Liberia
Country in West Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Country in West Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liberia (/laɪˈbɪəriə/ ), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It has a population of around 5.5 million and covers an area of 43,000 square miles (111,369 km2). The official language is English. Over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. The capital and largest city is Monrovia.
Republic of Liberia | |
---|---|
Motto: "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here" | |
Anthem: "All Hail, Liberia, Hail!" | |
Capital and largest city | Monrovia 6°19′N 10°48′W |
Official languages | English |
Ethnic groups (2008[1]) | |
Religion (2018)[2] |
|
Demonym(s) | Liberian |
Government | Unitary presidential republic |
Joseph Boakai | |
Jeremiah Koung | |
Jonathan F. Koffa | |
Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh | |
Legislature | Legislature of Liberia |
Senate | |
House of Representatives | |
Formation and Independence from American Colonization Society | |
• American Colonization Society settlement | January 7, 1822 |
July 26, 1847 | |
• Republic of Maryland annexed | March 18, 1857 |
• Recognition by the United States | February 5, 1862 |
• United Nations membership | November 2, 1945 |
January 6, 1986 | |
Area | |
• Total | 43,000[1] sq mi (111,370 km2) (102nd) |
• Water (%) | 13.514 |
Population | |
• 2024 estimate | 5,437,249[3] (120th) |
• Density | 92.0/sq mi (35.5/km2) (180th) |
GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $9.718 billion[4] (167th) |
• Per capita | $1,789[4] (184th) |
GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $4.347 billion[4] (171st) |
• Per capita | $800[4] (180th) |
Gini (2016) | 35.3[5] medium inequality |
HDI (2022) | 0.487[6] low (177th) |
Currency | Liberian dollar (LRD) |
Time zone | UTC (GMT) |
Date format | mm/dd/yyyy |
Drives on | right |
Calling code | +231 |
ISO 3166 code | LR |
Internet TLD | .lr |
Website www |
Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed that black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States.[7] Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born African Americans, along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia.[8] Gradually developing an Americo-Liberian identity,[9][10] the settlers carried their culture and tradition with them while colonizing the indigenous population. Led by the Americo-Liberians, Liberia declared independence on July 26, 1847, which the U.S. did not recognize until February 5, 1862.
Liberia was the first African republic to proclaim its independence and is Africa's first and oldest modern republic. Along with Ethiopia, it was one of the two African countries to maintain its sovereignty and independence during the European colonial "Scramble for Africa". During World War II, Liberia supported the U.S. war effort against Nazi Germany and in turn received considerable American investment in infrastructure, which aided the country's wealth and development.[11] President William Tubman encouraged economic and political changes that heightened the country's prosperity and international profile; Liberia was a founding member of the League of Nations, United Nations, and the Organisation of African Unity.
The Americo-Liberian settlers did not relate well to the indigenous peoples they encountered. Colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. Americo-Liberians formed into a small elite that held disproportionate political power, while indigenous Africans were excluded from birthright citizenship in their own land until 1904.[12][13]
In 1980, political tensions from the rule of William R. Tolbert resulted in a military coup, marking the end of Americo-Liberian rule and the seizure of power of Liberia's first indigenous leader, Samuel Doe. Establishing a dictatorial regime, Doe was assassinated in 1990 in the context of the First Liberian Civil War which ran from 1989 until 1997 with the election of rebel leader Charles Taylor as president. In 1998, the Second Liberian Civil War erupted against his own dictatorship, and Taylor was overthrown by the end of the war in 2003. The two wars resulted in the deaths of 250,000 people (about 8% of the population) and the displacement of many more, with Liberia's economy shrinking by 90%.[14] A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. The country has remained relatively stable since then.
