Hummingbird Resources
The Republic of Liberia
Geography
- Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone
- Area: 111,369 km²
- Capital: Monrovia (6°19′N, 10°48′W)
- Neighbors: Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire
- Climate: tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers
People
- Population: 3,283,000 (2005 est.)
- Official language: English
- Religion: indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%
Formation
- Colonisation: by African-Americans
- Consolidation: 1821-1842
- Independence: 26 July 1847
Government
- Type: Republic
- President: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
- Legal system: dual system of statutory law based on Anglo-American common law for the modern sector and customary law based on unwritten tribal practices for indigenous sector
Economy
- GDP: $3.292 billion (2005 est.)
- Growth: 2.4 % (2004)
- Major trading partners: The European Union, Japan, Sierra Leone, the United States and China
- Natural resources: iron ore, diamonds, gold, hydropower, timber
- Currency: Liberian Dollar (LRD)
- Exchange rate: £1 is approximately 100 LRD
Past conflict
Liberia has experienced an intermittent 14-year civil war from 1989 to 2003, before which it was one of the more successful economies in West Africa.
Liberia was relatively calm until 1980 when William Tolbert was overthrown by Sergeant Samuel Doe after food price riots. The coup marked the end of dominance by the minority Americo-Liberians, who had ruled since independence.
By the late 1980s, arbitrary rule and economic collapse culminated in civil war when Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) militia overran much of the country. Mr Doe was executed.
In 1995 a peace agreement was signed, and Charles Taylor was elected as president. The respite was brief and anti-government fighting broke out in parts of the country in 1999. The Taylor government was accused of supporting the civil war in Sierra Leone, of fostering their armed conflict by the acquisition and sale of ‘conflict diamonds’, and of attempting to invade and destabilise neighbouring Guinea.
Taylor stepped down in 2003, under international pressure. He is now facing trial in The Hague for alleged war crimes for supporting rebels in Sierra Leone.
Recovery
A transitional government steered the country towards elections in 2005, when US-educated economist and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated as Africa's first elected woman head of state. This Government is anxious to encourage economic development, particularly through mining and other activities, that will provide immediate government revenue and employment opportunities for Liberian workers.
The Government is actively pursuing the investment of foreign capital and management expertise as the best means of expediting economic recovery. Recent success saw the withdrawal of UN sanctions on the export of diamonds and timber from Liberia.
The UN currently maintains some 15,000 soldiers in Liberia. The civil was displaced thousands and resulted in the destruction of much of its viable infrastructure. However, Liberia is now experiencing a period of stability.
Mineral Resource Potential
Liberia has substantial, commercially recoverable natural resources, including gold, diamonds, iron ore and timber, and is one of the most highly mineralised countries in West Africa. However, there has been limited development of the industry, mostly owing to the civil war which took place around the time of the global mineral exploration boom of the 1990’s. As a result Liberia is significantly under-explored, particularly with regard to modern exploration methodologies.