Liberia: Background & Geography

Introduction Liberia
Background:
 Years of fighting, coupled with the flight of most businesses, have disrupted formal economic activity. A still unsettled domestic security situation has slowed the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country. President TAYLOR, who won the 1997 presidential elections after an eight-year-long civil war, was never able to fully eliminate rebel groups that sought to oust him by force. Rebel attacks on Monrovia, coupled with two years of UN-imposed sanctions for TAYLOR'S meddling in Sierra Leone's civil war, finally prompted TAYLOR'S abdication from power in August 2003. A transitional government - composed of rebel, government, and civil society groups - assumed control in October 2003. Chairman Gyude BRYANT, who has a two-year mandate to oversee efforts to rebuild Liberia, heads the new government.
Geography Liberia
Location:
 Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone
Geographic coordinates:
 6 30 N, 9 30 W
Map references:
 Africa
Area:
 total: 111,370 sq km
water: 15,050 sq km
land: 96,320 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 - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
 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
Elevation extremes:
 lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wuteve 1,380 m
Natural resources:
 iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, hydropower
Land use:
 arable land: 1.97%
permanent crops: 2.08%
other: 95.95% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 30 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 dust-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to March)
Environment - current issues:
 tropical rain forest deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity; pollution of coastal waters from oil residue and raw sewage
Environment - international agreements:
 party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:
 facing the Atlantic Ocean, the coastline is characterized by lagoons, mangrove swamps, and river-deposited sandbars; the inland grassy plateau supports limited agriculture

See Also: