ore extractions, cement, diamond, gold, and petroleum resources have also been given due importance to enrich the economy of the country.

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Telecommunications

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There are six major newspapers in Liberia, and 45 percent of the population has a mobile phone service. Much of Liberia's communications infrastructure was destroyed or plundered during the two civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003). With low rates of adult literacy and high poverty rates, television and newspaper use is limited, leaving radio as the predominant means of communicating with the public.

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Transportation

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Transport in Liberia consists of 267 miles of railways, 6,687 miles of highways (408 miles paved), 29 airports (2 paved) and four seaports—Freeport of Monrovia, Port of Buchanan, Port of Greenville, and Port of Harper. Monrovia is the largest within the Authority's network. Buses and taxis are the main forms of ground transportation in and around Monrovia. Charter boats are also available.

 

Energy and oil exploration

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Public electricity services are provided solely by the state-owned Liberia Electricity Corporation, which operates a small grid almost exclusively in the Greater Monrovia District. The vast majority of electric energy services is provided by small, privately owned generators. At $0.54 per kWh, the cost of electricity in Liberia is among the highest in the world. Total capacity in 2013 was 20 MW, a sharp decline from a peak of 191 MW in 1989 before the wars.

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Restoring Mount Coffee was not easy. Built in the 1960s on the Saint Paul River as Liberia’s largest hydropower plant, it had been looted and flooded since its destruction during the 1990s. The reconstruction teams on the ground had to contend with a difficult-to-reach location served by poor roads that became even worse during the wet season, the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and bouts of malaria. During the Ebola epidemic, the plant components were stored in locations around the world, ready to be shipped to Liberia when it was safe to do so. Despite these challenges, the overhaul was completed on time in December 2016, and the plant is now about to be linked to the regional West African grid, strengthening grid reliability in the region.

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The redevelopment kept the plant’s 60-year-old structure, reinforcing it and replacing the existing equipment with modern technology. Along with new generators and digital systems, four Voith turbines were installed, increasing pre-war output from 64MW to 88MW. 

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Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil with unproven oil reserves estimated to be in excess of one billion barrels. The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. An additional 13 ultra-deep offshore blocks were demarcated in 2011. Among the companies winning licenses are Repsol YPF, Chevron Corporation, and Wood- side Petroleum.

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Demographics, ethnic groups, languages

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As revealed in the 2008 census, Monrovia is more than four times more populous than all the county capitals combined. Liberia had the highest population growth rate in the world (4.50 percent per annum). In 2010 some 43.5 percent of Liberians were below the age of 15. The current population exceeds five million and includes 16 indigenous ethnic groups and various foreign minorities. Indigenous peoples comprise about 95 percent of the population. The 16 officially recognized ethnic groups include the Kpelle, Bassa, Mano, Gio or Dan, Kru, Grebo, Krahn, Vai, Gola, Mandingo or Mandinka, Mende, Kissi, Gbandi, Loma, Dei or Dewoin, Belleh, and Americo-Liberians or Congo people.

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The Kpelle comprise more than 20 percent of the population and are the largest ethnic group in Liberia, residing mostly in Bong County and adjacent areas in central Liberia. Americo-Liberians, descendants of African American and West Indian, mostly Barbadian (Bajan) settlers, make up 2.5 percent. Congo people, descendants of repatriated Congo and Afro-Caribbean slaves who arrived in 1825, make up an estimated 2.5 percent. These latter two groups established political control in the 19th century which they maintained well into the 20th century.

Numerous immigrants have come as merchants and become a major part of the business community, including Lebanese, Indians, and other West African nationals. 

 

There is a high percentage of interracial marriage between ethnic Liberians and the Lebanese, resulting in a significant mixed-race population especially in and around Monrovia. A small minority of Liberians who are White Africans of European descent reside in the country. The Liberian constitution exercises jus sanguinis, restricting its citizenship to "Negroes or persons of Negro descent.”

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English is the official language and serves as the lingua franca of Liberia. Thirty-one indigenous languages are spoken in Liberia, but each is a first language for only a small percentage of the population. Liberians also speak a variety of creolized dialects collectively known as Liberian English.

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Religion

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According to the 2008 National Census, 85.6 percent of the population practiced Christianity, while Muslims represented a minority of 12.2 percent. A multitude of diverse Protestant confessions such as Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, and United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) denominations form the bulk of the Christian population, followed by adherents of the Catholic Church and other non-Protestant Christians. Most of these Christian denominations were introduced by African American settlers moving from the US into Liberia via the American Colonization Society, while some are indigenous especially Pentecostal and Protestant.

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Protestantism was originally associated with Black American settlers and their Americo-Liberian descendants, while native peoples initially held to their own animist forms of African traditional religion before largely adopting Christianity. While Christian, many Liberians also participate in traditional, gender-based indigenous religious secret societies, such as Poro for men and Sande for women.

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Muslims comprised 12.2 percent of the population in 2008, largely represented by the Mandingo and Vai ethnic groups. Liberian Muslims are divided between Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Sufis, and non-denominational Muslims. In 2008, 0.5 percent identified adherence to traditional indigenous religions, while 1.5 percent claimed no religion. A small number of people were Baháʼí, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist.

