Liberia

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Flag of Liberia. Africa with Liberia in red. Liberia is located on the west coast of Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west, Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the north and Cote D’Ivoire to the east. The country is slightly larger than Tennessee and the capital, Monrovia, is located on the coast.

Liberia was settled by freed African-American slaves in 1822. The country has a republic form of government. The president is elected by popular vote to a six year term with eligibility for a second term. The currency is the Liberian dollar.

The July 2007 estimate of the population was 3,195,931 with a population growth rate of 4.84 percent. The infant mortality rate is almost 15 percent. The current life expectancy is 40.4 years with women outliving men by three years. Approximately six percent of the adult population has HIV/AIDS.

Although English is the official language of the country, only about 20 percent of the populace speak it. There are about 20 ethnic languages spoken; only a few of which can be written. Liberia has a 57.5 percent literacy rate of people over the age of 15 with men having a literacy rate over 32 percent higher than women. There is no majority religion; 40 percent of the population are Christian, 20 percent are Muslim, and 40 percent follow indigenous beliefs.

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