Liberia Profile

Liberia, with its population of with its population 5.058 million (2020), is located on the west cost of Africa bordered by Sierra Leone on its west, Guinea to the north, the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to its south. There are few countries in Africa which epitomise the failure of an independent state more than the Republic of Liberia. It is as though everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and, once again, it is the people who are denied a meaningful existence or future due to the greed and authoritarianism of its rulers, all the more ironic as Liberia was founded by former American and Caribbean slaves seeking a new free way of life. Liberia enjoyed a period of relative calm until 1980 when Master Sergeant Samuel Doe staged a military coup killing the President William R. Tolbert, Jr. and executed most of his cabinet. Doe then suspended the constitution effectively ending Africa's first republic. The level of repression led to a prolonged civil war that erupted in 1989 headed by Charles Taylor in which President Doe was captured, tortured then killed.

Years of warfare continued, however Taylor was elected president in 1997 with the backing of former Libya President Muammar al-Gaddafi. Taylor's regime was just as harsh and brutal as its predecessor and further conflict erupted across the country in 1999 with international concern that Taylor was supporting rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. A state of emergency was declared by Taylor in January 2002 but by August the following year he was forced to step down and leave the country with the United Nations launching a major peacekeeping mission, however tensions between various grouping led to ongoing outbreaks of violence. In 2006 Taylor appeared before a UN backed court in Sierra Leone faced with charges of crimes against humanity and his trial ended in April 2012 with him being found guilty of all eleven charges levied against him. He was sentenced the following month to fifty years in prison.

Today Liberia reflects on a fourteen year long civil war in which 250,000 lives were lost out of its then even smaller population of 3.5 million, its infrastructure destroyed, more than 50% of the population living below the poverty line, translating into roughly 2.3 million Liberians who are unable to meet their basic needs with a child mortality rate (under fives) of 84.6 deaths per 1,000 live births (although significantly down from the 284 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1970.)

Since democracy was restored in Liberia following the civil war, the reconciliation process has been ongoing as are attempts to rebuild the nation's shattered economy. Some 16,000 peacekeepers from over a dozen countries served in Liberia from 2003 to 2018 however finally withdrew in the Spring of 2018 ending the United Nations peacekeeping mission as the country transitioned into what is hoped to be a new era of peace with internal state security taking over. Today Liberia is in 175th place out of 189 countries and territories in 2019 in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a country. On this page you can explore facts and information about Liberia in a series of articles and videos together with news about Liberia.

Liberia Profile: Volunteer in Liberia

Check out all the latest fee paying and free African volunteer work placements and charity work job opportunities abroad with local projects and volunteering organisations in Liberia.

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Liberia Profile: Liberia History

A brief history of Liberia from ancient times to the history of the slave trade to the formation of modern day Liberia and its civil war.

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Liberia Profile: Liberia Civil War

The causes of civil war in Liberia can be traced back to the founding of Liberia in 1847 as the returned former slaves still saw themselves as Americo-Liberian rather than African.

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Liberia Profile: Life in Liberia

About rural daily life in Liberia in pictures and images in a typical Liberian village together with a video about life in Liberia today.

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Liberia Profile: Liberia Children

Find out more about children's lives in Liberia in pictures and video together with facts and figures.

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Liberia Profile: Liberia Images

Take a virtual tour of Liberia in a series of pictures and video images and explore some of Liberia's main features.

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Liberia Profile: Monrovia Profile

A complete profile of Monrovia, capital city of Liberia including Monrovia information, facts, pictures and tourist attractions.

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Liberia Profile: Monrovia Airport

Two airports serve the capital city of Monrovia in Liberia, however it is Roberts International Airport, named after the country's first president, Joseph Roberts, that is the main international airport, locally referred to as Robertsfield, that will probably be your point of entry into Liberia for your volunteering work.

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Liberia Profile: Liberia Quiz