LIBERIA                                                                         
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 111,370 km2; land area: 96,320 km2                                  
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee                                
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 1,585 km total; Guinea 563 km, Ivory Coast 716 km,             
Sierra Leone 306 km                                                             
                                                                                
Coastline: 579 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;                   
                                                                                
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                                          
                                                                                
Natural resources: iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold                             
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures              
2%; forest and woodland 39%; other 55%; includes irrigated NEGL%                
                                                                                
Environment: West Africa's largest tropical rain forest, subject to             
deforestation                                                                   
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 2,730,446 (July 1991), growth rate 3.4% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 45 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 124 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 59 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Liberian(s); adjective--Liberian                             
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: indigenous African tribes, including Kpelle,                  
Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and        
Bella 95%; descendants of repatriated slaves known as Americo-Liberians         
5%                                                                              
                                                                                
Religion: traditional 70%, Muslim 20%, Christian 10%                            
                                                                                
Language: English (official); more than 20 local languages of the               
Niger-Congo language group; English used by about 20%                           
                                                                                
Literacy: 40% (male 50%, female 29%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 510,000, including 220,000 in the monetary economy;                
agriculture 70.5%, services 10.8%, industry and commerce 4.5%, other            
14.2%; non-African foreigners hold about 95% of the top-level management        
and engineering jobs; 52% of population of working age                          
                                                                                
Organized labor: 2% of labor force                                              
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Liberia                                             
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: Monrovia                                                               
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 13 counties; Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa,                 
Grand Cape Mount, Grand Jide, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland,               
Montserrado, Nimba, Rivercess, Sino                                             
                                                                                
Independence: 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                                          
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 26 July (1847)                              
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly consists of an                  
upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives             
                                                                                
Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court                                         
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--interim President Dr.                    
Amos SAWYER (since 15 November 1990); interim Vice President Ronald DIGGS       
(since 15 November 1990); note--this is an interim government appointed         
by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that will be          
replaced after elections are held under a West African-brokered                 
peace plan; rival rebel factions led by Prince Y. JOHNSON and Charles           
TAYLOR are challenging the Sawyer government's legitimacy while                 
observing a tenuous cease fire; the former president, Gen. Dr. Samuel           
Kanyon DOE, was ousted and killed on 9 September 1990 in a coup led by          
Prince Y. JOHNSON                                                               
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), Augustus CAINE, chairman;          
Liberian Action Party (LAP), Emmanuel KOROMAH, chairman;                        
Unity Party (UP), Carlos SMITH, chairman;                                       
United People's Party (UPP), Gabriel Baccus MATTHEWS, chairman                  
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held on 15 October 1985 (next to be held NA);                   
results--Gen. Dr. Samuel Kanyon DOE (NDPL) 50.9%, Jackson DOE (LAP)             
26.4%, other 22.7%; note--President Doe was killed by rebel forces              
on 9 September 1990;                                                            
                                                                                
Senate--last held on 15 October 1985 (next to be held NA);                      
results--percent of vote by party NA;                                           
seats--(26 total) NDPL 21, LAP 3, UP 1, LUP 1;                                  
                                                                                
House of Representatives--last held on 15 October 1985 (next                    
to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA;                           
seats--(64 total) NDPL 51, LAP 8, UP 3, LUP 2                                   
                                                                                
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,                  
ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,       
LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO                   
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Eugenia A.                                
WORDSWORTH-STEVENSON; Chancery at 5201 16th Street NW, Washington DC            
20011; telephone (202) 723-0437 through 0440; there is a Liberian               
Consulate General in New York;                                                  
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Peter J. de VOS; Embassy at 111 United Nations                   
Drive, Monrovia (mailing address is P. O. Box 98, Monrovia, or APO New          
York 09155); telephone  231  222991 through 222994                              
                                                                                
Flag: 11 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom)                       
alternating with white; there is a white five-pointed star on a blue            
square in the upper hoist-side corner; the design was based on the US           
flag                                                                            
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Civil war during 1990 destroyed much of Liberia's                     
economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Expatriate       
businessmen fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them.           
Many will not return. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources,             
forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a             
producer and exporter of basic products, while local manufacturing,             
mainly foreign owned, had been small in scope. Political instability            
threatens prospects for economic reconstruction and repatriation of             
some 750,000 Liberian refugees who fled to neighboring countries.               
                                                                                
GDP: $988 million, per capita $400; real growth rate 1.5% (1988)                
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (1989)                                    
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 43% urban (1988)                                             
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $242.1 million; expenditures $435.4 million,                   
including capital expenditures of $29.5 million (1989)                          
                                                                                
Exports: $505 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--iron ore 61%, rubber 20%, timber 11%, coffee;                      
                                                                                
partners--US, EC, Netherlands                                                   
                                                                                
Imports: $394 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--rice, mineral fuels, chemicals, machinery,                         
transportation equipment, other foodstuffs;                                     
                                                                                
partners--US, EC, Japan, China, Netherlands, ECOWAS                             
                                                                                
External debt: $1.6 billion (December 1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 1.5% in manufacturing (1987);                
accounts for 22% of GDP                                                         
                                                                                
Electricity: 400,000 kW capacity; 730 million kWh produced,                     
290 kWh per capita (1989)                                                       
                                                                                
Industries: rubber processing, food processing, construction                    
materials, furniture, palm oil processing, mining (iron ore, diamonds)          
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for about 40% of GDP (including fishing and               
forestry); principal products--rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa, rice,             
cassava, palm oil, sugarcane, bananas, sheep, and goats; not                    
self-sufficient in food, imports 25% of rice consumption                        
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $665                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $853 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $25 million;             
Communist countries (1970-89), $77 million                                      
                                                                                
Currency: Liberian dollar (plural--dollars);                                    
1 Liberian dollar (L$) = 100 cents                                              
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Liberian dollars (L$) per US$1--1.00 (fixed rate                
since 1940); unofficial parallel exchange rate of L$2.5 = US$1, January         
1989                                                                            
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 480 km total; 328 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 152 km              
1.067-meter narrow gauge; all lines single track; rail systems owned and        
operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with           
Liberian Government                                                             
                                                                                
Highways: 10,087 km total; 603 km bituminous treated, 2,848 km                  
all weather, 4,313 km dry weather; there are also 2,323 km of private,          
laterite-surfaced roads open to public use, owned by rubber and timber          
companies                                                                       
                                                                                
Ports: Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, Harper (or Cape Palmas)                  
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 1,563 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling                       
53,053,254 DWT/94,597,871 DWT; includes 18 passenger, 1 short-sea               
passenger, 156 cargo, 47 refrigerated cargo, 15 roll-on/roll-off cargo,         
67 vehicle carrier, 74 container, 5 barge carrier, 450 petroleum, oils,         
and lubricants (POL) tanker, 104 chemical, 60 combination ore/oil, 44           
liquefied gas, 6 specialized tanker, 485 bulk, 1 multifunction large-load       
carrier, 30 combination bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry; all         
ships are foreign owned; the top four owning flags are US 19%, Japan 17%,       
Hong Kong 12%, and Norway 10%; China owns at least 28 ships, Bulgaria           
owns 3, and Poland owns 1                                                       
                                                                                
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
Airports: 75 total, 58 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;                
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with            
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: telephone and telegraph service via radio relay             
network; main center is Monrovia; 8,500 telephones; stations--3 AM, 4 FM,       
5 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations                                  
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Armed Forces of Liberia (includes Army, Navy, Air Force),             
Coast Guard, National Police Force                                              
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 648,636; 346,349 fit for                    
military service; no conscription                                               
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $NA, 2.4% of GDP (1987)                                   
                                                                                