The presence of Oldowan artifacts in West Africa was confirmed by Michael Omolewa, attesting to the presence of ancient humans.[15]
Undated Acheulean (ESA) artifacts are well documented across West Africa. The emerging chronometric record of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) indicates that core and flake technologies have been present in West Africa since at least the Chibanian (~780–126 thousand years ago or ka) in northern, open Sahelian zones, and that they persisted until the Terminal Pleistocene/Holocene boundary (~12 ka) in both northern and southern zones of West Africa. This makes them the youngest examples of such MSA technology anywhere in Africa. The presence of MSA populations in forests remains an open question. Technological differences may correlate with various ecological zones. Later Stone Age (LSA) populations evidence significant technological diversification, including both microlithic and macrolithic traditions.[16]
The record shows that aceramic and ceramic LSA assemblages in West Africa overlap chronologically, and that changing densities of microlithic industries from the coast to the north are geographically structured. These features may represent social networks or some form of cultural diffusion allied to changing ecological conditions.[16]
Microlithic industries with ceramics became common by the Mid-Holocene, coupled with an apparent intensification of wild food exploitation. Between ~4–3.5 ka, these societies gradually transformed into food producers, possibly through contact with northern pastoralists and agriculturalists, as the environment became more arid. Hunter-gatherers have survived in the more forested parts of West Africa until much later, attesting to the strength of ecological boundaries in this region.[16]
The Pepper Coast, also known as the Grain Coast, has been inhabited by indigenous peoples of Africa at least as far back as the 12th century. Mande-speaking people expanded from the north and east, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Dei, Bassa, Kru, Gola, and Kissi were some of the earliest documented peoples in the area.[17]
This influx of these groups was compounded by the decline of the Mali Empire in 1375 and the Songhai Empire in 1591. As inland regions underwent desertification, inhabitants moved to the wetter coast. These new inhabitants brought skills such as cotton spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting, rice and sorghum cultivation, and social and political institutions from the Mali and Songhai empires.[17] Shortly after the Mane conquered the region, the Vai people of the former Mali Empire immigrated into the Grand Cape Mount County region. The ethnic Kru opposed the influx of Vai, forming an alliance with the Mane to stop further influx of Vai.[18]
People along the coast built canoes and traded with other West Africans from Cap-Vert to the Gold Coast.
Between 1461 and the late 17th century, Portuguese, Dutch, and British traders had contacts and trading posts in the region. The Portuguese named the area Costa da Pimenta ("Pepper Coast") but it later came to be known as the Grain Coast, due to the abundance of melegueta pepper grains.[19] The traders would barter commodities and goods with local people.[20]
In the United States, there was a movement to settle African Americans, both free-born and formerly enslaved, in Africa. This was because they faced racial discrimination in the form of political disenfranchisement and the denial of civil, religious, and social rights.[21] Formed in 1816, the American Colonization Society (ACS) was made up mostly of Quakers and slaveholders. Quakers believed black people would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the U.S.[7][22] While slaveholders opposed freedom for enslaved people, some viewed "repatriation" of free people of color as a way to avoid slave rebellions.[7]
In 1822, the American Colonization Society began sending free people of color to the Pepper Coast voluntarily to establish a colony. Mortality from tropical diseases was high—of the 4,571 emigrants who arrived in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only 1,819 survived.[23][24] By 1867, the ACS (and state-related chapters) had assisted in the migration of more than 13,000 people of color from the United States and the Caribbean to Liberia.[25] These free African Americans and their descendants married within their community and came to identify as Americo-Liberians. Many were of mixed race and educated in American culture; they did not identify with the indigenous natives of the tribes they encountered. They developed an ethnic group that had a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism and Protestant Christianity.[26]
The ACS, supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed "repatriation" was preferable to having emancipated slaves remain in the United States.[22] Similar state-based organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa, Kentucky in Africa, and the Republic of Maryland, which Liberia later annexed. Lincoln in 1862 described Liberia as only "in a certain sense...a success", and proposed instead that free people of color be assisted to emigrate to Chiriquí, today part of Panama.[27]
