“Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped” - Liberian Proverb
(Liberia flag (1847-Present))
Liberia is located in Western Africa.
(Map of where Liberia is located)
Its capital is Monrovia. Monrovia is also its largest city. The official language is English. The country is 43,000 square miles. Liberia is 95% African, and 5% Asian. 85.5% of Liberia practice Christianity, 12.2% practice Islam, 1.6% are atheist, and 0.5% practice traditional African religion. The total population is 4,503,000. The climate is tropical. Liberia is a unitary presidential republic.
(Monrovia, capital of Liberia)
Liberian cuisine consists of rice, cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes.
(Liberian cuisine)
The major style of music is Highlife.
(Liberian musicians performing Highlife music)
Liberia’s most popular sport is soccer.
(Liberian soccer team)
Liberia was 1st inhabited in the 12th century by the Dei, Bassa, Kru, Gola and Kissi people.
(Kru women)
In 1375 the Mali empire ruled the region. In 1461 the Portuguese came to the region. The Portuguese made slave trade posts in the region.
(A drawing of the slave trade in Liberia)
In 1591 the region was ruled by the Songhai empire. There was a lot of trade between the people of this region and those near by. In 1822 African American volunteers were sent to the region to establish a colony for freed African Americans.
(African Americans moving to Liberia)
In 1867 13,000 African Americans moved to Liberia. There were many misunderstandings and confrontations between the indigenous people and African Americans. On July 26th, 1847 Liberia gained its independence.
(Liberian flag (1847-Present))
The 1865 the ports of entry act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes of Liberia. In the 1930’s the US built the Freeport of Monrovia and Roberts International Airport under the Lend Lease program in Liberia.
(Liberia in the 1930’s)
In 1945 Liberia became the founding member of the United Nations. In 1980 a military coup overthrew the government and Samuel Doe became the leader of the country.
(Samuel Doe)
In 1985 Liberia adopted a new constitution. Also in 1985 there was a failed coup to overthrow the government. In 1989 the National Patriotic Front of Liberia launched an insurrection. This started the 1st Liberian Civil War.
(Liberian soldiers during the 1st civil war)
Doe was executed during the war. By 1996 200,000 people were killed in the war. In 1997 Charles Taylor became president.
(Charles Taylor)
In 1999 the 2nd Liberian Civil War began.
(Soldiers in the 2nd Liberian Civil War)
In 2003 the Movement for Democracy in Liberia launched an attack on Taylor’s government. Also in 2003 peace talks began where Taylor was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for crimes against humanity. Taylor then stepped down as leader of Liberia and was exiled. In the 2005 elections Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president and was the 1st female president of Africa.
(Ellen Sirleaf)
In 2006 the government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the causes and crimes of the civil war. In 2010 Liberia was ranked 87th of 178 countries for corruption.
(Liberia in 2010)
Today marks the 169th anniversary of Liberia’s independence and we would like to say happy independence day Liberia.
Videos of Liberia Independence
(P.S. sorry for the late post)
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