Welcome to Liberia!
Population
In July 2020, an estimate of 5,073,296 people was accounted for. 85.6% of the population is Christian, and 12.2% of the population is Muslim (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). The vast majority of the population resides in Monrovia, which is also known at the country's capital. Furthermore, Liberia has classified the people of their country into three different groups. They are black immigrants from the United States, indigenous people from the West Indies (make up the majority of the country), and other black immigrants that came to the country during the European colonial rule and anti-slave trade campaign from neighboring countries (Jones & Holsoe, 2020).
Vegetation and Animal Life
Before the Liberian Civil War, Liberia's rain forest used to have a wide range of animals. During the civil war, a lot of those animals were hunted and their populations are still recovering. Liberia's plants remain green year-round; however, they sometimes have a hard harvest (Jones & Holsoe, 2020).
Geography
Liberia is located between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone in Western Africa bordering the North Atlantic Ocean (Jones & Holsoe, 2020). It is 96,320 sq km of land and 15,049 sq km of water for a total of 111,369 sq km (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). In comparison to something more familiar, it is slightly larger than Virginia. This country consists of low mountains northeast and flat, sandy coastal plains that are 560 km long that rise to rolling plateaus (Jones & Holsoe, 2020). During the winter it is extremely hot, humid, and dry during the day. The temperature tends to drop at night resulting in a cool breeze or cold weather (Central Intelligence Agency, 2018). Liberia is home to a rainforest rich in flora and fauna. During the summer, it happens to rain quite frequently and that leads to flooding on the coastal plains.
How Liberia got its name?
Known as Africa's oldest republic, it is the only Black country in Africa that was never subjected to colonial rule. Liberia was established by the American Colonization Society for freed U.S slaves. Liberia received its name in 1824 and its main settlement, Monrovia (Jones & Holsoe, 2020).
References
Central Intelligence Agency. (2018, February 1). The World Factbook: Liberia. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/li.html.
Jones, A. B., & Holsoe, S. E. (2020, September 2). Liberia. https://www.britannica.com/place/Liberia.