Liberia - LR - LBR - LBR - Africa

With 28 ethnic groups and languages, Liberia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. For hundreds of years, the Mali and Songhai Empires claimed most of Liberia. Beginning in the 15th century, European traders began establishing outposts along the Liberian coast. Unlike its neighbors, however, Liberia did not fall under European colonial rule. In the early 19th century, the US began sending freed enslaved people and other people of color to Liberia to establish settlements. In 1847, these settlers declared independence from the US, writing their own constitution and establishing Africa’s first republic.

Early in Liberia’s history, tensions arose between the Americo-Liberian settlers and the indigenous population. In 1980, Samuel DOE, who was from the indigenous population, led a military coup and ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles TAYLOR launched a rebellion against DOE's regime that led to a prolonged civil war in which DOE was killed. A period of relative peace in 1997 permitted an election that brought TAYLOR to power. In 2000, fighting resumed. An August 2003 peace agreement ended the war and prompted President TAYLOR’s resignation. TAYLOR was later convicted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague for his involvement in Sierra Leone's civil war. In late 2005, President Ellen JOHNSON SIRLEAF became president after two years of transitional governments; she was the first female head of state in Africa. In 2011, JOHNSON SIRLEAF won reelection but struggled to rebuild Liberia's economy, particularly following the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic, and to reconcile a nation still recovering from 14 years of fighting. In 2017, former soccer star George WEAH won the presidential runoff election, marking the first successful transfer of power from one democratically elected government to another since the end of Liberia’s civil wars. Like his predecessor, WEAH struggled to improve the country’s economy. In 2023, former Vice President Joseph BOAKAI was elected president, edging out WEAH by a thin margin, the first time since 1927 that an incumbent was not re-elected after one term. 

not a significant transit country for illicit narcotics bound for the United States or Europe; not a key producer of illicit drugs; proximity to major drug transit routes contribute to trafficking cocaine and heroin, to and through Liberia and other West African countries; local drug use involves locally grown cannabis, heroin (mostly smoked), cocaine (snorted), and more recently kush (Cannabis Indic’s type flower), mixed with different substances including heroin or synthetic DMT

Senate - general election held on 10 October 2023 with half the seats up for election (next to be held in October 2029)
House of Representatives - last held on 10 October 2023 (next to be held in October 2029)

Senate - percent of vote by party/coalition - Collaborating Political Parties 43.3%, Congress for Democratic Change 16.6%, People's Unification Party 6.6%, Movement for Democracy and Reconstructions 3.3%, National Democratic Coalition 3.3%, National Patriotic Party 3.3%, independent 23.3%; seats by party/coalition - CPP 13, CDC 5, PUP 2, MDR 1, NDC 1, NPP 1, independent 7; composition as of February 2024 - men 27, women 3, percentage women 10%

House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - Coalition for Democratic Change 28.7%, Unity Party 27.3%, People's Unification Party 6.8%, Liberty Party 4.1%, Americo Liberian Party 4.1%, Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction 4.1%, Movement for Economic Empowerment 1.3%, Liberia Transformation Party 1.3%, United People's Party 1.3%, Victory for Change Party 1.3%, Liberian People's Party 1.3%, Liberia National Union 1.3%, independent 17.8%; seats by party/coalition - CDC 21, UP 20, PUP 5, LP 3, ALP 3, MDR 3, MOVEE 1, LTP 1, UPP 1, VCP 1, LPP 1, LNU 1, independent 13; composition as of Friday 2024 - men 65, women 8, percentage women 9.5%; total Parliament percentage women 10.7%

Liberia’s high fertility rate of nearly 5 children per woman and large youth cohort – more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25 as of 2020 – will sustain a high dependency ratio for many years to come. Significant progress has been made in preventing child deaths, despite a lack of health care workers and infrastructure. Infant and child mortality have dropped nearly 70% since 1990; the annual reduction rate of about 5.4% is the highest in Africa.

Nevertheless, Liberia’s high maternal mortality rate remains among the world’s worst; it reflects a high unmet need for family planning services, frequency of early childbearing, lack of quality obstetric care, high adolescent fertility, and a low proportion of births attended by a medical professional. Female mortality is also increased by the prevalence of female genital cutting (FGC), which is practiced by 10 of Liberia’s 16 tribes and affects more than two-thirds of women and girls. FGC is an initiation ritual performed in rural bush schools, which teach traditional beliefs on marriage and motherhood and are an obstacle to formal classroom education for Liberian girls.

Liberia has been both a source and a destination for refugees. During Liberia’s 14-year civil war (1989-2003), more than 250,000 people became refugees and another half million were internally displaced. Between 2004 and the cessation of refugee status for Liberians in June 2012, the UNHCR helped more than 155,000 Liberians to voluntarily repatriate, while others returned home on their own. Some Liberian refugees spent more than two decades living in other West African countries. Between 2011 and 2022, more than 300,000 Ivoirian refugees in Liberia have been repatriated; as of year-end 2022, less than 2,300 Ivoirian refugees were still living in Liberia.

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