Liberia 



Facts
Population:
3,225,837 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
43.21% (male 698,178; female 695,599)
15-64 years:
53.34% (male 840,103; female 880,403)
65 years and over:
3.45% (male 56,073; female 55,481) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.92% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
46.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
16.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
-11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note:
by the end of 1999, all Liberian refugees, who had fled the domestic strife, were assumed to have returned
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
1.01 male(s)/female
total population:
0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
132.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
51.41 years
male:
49.96 years
female:
52.91 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.36 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
2.8% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
39,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
4,500 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Liberian(s)
adjective:
Liberian
Ethnic groups:
indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves)
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%
Languages:
English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
38.3%
male:
53.9%
female:
22.4% (1995 est.)
note:
these figures are increasing because of the improving school system
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $3.35 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
15% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
60%
industry:
10%
services:
30% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line:
80%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
NA%
highest 10%:
NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5% (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 70%, industry 8%, services 22% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
70%
Budget:
revenues:
$NA
expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries:
rubber processing, palm oil processing, diamonds
Industrial production growth rate:
NA
Electricity - production:
432 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
100%
hydro:
0%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
401.8 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, sugarcane, bananas; sheep, goats; timber
Exports:
$55 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
diamonds, iron ore, rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa
Exports - partners:
Belgium 53%, Switzerland 9%, US 6%, France 4% (1999)
Imports:
$170 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods; rice and other foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
South Korea 30%, Italy 24%, Japan 15%, Germany 9% (1999)
Debt - external:
$3 billion (1999 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$200 million pledged (1998)
Currency:
Liberian dollar (LRD)
Currency code:
LRD
Exchange rates:
Liberian dollars per US dollar - 39.8100 (December 2000), 41.0483 (2000), 41.9025 (1999), 41.5075 (1998), 1.0000 (officially fixed rate 1940-97); market exchange rate: Liberian dollars per US dollar - 40 (December 1998), 50 (October 1995)
note:
until December 1997, rates were based on a fixed relationship with the US dollar; beginning in January 1998, rates are market determined
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2
Displaying 1 to 7 of 8 items.
(Independent daily),
http://www.analystnewspaper.com/
Daily Observer
Monrovia
Inquirer, The
(Independent), Monrovia
(Independent, published in The Netherlands),
http://www.newdemocrat.org/
New Liberia
(Pro-government), Monrovia
(Independent), Monrovia
http://www.thenews.com.lr/
Newsbeat, The
(Pro-government), Monrovia
Liberia in the News
1 2 3 4
Displaying 13 to 14 of 14 items.
Liberia's brutal civil war is once again threatening to spread throughout West Africa, a region that has only barely achieved a tenuous stability.
Liberian-exile newspaper The New Democrat looks at the dire refugee situation in the Lofa region of war-torn Liberia.