The Americo-Liberian settlers did not relate well to the indigenous peoples they encountered, especially those in communities of the more isolated "bush". The colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. Encounters with tribal Africans in the bush often became violent. Believing themselves different from and culturally and educationally superior to the indigenous peoples, the Americo-Liberians developed as an elite minority that created and held on to political power. The Americo-Liberian settlers adopted clothing such as hoop skirts and tailcoats and generally viewed themselves as culturally and socially superior to indigenous Africans.[28] Indigenous tribesmen did not enjoy birthright citizenship in their own land until 1904.[13] Americo-Liberians encouraged religious organizations to set up missions and schools to educate the indigenous peoples.[28]
On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution. Based on the political principles of the United States Constitution, it established the independent Republic of Liberia.[29][30] On August 24, Liberia adopted its 11-striped national flag.[31] The United Kingdom was the first country to recognize Liberia's independence.[32] The United States did not recognize Liberia until 1862, after the Southern states, which had strong political power in the American government, declared their secession and the formation of the Confederacy.[33][34][35]
The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians, who at the beginning established political and economic dominance in the coastal areas that the ACS had purchased; they maintained relations with the United States and contacts in developing these areas and the resulting trade. Their passage of the 1865 Ports of Entry Act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes, ostensibly to "encourage the growth of civilized values" before such trade was allowed in the region.[29]
By 1877, the True Whig Party was the country's most powerful political entity.[36] It was made up primarily of Americo-Liberians, who maintained social, economic and political dominance well into the 20th century, repeating patterns of European colonists in other nations in Africa. Competition for office was usually contained within the party; a party nomination virtually ensured election.[37]
Pressure from the United Kingdom, which controlled Sierra Leone to the northwest, and France, with its interests in the north and east, led to a loss of Liberia's claims to extensive territories. Both Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast annexed territories.[38] Liberia struggled to attract investment to develop infrastructure and a larger, industrial economy.
There was a decline in the production of Liberian goods in the late 19th century, and the government struggled financially, resulting in indebtedness on a series of international loans.[39] On July 16, 1892, Martha Ann Erskine Ricks met Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle and presented her with a handmade quilt, Liberia's first diplomatic gift. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Ricks said, "I had heard it often, from the time I was a child, how good the Queen had been to my people—to slaves—and how she wanted us to be free."[32]
American and other international interests emphasized resource extraction, with rubber production as a major industry in the early 20th century.[40] In 1914, Imperial Germany accounted for three-quarters of the trade of Liberia. This was a cause for concern among the British colonial authorities of Sierra Leone and the French colonial authorities of French Guinea and the Ivory Coast as tensions with Germany increased.[41]
Liberia remained neutral during World War I until August 4, 1917, when it declared war on Germany. Subsequently, it was one of 32 nations to take part in the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, which ended the war and established the League of Nations; Liberia was among the few African and non-Western nations to participate in the conference and the founding of the league.[42]
In 1927, the country's elections again showed the power of the True Whig Party, with electoral proceedings that have been called some of the most rigged ever;[43] the winning candidate was declared to have received votes amounting to more than 15 times the number of eligible voters.[44] (The loser actually received around 60% of the eligible vote.)[44]
Soon after, allegations of modern slavery in Liberia led the League of Nations to establish the Christy Commission. Findings included government involvement in widespread "forced or compulsory labour". Minority ethnic groups especially were exploited in a system that enriched well-connected elites.[45] As a result of the report, President Charles D. B. King and Vice President Allen N. Yancy resigned.[46]
In the mid-20th century, Liberia gradually began to modernize with American assistance. During World War II, the United States made major infrastructure improvements to support its military efforts in Africa and Europe against Germany. It built the Freeport of Monrovia and Roberts International Airport under the Lend-Lease program before its entry into the Second World War.[47]
