LIBERIA



Republic of Liberia

CAPITAL : Monrovia

FLAG : The national flag, dating from 1847, consists of 11 horizontal stripes, alternately red (6) and white (5), with a single five-pointed white star on a square blue field 5 stripes deep in the upper left corner.

ANTHEM : All Hail, Liberia, Hail.

MONETARY UNIT : The Liberian dollar ( L $) of 100 cents was linked to the US dollar until January 1998, when it switched to a floating market determined rate. There are no Liberian notes. US notes in the denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollars are in circulation and are legal tender. Both US and Liberian coins of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents, and 1 dollar are in circulation; in 1982, a $5 Liberian coin was issued. L 1 = $0.0222 (or $1 = L 45).

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : US and UK weights and measures are used.

HOLIDAYS : New Year's Day, 1 January; Armed Forces Day, 11 February; Decoration Day, 2d Wednesday in March; Birthday of J. J. Roberts (first president), 15 March; Fast and Prayer Day, 2d Friday in April; National Redemption Day, 12 April; Unification Day, 14 May; Independence Day, 26 July; Flag Day, 24 August; Thanksgiving Day, 1st Thursday in November; Anniversary of 1985 Coup Attempt, 12 November; President Tubman's Birthday, 29 November; Christmas, 25 December. Good Friday and Easter Monday are movable religious holidays.

TIME : GMT.


FISHING

The fishing industry is dominated by the oceangoing trawlers of the Mesurado Fishing Co. The company also maintains a domestic distribution system that supplies a substantial amount of fish to the interior areas of the country. The total Liberian catch in 2000 was estimated at 11,726 tons.

INSURANCE

There is no information available on insurance.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Continued civil unrest has had an adverse effect on tourism. Visitors must obtain a visa, and cholera, tetanus, and yellow fever vaccinations are required. Several hotels in or near Monrovia are suitable for tourists, and although there are few hotels in the interior, several missionary organizations accommodate visitors.

In 2002 the US government estimated the cost of staying in Monrovia at $184 per day.

DEPENDENCIES

Liberia has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adebajo, Adekeye. Building Peace in West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 2002.

Adibe, Clement. Managing Arms in Peace Processes: Liberia . New York: United Nations, 1996.

Burrowes, Carl Patrick. Modernization and the Decline of Press Freedom: Liberia, 1847 to 1970 . Columbia, S.C.: Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 1996.

Clapham, Christopher. African Guerrillas. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.

Dolo, Emmanuel. Democracy Versus Dictatorship: the Quest for Freedom and Justice in Africa's Oldest Republic—Liberia . Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1996.

Dunn, D. Elwood. Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2001.

Gifford, Paul. Christianity and Politics in Doe's Liberia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Kieh, George Klay. Dependency and the Foreign Policy of a Small Power: The Liberian Case. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press, 1992.

Liberia . Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 1996.

Lyons, Terrence. Voting for Peace: Post-conflict Elections in Liberia. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1999.

Riley, Stephen P. Liberia and Sierra Leone: Anarchy or Peace in West Africa? London: Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism, 1996.

Sawyer, Amos. The Emergence of Autocracy in Liberia: Tragedy and Challenge . San Francisco, Calif.: Institute for Contemporary Studies, 1992.

Also read article about Liberia from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

1
Michael Glass
You state that English and American weights and measures are used in Liberia. Actually, the metric system seems to be taking over in Liberia. Some of the evidence for this is in the Wikipedia article on Liberia, but more evidence can be seen in the Liberian Government website, which uses metric measures, though there is still a fair bit of use of the older measures.
2
Grace
WOW this website was so informative!!! It was just what i was looking for!

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