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The Liberian constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right. While separation of church and state is mandated by the Constitution, Liberia is considered a Christian state in practice. Public schools offer biblical studies, though parents may opt their children out. Commerce is prohibited by law on Sunday and major Christian holidays. The government does not require businesses or schools to excuse Muslims for Friday prayers.

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Education

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In 2010, the literacy rate of Liberia was estimated at 60.8 percent (64.8 percent for males and 56.8 percent for females). In some areas primary and secondary education is free and compulsory from the ages of 6-16, though enforcement of attendance is lax. In other areas children are required to pay a tuition fee to attend school. On average, children attain 10 years of education (11 for boys and 8 for girls). The country's education sector is hampered by inadequate schools and supplies, as well as a lack of qualified teachers.

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Higher education is provided by a number of public and private universities. The University of Liberia is the country's largest and oldest university. Located in Monrovia, the university opened in 1862. Today it has six colleges, including a medical school and the nation's only law school—the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law.

In 2009, Tubman University in Harper, Maryland County was established as the second public university in Liberia. Since 2006, the government has also opened community colleges in Buchanan, Sanniquellie, and Voinjama. Due to student protests late in October 2018, newly elected president George M. Weah abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the public universities in Liberia.

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Private universities in Liberia include:

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· Cuttington University was established by the Episcopal Church of the USA in 1889 in Suakoko, Bong County, as part of its missionary education work among indigenous peoples. It is the nation's oldest private university.

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· Stella Maris Polytechnic, a post-secondary, private institution of higher learning. Founded in 1988, the school is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia. Located on Capitol Hill, the school has approximately 2,000 students.

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· Adventist University of West Africa, a post-secondary learning environment that is situated in Margibi County, on the Roberts International Airport.

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· United Methodist University, a private Christian university located in Liberia, West Africa, it is commonly known amongst locals as UMU. As of 2016, it had approximately 9,118 students. This institution was founded in 1998.

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· African Methodist Episcopal University, a private higher education institution that was founded in 1995.

 

· St. Clements University College (Liberia), a private higher education institution that was founded in 2008.

 

Health

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Hospitals in Liberia include the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia and several others. Life expect- ancy in Liberia is estimated to be 57.4 years in 2012. With a fertility rate of 5.9 births per woman, the maternal mortality rate stood at 990 per 100,000 births in 2010. A number of highly communicable diseases are wide- spread, including tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, and malaria. In 2007, the HIV infection rates stood at 2 percent of the population aged 15-49, whereas the incidence of tuberculosis was 420 per 100,000 people in 2008. 

Liberia imports 90 percent of its rice, a staple food, and is extremely vulnerable to food shortages. In 2007, 20.4 percent of children under the age of five were malnourished. In 2008, only 17 percent of the population had access to adequate sanitation facilities, both a result of the civil wars.

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Approximately 95 percent of the country's healthcare facilities had been destroyed by the time the conflicts ended in 2003. In 2009, government expenditure on health care per capita was US$22, accounting for 10.6 percent of total GDP. In 2008, Liberia had only one doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people.

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Culture

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The religious practices, social customs and cultural standards of the Americo-Liberians had their roots in the antebellum American South. The settlers wore top hat and tails and modeled their homes on those of Southern slave owners. Most Americo-Liberian men were members of the Masonic Order of Liberia, which became heavily involved in the nation's politics.

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Liberia has a rich history in textile arts and quilting, as the settlers brought with them their sewing and quilting skills. Liberia hosted National Fairs in 1857 and 1858 in which prizes were awarded for various needle arts. One of the most well-known Liberian quilters was Martha Ann Ricks, who presented a quilt featuring the famed Liberian coffee tree to Queen Victoria in 1892. When former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf moved into the Executive Mansion, she reportedly had a Liberian-made quilt installed in her presidential office.

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A rich literary tradition has existed in Liberia for more than a century. Edward Wilmot Blyden, Bai T. Moore, Roland T. Dempster, and Wilton G. S. Sankawulo are among Liberia's more prominent authors. Moore's novella Murder in the Cassava Patch is considered Liberia's most celebrated novel.

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Cuisine

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Liberian cuisine heavily incorporates rice, the country's staple food. Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra, and sweet potatoes. Heavy stews spiced with habanero and scotch bonnet chilies are popular and eaten with fufu. Liberia also has a tradition of baking imported from the US that is unique in West Africa.

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Sports

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The most popular sport in Liberia is soccer, with President George Weah—the only African to be named FIFA World Player of the Year—being the nation's most famous athlete. The Liberia national football team has reached the Africa Cup of Nations finals twice, in 1996 and 2002. The second most popular sport in Liberia is basketball. The Liberian national basketball team has reached the Afro Basket twice, in 1983 and 2007. In Liberia, the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex serves as a multi-purpose stadium. It hosts FIFA World Cup qualifying matches in addition to international concerts and national political events.

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Measurement system

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Liberia is one of only three countries that have not yet completely adopted the International System of Units (abbreviated as the SI, also called the metric system), the others being the US and Myanmar. The Liberian government has begun transitioning away from use of US customary units to the metric system. However, this change has been gradual, with government reports concurrently using both US customary and metric units. In 2018, the Liberian Commerce and Industry Minister announced that the Liberian government is committed to adopting the metric system.