Liberia

Airports

total: 59 usable: 41 with permanent-surface runways: 2 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 4

Highways

total: 10,087 km paved: 603 km unpaved: gravel 5,171 km (includes 2323km of private roads of rubber and timber firms, open to the public); earth 4,313 km

Merchant marine

1,595 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 56,923,236 GRT/97,692,316 DWT, barge carrier 3, bulk 423, cargo 126, chemical 122, combination bulk 30, combination ore/oil 64, container 112, liquefied gas 67, oil tanker 468, passenger 32, refrigerated cargo 61, roll-on/roll-off cargo 19, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 7, vehicle carrier 59 note: a flag of convenience registry; all ships are foreign owned; the top 4 owning flags are US 14%, Japan 13%, Norway 10%, and Hong Kong 8%

Ports

Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, Harper (or Cape Palmas)

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

Telecommunications

telephone and telegraph service via radio relay network; main center is Monrovia; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 4 FM, 5 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station; most telecommunications services inoperable due to insurgency movement

Branches

the ultimate structure of the Liberian military force will depend on who is the victor in the ongoing civil war

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 707,927; fit for military service 377,950

Agriculture

accounts for about 40% of GDP (including fishing and forestry); principal products - rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava, palm oil, sugarcane, bananas, sheep, goats; not self-sufficient in food, imports 25% of rice consumption

Budget

revenues: $242.1 million expenditures: $435.4 million, including capital expenditures of $29.5 million (1989 est.)

Currency

1 Liberian dollar (L$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $665 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $870 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $25 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $77 million

Electricity

capacity: 410,000 kW production: 750 million kWh consumption per capita: 275 kWh (1991)

Exchange rates

Liberian dollars (L$) per US$1 - 1.00 (officially fixed rate since 1940); unofficial parallel exchange rate of L$7 = US$1, January 1992 (unofficial rate floats against the US dollar)

Exports

$505 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.) commodities: iron ore 61%, rubber 20%, timber 11%, coffee partners: US, EC, Netherlands

External debt

$2.1 billion (September 1993 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

increasingly a transshipment point for heroin and cocaine

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

Industrial production

growth rate NA% (1993-94); much industrial damage caused by factional warfare

Industries

rubber processing, food processing, construction materials, furniture, palm oil processing, mining (iron ore, diamonds)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

12% (1989)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $2.3 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$800 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

1.5% (1988)

Overview

Civil war since 1990 has destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Businessmen have 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 have fled to neighboring countries. The political impasse between the interim government and rebel leader Charles Taylor has prevented restoration of normal economic life, including the re-establishment of a strong central government with effective economic development programs.

Unemployment rate

43% urban (1988)

Area

total area: 111,370 sq km land area: 96,320 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers

Coastline

579 km

Environment

current issues: West Africa's largest tropical rain forest, subject to deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity natural hazards: dust-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to March) international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

20 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 1,585 km, Guinea 563 km, Cote d'Ivoire 716 km, Sierra Leone 306 km

Land use

arable land: 1% permanent crops: 3% meadows and pastures: 2% forest and woodland: 39% other: 55%

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Pacific Ocean between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation territorial sea: 200 nm

Natural resources

iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold

Terrain

mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast

Administrative divisions

13 counties; Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa, Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland, Montserrado, Nimba, River Cess, Sinoe

Capital

Monrovia

Constitution

6 January 1986

Digraph

LI

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Konah K. BLACKETT chancery: 5201 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: (202) 723-0437 through 0440 consulate(s) general: New York

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: Chairman of the Council of State David KPOMAKPOR (since March 1994); election last held on 15 October 1985 (next scheduled to be held September 1994); 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 cabinet: Cabinet; selected by the leaders of the major factions in the civil war note: a transitional coalition government was formed as part of a July 1993 Cotonou Peace Treaty negotiated under UN auspices by the leaders of the major factions in the civil war; elections now scheduled for September 1994

FAX

[231] 223710

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

Independence

26 July 1847

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

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

Legislative branch

unicameral Transitional Legislative Assembly, the members of which are appointed by the leaders of the major factions in the civil war note: the former bicameral legislature no longer exists and there is no assurance that it will ever be reconstituted

Member of

ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Liberia conventional short form: Liberia

National holiday

Independence Day, 26 July (1847)

Political parties and leaders

National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), Augustus CAINE, chairman; Liberian Action Party (LAP), Emmanuel KOROMAH, chairman; Unity Party (UP), Joseph KOFA, chairman; United People's Party (UPP), Gabriel Baccus MATTHEWS, chairman; National Patriotic Party (NPP), Charles TAYLOR, chairman; Liberian Peoples Party (LPP), Dusty WOLOKOLLIE, chairman

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d' Affaires William P. TWADDELL embassy: 111 United Nations Drive, Monrovia mailing address: P. O. Box 100098, Mamba Point, Monrovia, or APO AE 09813 telephone: [231] 222991 through 222994

Birth rate

43.48 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

12.34 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), Americo-Liberians 5% (descendants of repatriated slaves)

Infant mortality rate

113.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

510,000 including 220,000 in the monetary economy by occupation: agriculture 70.5%, services 10.8%, industry and commerce 4.5%, other 14.2% note: non-African foreigners hold about 95% of the top-level management and engineering jobs; 52% of population of working age

Languages

English 20% (official), Niger-Congo language group about 20 local languages come from this group

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 57.73 years male: 55.27 years female: 60.25 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 40% male: 50% female: 29%

Nationality

noun: Liberian(s) adjective: Liberian

Net migration rate

2.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

2,972,766 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

3.33% (1994 est.)

Religions

traditional 70%, Muslim 20%, Christian 10%

Total fertility rate

6.36 children born/woman (1994 est.)