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Country Focus
he Republic of Liberia is situated in Western
Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean,
between Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guin-
ea.
It has a total area of 111,369 sq km compris-
ing 96,320 sq km of land and 15,049 sq km of
water, with a tropical climate and mostly flat
to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling pla-
teau and low mountains in the northeast.
Settlement of freed slaves from the US in what
is today Liberia began in 1822; by 1847, the
Americo-Liberians were able to establish a
republic. William TUBMAN, president from
1944-71, did much to promote foreign invest-
ment and to bridge the economic, social, and
political gaps between the descendants of
the original settlers and inhabitants of the in-
terior. In 1980, a military coup led by Samu-
el DOE ushered in a decade of authoritarian
rule which was followed by armed rebellion
and brutal civil war that eventually led to in-
tervention by the UN Mission in Liberia (UN-
MIL). Elections in 2005 brought President El-
len JOHNSON- SIRLEAF to power, and after a
peaceful first term, has been re-elected to of-
fice for another six years.