After the war, President William Tubman encouraged foreign investment, with Liberia achieving the second-highest rate of economic growth in the world during the 1950s.[47] In international affairs, it was a founding member of the United Nations, a vocal critic of South African apartheid,[48] a proponent of African independence from European colonial powers, and a supporter of Pan-Africanism. Liberia also helped to fund the Organisation of African Unity.[49]
On April 12, 1980, a military coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe of the Krahn ethnic group overthrew and killed President William R. Tolbert Jr. Doe and the other plotters later executed most of Tolbert's cabinet and other Americo-Liberian government officials and True Whig Party members on a Monrovia beach.[50] The coup leaders formed the People's Redemption Council (PRC) to govern the country.[50] A strategic Cold War ally of the West, Doe received significant financial backing from the United States while critics condemned the PRC for corruption and political repression.[50]
After Liberia adopted a new constitution in 1985, Doe was elected president in subsequent elections that were internationally condemned as fraudulent.[50] On November 12, 1985, a failed coup was launched by Thomas Quiwonkpa, whose soldiers briefly occupied the national radio station.[51] Government repression intensified in response, as Doe's troops responded by executing members of the Gio and Mano ethnic groups in Nimba County.[51]
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia, a rebel group led by Charles Taylor, launched an insurrection in December 1989 against Doe's government with the backing of neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. This triggered the First Liberian Civil War.[52] By September 1990, Doe's forces controlled only a small area just outside the capital, and Doe was captured and executed in that month by rebel forces.[53]
The rebels soon split into conflicting factions. The Economic Community Monitoring Group under the Economic Community of West African States organized an armed intervention.[54] Between 1989 and 1997, around 60,000 to 80,000 Liberians died, and, by 1996, around 700,000 others had been displaced into refugee camps in neighboring countries.[55] A peace deal between warring parties was reached in 1995, leading to Taylor's election as president in 1997.[53]
Under Taylor's leadership, Liberia became a pariah state due to its use of blood diamonds and illegal timber exports to fund the Revolutionary United Front in the Sierra Leone Civil War.[56] The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, a rebel group based in the northwest of the country, launched an armed insurrection against Taylor.[57]
In March 2003, a second rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, began launching attacks against Taylor from the southeast.[57] Peace talks between the factions began in Accra in June of that year, and Taylor was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) for crimes against humanity the same month.[56] By July 2003, the rebels had launched an assault on Monrovia.[58] Under heavy pressure from the international community and the domestic Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement,[59] Taylor resigned in August 2003 and went into exile in Nigeria.[60] A peace deal was signed later that month.[61]
The United Nations Mission in Liberia began arriving in September 2003 to provide security and monitor the peace accord,[62] and an interim government took power the following October.[63] The subsequent 2005 elections were internationally regarded as the freest and fairest in Liberian history.[64] Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a US-educated economist, former Minister of Finance and future Nobel Prize for Peace winner, was elected as the first female president in Africa.[64] Upon her inauguration, Sirleaf requested the extradition of Taylor from Nigeria and transferred him to the SCSL for trial in The Hague.[65][66]
In 2006, the government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the causes and crimes of the civil war.[67] In 2011, July 26 was proclaimed by President Sirleaf as National Independence Day.[68] In October 2011, peace activist Leymah Gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize in her work of leading a women's peace movement that brought to an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003.[69] In November 2011, President Sirleaf was re-elected for a second six-year term.[70]
Following the 2017 Liberian general election, former professional football striker George Weah, considered one of the greatest African players of all time,[71][72] was sworn in as president on January 22, 2018, becoming the fourth youngest serving president in Africa.[73] The inauguration marked Liberia's first fully democratic transition in 74 years.[74] Weah cited fighting corruption, reforming the economy, combating illiteracy, and improving living conditions as the main targets of his presidency.[74] Opposition leader Joseph Boakai defeated Weah in the tightly contested 2023 presidential election.[75] On 22 January 2024, Boakai was sworn in as Liberia's new president.[76]
Liberia is situated in West Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to the country's southwest. It lies between latitudes 4° and 9°N, and longitudes 7° and 12°W.
