Liberia

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

Its budget is currently US$17 million which accounts for 0.54 percent of its GDP and 0.0009 percent of total global military expenditure.

The military of Liberia, called the Armed Forces of Liberia only consists of ground forces. Throughout its existence, it has mostly been supplied and trained by the United States Army. As a result of its involvement in the Civil War, the armed forces of Liberia are in the process of restructuring and demobilization.

Military membership

Liberia is a member of five international military organizations which makes it the 77th most connected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
International Atomic Energy Agency
Non-Aligned Movement

Military membership

International wars

Since its independence, Liberia has partaken in five international wars. These are:

First Liberian Civil War 1989-1997
Sierra Leone Civil War 1991-1001
Monrovia clashes 1998-1998
Second Liberian Civil War 1999-1003
First Ivorian Civil War 2001-2007

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

Liberia is the 186th most politically connected state in the world as it is a member of seven international political organizations. It is a member of the following:

Member state of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
African Union
International Criminal Court
Interpol
South Centre (organization)
World Organization for Animal Health

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

Liberia is ranked as the 180th most democratic state in the world. This is mainly due to its troubled past as well as a lack of transparency regarding its electoral process.

Democracy/Dictatorship

Since its existence, the politics of Liberia have taken place in the form of a presidential representative democratic republic which is based on the constitution of the United States. After slowly returning to internal stability, Liberia has seen its first peaceful transition of power since the 1980s.

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With its name derived from the land of the freed, Liberia, as Africa's oldest Republic, has become the center for the allocation of freed African slaves from the United States after the abolishment of slavery. As a result of efforts to free African slaves, several societies in the United States collectively founded Monrovia, which later named itself the free Republic of Liberia in 1847. Since its independence, Liberia has been an ally of the United States and has seen a period of relative stability until a military coup took place in 1980 which has led to a civil war as well as internal religious tensions between Christians and Muslims. Currently, Liberia is slowly regaining its internal stability as a result of a transition to democracy. .

Located on the atlantic Coast in Western Africa, Liberia borders Guinea to the north, Ivory Coast to the east and Sierra Leone to its northwest. Most of its territory consists of low-lying hills which are densely forested by a tropical rain forest as well as a low-lying coastline which is lightly forested.

It is the 102nd largest state in the world with 111,926 square kilometers or 43,215 square miles. This makes Liberia slightly smaller than Honduras and slightly larger than Bulgaria.

It is the 35th state with the highest amount of surface water which is 15,124 square kilometers or 5839 square miles.

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

The majority of its water consists of River water which originates from the northern border with Guinea and flows downstream to the Atlantic Ocean. Despite being abundant in water, most of its citizens do not have access to clean drinking water and mainly resort to polluted water from the rivers or from underground wells.

Liberia is the 52nd warmest state in the world with an average temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius or 77.4 degrees Fahrenheit. It is considered to have a tropical climate which only knows a hot wet season as well as a hot dry season.

During its wet season, the average temperature goes up to 29.6 degrees Celsius or 85.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

During its dry season, the average temperature goes down to 22.1 degrees Celsius or 71.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Liberia is the eighth state with the highest amount of rainfall with 277 centimetres or 109 inches of rainfall per year. Most of its rainfall occurs between April to September and is unevenly spread out throughout its territory with the coastal area receiving 3 to 7 times the amount of rainfall of its inland area.

The capital of Liberia, Monrovia, is a home to 1.2 million people. The capital that is closest located to Monrovia is Freetown Sierra Leone with a distance of 401 kilometers or 249 miles. The capital that is furthest located from Monrovia is Majuro Marshall Islands with a distance of 19,323 kilometers or 12,007 miles.

As a result of internal instability over the last decades as well as the destruction of infrastructure during this period, the economy of Liberia is considered to be underdeveloped. The civil unrest has led to a decrease of foreign investment as well as a reallocation of existing businesses to other states. However, as a result of the democratic transition at start of the 21st century, foreign investment has started to come back. This is largely because of the abundance of natural resources such as timber and metals. These are also the main products that are being exported alongside with rubber and diamonds.

Liberia is a member of 12 international economic organizations which makes it the 97th most connected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Alliance for Financial Inclusion
African development Bank
International Development Law Organization
International Monetary Fund
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization
World Trade Organization
International Bamboo and Rattan Organization
Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
Economic Community of West African States
International Solar Alliance
Group of 77

Its GDP is US$3 billion which makes it the 162nd highest in the world representing 0.04 percent of total global GDP.

Its GDP per square kilometer is the 181st highest in the world with US$26,818 or 69,458 US dollars per square mile.

Its GDP per capita is the 184th highest in the world with US$620 per year.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

Its purchasing power is the 185th highest in the world with US$13,009 a year.

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

With a population of 4.8 million people, Liberia is the 123rd most populous state in the world. Its ethnic groups can be divided up into the people that live within the territory of Liberia before its independence, the people that migrated to Liberia after the abolishment of slavery and the people that came to Liberia from neighbouring states. As a result, English was established to be its official language, but the majority of the population only speaks to their tribal language.

Liberia has the 137th highest population density in the world with 43 people per square kilometer or 112 people per square mile.

Around three percent of the population, or just under 150,000 people, have migrated to other states. The main reason for migration is economic as high unemployment as well as low salaries for high skilled labourers has led to a brain drain in Liberia. Because of this brain drain, Liberia has one of the worst doctor to patient ratio in the world.

Immigration to Liberia has mostly been deterred by the Liberian government as well as the internal instability. The main possibilities for emigration are through marriage or through investment. This has led to the immigration of more than 80,000 people, or 1.9 percent of the total population.

Because of its civil war as well as low investments within its educational system, Liberia has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world which stands at 47.5 percent. As a result of regaining stability, the United Nations has provided Liberia with supplies to improve its educational system and has allowed the Liberian governments to provide education for free to children between the ages of six and 16.

As a result of a low number of doctors as well as a low amount of funds spent on its healthcare system, Liberia had obtained the 179th highest life expectancy in the world. The average life expectancy is 65 years with women reaching 66.5 years and men reaching 63.5 years. The leading cause of death are communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, dengue and diarrhoea from polluted water. Because of its weak healthcare system, the Liberian government has not been able to prevent further outbreak of the Ebola virus.

The government of Liberia provides freedom of religion towards all religions. Infringements of missionaries or other religious institutions have occurred and still do occur due to religious tensions.

Christianity is the largest religion in Liberia and is followed by 71.7 percent of the population. This makes Liberia the 84th most Christian state in the world. There are more than 12 different Christian denominations of which the Protestant denomination is the largest.

On the right, the global share of Christians per state is displayed

Islam is followed by 17.3 percent of the population which makes it the 62nd most Islamic state in the world. The largest denomination is the Sunni denomination with the Maliki school being the largest subbranch. Most Muslims follow a combination of Islam and indigenous beliefs and are considered to be moderate Muslims. However, this has started to shift due to religious tensions where several mosques have been destroyed and several massacres of Muslims have taken place.

Buddhism is practically not represented in Liberia. It is thought that there are less than 10 families residing within its territory.

Hinduism is not present in Liberia.

Judaism is not present in Liberia.

0.4 percent of the population adheres to other religions. Aside from adhering to the mainstream religions, the majority of Liberians also believes in secret powers and forces that can only be revealed by the holy men.

0.94 percent of the population does not adhere to any faith.