An Inside Look at Liberia

  Liberian Economy and Industry  Overview:      Though Liberia is considered a low-income country, it possesses an ample amount of natural resources. Because of its coastal location, Liberia offers a mass water supply and an agriculturally favorable environment. Through this rich agricultural environment, Liberia can produce a variety of items such as rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, bananas, palm oil, and sugarcane which manifests a greatly industrialized society.   History:      Trade was a primary part of Liberia's economic history. Liberia's trade expanded as far as Europe as well as other indigenous networks. 1864 brought a Ports of Entry Act that limited the trade between indigenous and other European countries. It was ineffective in protecting native Africans from excessive taxation forcing them to live on low-income and subsistence farming. Initially, trading began with other nations in Africa in their exchange of agricultural commod...

  Cultural Insights of Liberia     To know about a place, a nation, and a people you must learn and become aware of their culture. Culture is defined in a variety of ways but despite its varieties and variations, it's very specific in terms of identity. For Liberia, their name bears the memorial of their liberation achieved by their ancestors. Their name comes from the common English word, "liberty", and refers to their history as being a free colony of African repatriates in the 19th century. To this day, they are known as the oldest republic in Africa. In reclaiming their freedom, they declared English as their native language. English is taught in Liberian academia as their official learning language. English is even heard in the music of Liberia as well as other indigenous languages just like their general predominant language dynamic. While Engish makes up 20% of their linguistic demographic they blend effectively with other indigenous languages. This is largely base...

  The Landscape of Liberia              As Liberia is situated just a mere 300 miles above the equator (about the same distance between Illinois and Ohio), it's susceptible to tropical temperatures which account for its swamps and lagoons along the coastline and rainforest-like environment.  Liberia has the St. John, St. Paul, the Cesto as its three major rivers.  Ironically, the land is situated evenly parallel to its coast with a conglomeration of elevated landmasses like that of plateaus, mountains, and rolling hills. Liberia's mountain peaks reach up to 4500 ft. Its location is subject to seasonal winds, violent thunderstorms, and torrential rains.  For example, between late Fall up until mid-Spring, Liberia is bound to have monsoons that produce up to 200 inches of rain; while at the same time receiving profusely dusty Harmattan winds from the Sahara desert.  The Climate of Liberia has a consistent average of 81 ͒ F w...

  Get Ready For Independence Day: The Liberation of Liberia         Liberia is no stranger to the idea of liberation and freedom. In fact, its name entails the phrase Land of the Free  in its Latin etymology. Due to colonization, Liberia was initially established by the American Colonization Society back in 1822. The American Colonization Society (ACS), formed by Quakers and slaveholders, came together with differences on slavery with the common understanding that the slaves "should go back to Africa." While the Quakers thought that the slaves could have a better life in their ancestral home, the slaveholders wanted to avoid another rebellion like the slave rebellion in Haiti against the French. This particular incident in history resembles the vision that Marcus Garvey shared in his "Back to Africa" speech for he also desired for the "Africans" scattered throughout the world to come back to their ancestral home so that it can be for them just as Palestine...

  Genesis: Liberia Looking Back     Many sources often indicate Liberia's history only to begin in the early 1800s dealing with colonization and slavery, but what was Liberia beyond this? Unfortunately, anything dealing with Mother Africa is often limited to a context of slavery, oppression, and it's dealing with European cultures. While these may play intricate parts in history they are not the only realms that confine the expansive regions of Africa's history.       Liberia's history stretches back as far as the 12th (the early 1100s) and 16th centuries (the early 1500s). In these more primitive periods, there is a great migration, of some sort, bringing in tribal members from more oppressed and underprivileged areas. One could almost infer that Liberia was a land of hope for some and opportunity for others.  During these times Liberia contained at least sixteen different ethnic groups such as the Bassa, Days, Gola, Kru, Kissi, Belle, Dahn, Dei,...

  Introduction:       Hi Everyone!  You are here! If you are looking at this particular blog spot, you most likely are looking for more  information or a decent place to start in researching Liberia. Well, you've come to the right place! My assignment is to give you a balanced and informative look at the country of Liberia geographically, historically, culturally, and even what it looks like today.      As you can see this is the skyline for Liberia's capital, Monrovia which appears to be industrialized with modernized infrastructure.  The Liberian Flag:     Perhaps you may be wondering, "Why the Liberian flag resembles the American flag?" How did I guess that? I was wondering the same thing. As I did further investigation, I found that it was founded, colonized, established, and controlled by free people of color and ex-slaves from the United States and the Caribbean.  Population:      As of Friday, Oc...