The landscape is characterized by mostly flat to rolling coastal plains that contain mangroves and swamps, which rise to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast.[77]
Tropical rainforests cover the hills, while elephant grass and semi-deciduous forests make up the dominant vegetation in the northern sections.[77]
Liberia's watershed tends to move in a southwestern pattern toward the sea as new rains move down the forested plateau off the inland mountain range of Guinée Forestière, in Guinea. Cape Mount near the border with Sierra Leone receives the most precipitation in the nation.[77]
Liberia's main northwestern boundary is traversed by the Mano River while its southeast limits are bounded by the Cavalla River.[77] Liberia's three largest rivers are St. Paul exiting near Monrovia, the river St. John at Buchanan, and the Cestos River, all of which flow into the Atlantic. The Cavalla is the longest river in the nation at 320 miles (510 km).[77]
The highest point wholly within Liberia is Mount Wuteve at 4,724 feet (1,440 m) above sea level in the northwestern Liberia range of the West Africa Mountains and the Guinea Highlands.[77] Mount Nimba, near Yekepa, is higher at 1,752 metres (5,748 ft) above sea level, but is not wholly within Liberia as Nimba is located at the point where Liberia borders both Guinea and Ivory Coast. Nimba is thus the tallest mountain in those countries, as well.[78]
The equatorial climate, in the south of the country, is hot year-round with heavy rainfall from May to October with a short interlude in mid-July to August.[77] During the winter months of November to March, dry dust-laden harmattan winds blow inland, causing many problems for residents.[77] Climate change in Liberia causes many problems as Liberia is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Like many other countries in Africa, Liberia both faces existing environmental issues, as well as sustainable development challenges.[79] Because of its location in Africa, it is vulnerable to extreme weather, the coastal effects of sea level rise, and changing water systems and water availability.[80] Climate change is expected to severely impact the economy of Liberia, especially agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. Liberia has been an active participant in international and local policy changes related to climate change.[81]
Forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees, while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May–October rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century.[82] Four terrestrial ecoregions lie within Liberia's borders: Guinean montane forests, Western Guinean lowland forests, Guinean forest–savanna mosaic, and Guinean mangroves.[83] It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.79/10, ranking it 116th globally out of 172 countries.[84]
Liberia is a global biodiversity hotspot—a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans.[85]
Endangered species are hunted for human consumption as bushmeat in Liberia.[86] Species hunted for food in Liberia include elephants, pygmy hippopotamus, chimpanzees, leopards, duikers, and other monkeys.[86] Bushmeat is often exported to neighboring Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, despite a ban on the cross-border sale of wild animals.[86]
Bushmeat is widely eaten in Liberia, and is considered a delicacy.[88] A 2004 public opinion survey found that bushmeat ranked second behind fish amongst residents of the capital Monrovia as a preferred source of protein.[88] Of households where bushmeat was served, 80% of residents said they cooked it "once in a while," while 13% cooked it once a week and 7% cooked bushmeat daily.[88] The survey was conducted during the last civil war, and bushmeat consumption is now believed to be far higher.[88]
Trypanosoma brucei gambiense is endemic in some animal hosts here including both domestic and wild.[89] This causes the disease nagana.[89] In pigs here and in Ivory Coast, that includes Tbg group 1. Tbg and its vector Glossina palpalis gambiense are a constant presence in the rainforests here.[89] Much research into Tbg was performed in the 1970s by Mehlitz and by Gibson, both working in Bong Mine with samples from around the country.[89] The West African pariah dog is also a host for Tbg.[89]
The Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is a constant presence here.[90]
The Hairy Slit-Faced Bat (Nycteris hispida) suffers from malaria here.[91]
Slash-and-burn agriculture is one of the human activities eroding Liberia's natural forests.[92] A 2004 UN report estimated that 99% of Liberians burned charcoal and fuel wood for cooking and heating, resulting in deforestation.[92]
Illegal logging has increased in Liberia since the end of the Second Civil War in 2003.[85] In 2012, President Sirleaf granted licenses to companies to cut down 58% of all the primary rainforest left in Liberia.[85] After international protests, many of those logging permits were canceled.[85] In September 2014, Liberia and Norway struck an agreement whereby Liberia ceased all logging in exchange for $150 million in development aid.[85]
