Where is Liberia?
About Liberia
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Liberia is an average size country in western Africa.
Liberia borders the Atlantic Ocean.
The land is mostly flat coastal plains rising to a plateau and low mountains in the north east.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Liberia, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 6 30N
Longitude - 9 30W
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Check the weather at the international ariport now. It is about 50 kms due east of Monrovia.
This is the time in Monrovia now
The Liberian flag is 11 equal horizontal stripes of red, top and bottom, alternating with white. A white five-pointed star appears on a blue square in the upper
flag pole side corner. The stripes represent the 11 signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence. The blue square represents the African mainland and the
star represents the freedom granted to the ex-slaves.
The capital of Liberia is Monrovia.
Liberia is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Liberia is the Liberian dollar.
English is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Liberia is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Liberia is the Liberian dollar.
English is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Liberia to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Liberia is 96,320 sq kms which is the 39th largest in Africa.
Liberia has lakes, rivers and canals which total 15,049 sq kms.
Liberia has boundaries with 3 countries
- Cote d'Ivoire 778 kms
- Guinea 590 kms
- Sierra Leone 299 kms
Liberia has a coastline of 579 kms which is the 27th longest in Africa.
The highest point in Liberia is Mount Wuteve at 1,447 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Liberia is 4.81 million people, making it the 25th largest country in Africa by population.
Of this number 2.41 million are females and 2.40 million are males.
A person from Liberia is called a Liberian.
To be a citizen of Liberia, one of your parents must be a citizen of Liberia. It is not sufficient to be born in Liberia. You have to live in Liberia for
2 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Liberia, by population are:-
- Monrovia 939,524 people
- Gbarnga 45,835
- Kakata 33,945
- Bensonville 33,188
- Harper 32,661
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
51.2% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
51.2% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Liberia is 37.9 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Liberia is 7.4 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 46.0 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 55.0 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 18.1 and for males is 17.6. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 19.2.
The elderly dependency ratio is 5.5. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 18.1. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Liberia spends 10.0% of its total income on health care.
There are 0/04 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 0.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
9.9% of the population are estimated as obese.
88.6% of the urban population and 62.6% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
28.0% of the urban population and 5.9% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Liberia releases 1.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 38th highest in Africa.
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Liberia spends 3.8% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 6 in Liberia. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education can continue till 18. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 2 terms and starts in the first week of September and finishes in the third week in July. There is usually a 2 week
break at Christmas and a 1 week break between terms in the middle of February.
32.8% of females and 62.4% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
2.3% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 2.2% are unemployed while with males 2.4% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Liberia is 1.68 million.
They work in the following sectors.
- Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
- Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
- Services is everything else
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There are 2 paved airports in Liberia, which is the 47th highest number in Africa.
There are 429 kilometres of railways in Liberia, the 33rd longest in Africa.
There are 10,600 kilometres of roads in Liberia, which means Liberia is in 39th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.
There are 3 major national newspapers in Liberia.
There are 3.12 million mobile phone users.
Less than 1% of the people have a fixed landline.
314,717 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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