| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Republic of Liberia
conventional short form: Liberia |
| Capital: |
Monrovia |
| Location: |
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
6 30 N, 9 30 W |
| Area: |
total: 111,370 sq km
land: 96,320 sq km
water: 15,050 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly larger than Tennessee |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 1,585 km
border countries: Guinea 563 km, Cote d'Ivoire 716 km, Sierra Leone 306 km |
| Coastline: |
579 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers |
| Terrain: |
mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wuteve 1,380 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, hydropower |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
republic |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
15 counties; Bomi, Bong, Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland, Montserrado, Nimba, River Cess, River Gee, Sinoe |
| Independence |
26 July 1847 |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 26 July (1847) |
| Constitution: |
6 January 1986 |
| 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 |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: Chairman Gyude BRYANT (since 14 October 2003); note - this is an interim position until presidential elections in 2005; the chairman is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: Chairman Gyude BRYANT (since 14 October 2003); note - this is an interim position until presidential elections in 2005; the chairman is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; note - current cabinet positions are divided among groups participating in the Liberian peace process
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (renewable); election last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held 11 October 2005)
election results: Charles Ghankay TAYLOR elected president; percent of vote - Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (NPP) 75.3%, Ellen Johnson SIRLEAF (UP) 9.6%, Alhaji KROMAH (ALCOP) 4%, other 11.1%; note - Taylor stepped down in August 2003
note: a UN-brokered cease-fire among warring factions and the Liberian government resulted in the August 2003 resignation of former president Charles TAYLOR; a jointly agreed upon replacement, Chairman Gyude BRYANT, assumed office as head of the National Transitional Government on 14 October 2003 |
| Legislative
Branch: |
bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (26 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve nine-year terms) and the House of Representatives (64 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held 11 October 2005); House of Representatives - last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held 11 October 2005)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 21, UP 3, ALCOP 2; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 49, UP 7, ALCOP 3, Alliance of Political Parties 2, UPP 2, LPP 1 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Alliance of Political Parties (a coalition of LAP and LUP) [leader NA]; All Liberia Coalition Party or ALCOP [Peter KERBAY]; Liberian Action Party or LAP [C. Gyude BRYANT]; Liberian People's Party or LPP [Koffa NAGBE]; Liberia Unification Party or LUP [leader NA]; National Patriotic Party or NPP [Cyril ALLEN] - governing party; United People's Party or UPP [Wesley JOHNSON]; Unity Party or UP [Charles CLARKE] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
3,482,211 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 43.6% (male 765,662/female 751,134)
15-64 years: 52.8% (male 896,206/female 940,985)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 64,547/female 63,677) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 18.06 years
male: 17.69 years
female: 18.42 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Liberian(s)
adjective: Liberian |
| Ethnic groups: |
indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves) |
| Religions: |
indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20% |
| Languages: |
English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
7,000 (2001) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
2,000 (2001) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: the limited services available are found almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia
domestic: fully automatic system with very low density of .21 fixed mainlines per 100 persons; limited wireless service available
international: country code - 231; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 0, FM 7, shortwave 2 (2001) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
1 (plus four low-power repeaters) (2001) |
| Internet country
code: |
.lr |
| Internet hosts: |
14 (2004) |
| Internet users: |
1,000 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 490 km
standard gauge: 345 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 145 km 1.067-m gauge
note: none of the railways are in operation (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 10,600 km
paved: 657 km
unpaved: 9,943 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Buchanan, Greenville, Harper, Monrovia, Robertsport |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 1,465 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 50,555,752 GRT/79,125,329 DWT
by type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 275, cargo 91, chemical tanker 173, combination ore/oil 22, container 388, liquefied gas 78, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 324, refrigerated cargo 57, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 9, vehicle carrier 35
foreign-owned: 1,392 (Argentina 8, Australia 2, Austria 13, Bahamas 3, Brazil 6, British 1, Canada 2, Chile 1, China 36, Croatia 7, Cyprus 1, Denmark 5, France 3, Germany 511, Greece 149, Hong Kong 29, India 4, Indonesia 1, Isle of Man 5, Israel 7, Italy 12, Japan 106, Latvia 18, Monaco 10, Netherlands 18, Nigeria 1, Norway 57, Pakistan 1, Poland 14, Romania 1, Russia 63, Saudi Arabia 23, Singapore 29, Slovenia 1, South Korea 4, Sweden 12, Switzerland 10, Taiwan 54, Turkey 4, Ukraine 7, UAE 10, United Kingdom 56, United States 84, Uruguay 3) (2005) |
| Airports: |
53 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 2
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 51
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 8
under 914 m: 38 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
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