Pollution is a significant issue in Monrovia.[93] Since 2006, the international community has paid for all garbage collection and disposal in Monrovia via the World Bank.[94]
Liberia is divided into fifteen counties, which, in turn, are subdivided into a total of 90 districts and further subdivided into clans. The oldest counties are Grand Bassa and Montserrado, both founded in 1839 prior to Liberian independence. Gbarpolu is the newest county, created in 2001. Nimba is the largest of the counties in size at 11,551 km2 (4,460 sq mi), while Montserrado is the smallest at 737.069 sq mi (1,909.00 km2).[95] Montserrado is also the most populous county with 1,144,806 residents as of the 2008 census.[95]
The fifteen counties are administered by superintendents appointed by the president. The Constitution calls for the election of various chiefs at the county and local level, but these elections have not taken place since 1985 due to war and financial constraints.[96]
Parallel to the administrative divisions of the country are the local and municipal divisions. Liberia currently does not have any constitutional framework or uniform statutes which deal with the creation or revocation of local governments.[97] All existing local governments—cities, townships, and a borough—were created by specific acts of the Liberian government, and thus the structure and duties/responsibilities of each local government vary greatly from one to the other.[98]
Map # | County | Capital | Population (2022 Census)[99] |
Area (mi2)[95] |
Number of Districts |
Date Created |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bomi | Tubmanburg | 133,668 | 749 sq mi (1,940 km2) | 4 | 1984 |
2 | Bong | Gbarnga | 467,502 | 3,386 sq mi (8,770 km2) | 12 | 1964 |
3 | Gbarpolu | Bopolu | 95,995 | 3,740 sq mi (9,700 km2) | 6 | 2001 |
4 | Grand Bassa | Buchanan | 293,557 | 3,064 sq mi (7,940 km2) | 8 | 1839 |
5 | Grand Cape Mount | Robertsport | 178,798 | 1,993 sq mi (5,160 km2) | 5 | 1844 |
6 | Grand Gedeh | Zwedru | 216,692 | 4,047 sq mi (10,480 km2) | 3 | 1964 |
7 | Grand Kru | Barclayville | 109,342 | 1,503 sq mi (3,890 km2) | 18 | 1984 |
8 | Lofa | Voinjama | 367,376 | 3,854 sq mi (9,980 km2) | 6 | 1964 |
9 | Margibi | Kakata | 304,946 | 1,010 sq mi (2,600 km2) | 4 | 1985 |
10 | Maryland | Harper | 172,202 | 886 sq mi (2,290 km2) | 2 | 1857 |
11 | Montserrado | Bensonville | 1,920,914 | 737 sq mi (1,910 km2) | 17 | 1839 |
12 | Nimba | Sanniquellie | 621,841 | 4,459 sq mi (11,550 km2) | 6 | 1964 |
13 | Rivercess | River Cess | 90,777 | 2,159 sq mi (5,590 km2) | 7 | 1985 |
14 | River Gee | Fish Town | 124,653 | 1,974 sq mi (5,110 km2) | 6 | 2000 |
15 | Sinoe | Greenville | 150,358 | 3,913 sq mi (10,130 km2) | 17 | 1843 |
The government of Liberia, modeled on the government of the United States, 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, consisting of the Supreme Court and several lower courts.[1]
The president serves as head of government, head of state, and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia.[1] 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 and can serve up to two terms in office.[1]
The Legislature is composed 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.[1] 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 popular vote of their district into a six-year term. The Senate is made up of two senators from each county for a total of 30 senators.[1] Senators serve nine-year terms and are elected at-large by a plurality of the popular vote.[1] The vice president serves as the President of the Senate, with a President pro tempore serving in their absence.[100]
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 speciality courts, magistrate courts, and justices of the peace.[101] The judicial system is a blend of common law, based on Anglo-American law, and customary law.[1] 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.[101]
From 1877 to 1980, the government was dominated by the True Whig Party.[102] Today, over 20 political parties are registered in the country, based largely around personalities and ethnic groups.[64] Most parties suffer from poor organizational capacity.[64] The 2005 elections marked the first time that the president's party did not gain a majority of seats in the Legislature.[64] According to 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices Liberia is ranked 65th electoral democracy worldwide and 9th electoral democracy in Africa.[103]
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) have 2,010 active personnel as of 2023, with most of them organized into the 23rd Infantry Brigade, consisting of two infantry battalions, one engineer company, and one military police company. There is also a small National Coast Guard with 60 personnel and several patrol ships.[104] The AFL used to have an Air Wing, but all of its aircraft and facilities have been out of operation since the civil wars. It is in the process of reactivating its Air Wing with help from the Nigerian Air Force.