Liberia

Liberia is a country in West Africa.

The big Atlantic Ocean is on one side. It has rainforests and many rivers. The capital city is called Monrovia.

Liberia lies on the Atlantic coast of West Africa. Its coast has long sandy beaches, lagoons and mangrove swamps. Inland, the land rises into rolling hills and a plateau covered in rainforest, with low mountains in the north.

Liberia was started in the 1820s by an American group as a home for people who had been enslaved in the United States. Today most Liberians belong to peoples whose families lived in the region long before that. About 5.8 million people lived in Liberia in 2026.

Britannica describes four regions parallel to the coast: sandy coastal plains about 560 km long with lagoons, mangroves and headlands such as Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado and Cape Palmas; a belt of rolling hills; a dissected plateau with scattered low mountains; and the northern highlands along the Guinea frontier, where Mount Nimba stands. Britannica calls Liberia the only Black state in Africa never subjected to colonial rule and Africa's oldest republic.

The 2022 census counted 5,250,187 people, and the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) projects 5,759,600 for 2026. More than two-fifths are younger than 15. Indigenous peoples form the majority, alongside descendants of Black immigrants from the United States and the West Indies (historically called Americo-Liberians). Liberia is a republic; Joseph Boakai is president (2026).

Monrovia is the capital city.

It sits on a hill by the sea. Many people live there. Other towns are along the coast.

Monrovia, the capital, was founded in 1822 on Cape Mesurado, a ridge between the St. Paul River and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the center of the country's government, business and culture, and people from all of Liberia's peoples live there. Some of its older buildings look like houses from the southern United States.

Other towns along the coast include Buchanan, a port for iron ore, Robertsport and Harper. In the southeast, Sapo National Park protects a large area of rainforest.

Monrovia, founded in 1822, stands on the ridge of Cape Mesurado by the St. Paul River, overlooking the Atlantic and the coastal plain. It is the focus of political, economic and cultural life; its older architecture, reminiscent of the pre-1860 southern United States, is giving way to modern styles. Monrovia was the oldest immigrant settlement, followed by Buchanan, Greenville, Harper, Robertsport and others along the coast.

Railroads link iron mines with Monrovia and Buchanan. In 1942 a defense agreement with the United States brought an international airport and a deepwater harbor at Monrovia. Sapo National Park, established in 1983 in the southeast, was expanded in 2003 to about 1,800 km², and the 2000s brought new or enlarged reserves at Gola National Forest, Wonegizi and Lake Piso.

Liberia is warm and wet.

From May to October it rains a lot. Many rivers run to the sea. Green trees stay leafy all year.

Liberia is warm and humid all year. The rainy season lasts from May to October, and the dry season from November to April. In December a dry, dusty wind called the harmattan blows in from the Sahara. Cape Mount, on the coast, gets about 5,200 millimeters of rain a year.

Many rivers, such as the St. Paul and the Cavalla, flow from the hills straight to the sea, with waterfalls and rapids along the way. The forest stays green all year, with valuable trees such as mahogany and teak.

The climate is warm and humid, with a dry season from November to April and a rainy season from May to October; the harmattan reaches the coast in December. Mean annual temperatures range from about 18 °C in the northern highlands to 27 °C on the coast. Rainfall peaks at about 5,200 mm at Cape Mount and falls to about 1,800 mm on the central plateau. Britannica notes that deforestation and drought in the Sahel have lengthened the dry season by almost a month in places.

The Mano and Morro in the northwest and the Cavalla in the east form parts of the borders; the Lofa, St. Paul, St. John and Cestos run parallel to each other, perpendicular to the coast, interrupted upstream by falls and rapids. Liberia lies on the West African Shield, rock 2.7 to 3.4 billion years old, folded with iron-rich itabirites. The evergreen forest includes red ironwood, camwood, teak and mahogany.

Pygmy hippos live in Liberia's forests.

They are about as big as a pig. Chimpanzees and monkeys live in the trees. Forest elephants walk there too.

Liberia's rainforest is home to monkeys, chimpanzees, small antelopes and the rare pygmy hippopotamus, which is only about the size of a farm pig. Its scientific name, liberiensis, comes from the name Liberia. Forest elephants, short-horned buffalo called bush cows and leopards live there too.

There are many reptiles, including three kinds of crocodiles, and several unique kinds of bats and birds. Sapo National Park, in the southeast, protects a large area of rainforest, and more reserves were added in the 2000s.

Britannica lists monkeys, chimpanzees, small antelopes, pygmy hippopotamuses and anteaters in the rainforest, along with threatened elephants, bush cows (short-horned buffalo) and leopards. All of these were hunted for food during the civil war, and Britannica notes that their populations are recovering. The pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis), about the size of a domestic pig, has been classed as Endangered by the IUCN since 2006.

The IUCN Red List maps the pygmy hippo, chimpanzee, African forest elephant, African buffalo and leopard as living in Liberia today. Reptiles include three types of crocodiles and at least eight venomous snakes, and there are several unique species of bats and birds. Sapo National Park (1983, enlarged 2003) is the largest protected area, joined in the 2000s by new or enlarged reserves at Gola, Wonegizi and Lake Piso.

About 5.8 million people live in Liberia.

People speak English and many other languages. Rice and cassava are everyday foods. Many children live in Liberia.

About 5.8 million people lived in Liberia in 2026, and more than two-fifths of them are younger than 15. Many peoples live in Liberia, such as the Kpelle, the Bassa, the Kru, the Grebo, the Gola and the Vai. The Vai invented their own way of writing. English is the official language.

Farmers grow rice, cassava and vegetables and keep goats and chickens. Rubber trees grow well in Liberia, and rubber is its most valuable crop. Many ships from other countries are registered in Liberia and fly its flag.

Britannica groups Liberians into Indigenous peoples, the majority, whose ancestors migrated from the western Sudan in the late Middle Ages; descendants of Black immigrants from the United States and the West Indies; and other West African immigrants. Indigenous languages belong to the Mande (Kpelle, the largest, plus Vai, Loma, Dan, Mano and others), Kwa (Bassa, Kru, Grebo, Krahn) and Mel (Gola, Kisi) groups; the Vai invented their own script. About four-fifths of people are Christian and about one-tenth Muslim.

Traditional farmers grow rice, cassava and vegetables; domestic rice meets about three-fourths of national needs. Rubber, grown since Firestone's 1926 concession, is by far the most valuable commercial crop, and Liberia was among Africa's leading iron-ore producers before the civil war. Because many foreign ships register under its flag of convenience, Liberia ranks among the world's foremost countries in registered shipping tonnage.