Discover Liberia

Explore and discover Liberia's rivers, mountains, national parks, topography and historic sites like Providence Island and Blue Lake, Africa's hidden coastal gem in images and video. Liberia is located on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north, the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south. The land next to the sea is a 350-mile strip of mangrove marshes and lagoons that rises, as you venture inland, to plateaus of some 1500-2000 feet that are covered in grasses and forests. Further north are mountains dominated by the mile-high Nimba Mountain that lies at the intersection of the Ivory Coast, Guinea and Liberia. The Saint John River is one of Liberia's six main rivers, forming in Guinea and flowing through the Nimba Mountains into Liberia, then into the Atlantic Ocean.

Liberia's other rivers include the Mano, Lofa, Saint Paul, Cestos, Cavalla, Mesurado and the Ya River. Liberia also has a number of lakes. One of the largest, Lake Piso, located fifty miles north-west of Monrovia, covers an area of some 40 square miles. In 1998, it burst its banks, flooding nineteen nearby villages, leaving 2000 homeless. During the civil war, many Liberian villagers made their way to Piso to seek refuge on islands on the lake, such as Massatin, named after a woman called Massa, a 15th-century farmer who lived alone on the island. Those visiting Liberia should take time to visit the Sapo National Park. Founded in 1983 and covering some 700 sq miles, it's home to a variety of wildlife from chimpanzees to pygmy hippos as well as forest elephants and leopards. The park itself is a lowland forest and a virtually intact ecosystem.

Discover Liberia

Volunteer Liberia

Check out all the latest fee paying and free volunteer work placements with local projects in Liberia.
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Life in Liberia

Facts, figures and a video about daily rural life in Liberia today years after the civil war.
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Liberia Map

Use this Google Earth satellite map of Liberia to explore and take a virtual tour of the country.
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Liberia Profile

Find out all about Liberia in a series of information articles, latest daily news, videos, and images.
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<h3>Discover Liberia Video</h3>

Liberia Topography Other places worth a visit are Providence Island (left), initially called Dozoa Island then renamed Perseverance Island reflecting the challenges faced by returning slaves. It was the site of the first successful settlement of American freedmen by the American Colonisation Society and is located approximately 500-600 meters away from the bar mouth of the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mesurado River and Stockton Creek. The island is characterised by a cement pillar and concrete floor believed to be the first concrete work in the history of the country, an ancient water well, and an old landing docking platform for incoming canoes and ships, it is also home to the oldest cotton tree in Liberia and has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by the government of Liberia.

Also try to visit Blue Lake in Bomi County, named after the clear blue waters that have filled a giant crater left behind after the Liberia Mining Company closed in the late 1970s; and for those with a taste of history, the town of Harper in south east Liberia which became home to the first slaves who came back to Liberia who later founded the country. The town has many old mansions and relics reflecting the area's past; however, it was badly damaged in the Civil War, and many of the buildings were burnt out and in a terminal state of decay. Nevertheless worth a visit, not least for the beaches there with their undeveloped, natural beauty. The video (above) shows images of Liberia and gives a good look and feel of the country.