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Liberia

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Languages: English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages few of which can be written or used in correspondence

Ethnicity/race: Kpelle 20.3%, Bassa 13.4%, Grebo 10%, Gio 8%, Mano 7.9%, Kru 6%, Lorma 5.1%, Kissi 4.8%, Gola 4.4%, other 20.1% (2008 Census)

Religions: Christian 85.6%, Muslim 12.2%, Traditional 0.6%, other 0.2%, none 1.4% (2008 Census)

National Holiday: Independence Day, July 26

Literacy rate: 60.8% (2010 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2012 est.): $2.693 billion; per capita $700. Real growth rate: 9%. Inflation: 5.5%. Unemployment: 85% (2003 est.). Arable land: 3.43%. Agriculture: rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, sugarcane, bananas; sheep, goats; timber. Labor force: 1.372 million (2007): agriculture 70%, industry 8%, services 22% (2000 est.). Industries: rubber processing, palm oil processing, timber, diamonds. Natural resources: iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, hydropower. Exports: $506.5 million (2012 est.): rubber, timber, iron, diamonds, cocoa, coffee. Imports: $785.3 million (2012 est.): fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods; foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Germany, U.S., South Korea, Japan, Cote d'Ivoire, China, Canada, Spain (2011).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3,200 (2011); mobile cellular: 2.03 million (2011). Broadcast media: 3 private TV stations; satellite TV service available; 1 state-owned radio station; about 15 independent radio stations broadcasting in Monrovia, with another 25 local stations operating in other areas; transmissions of 2 international broadcasters are available (2007). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 7 (2012). Internet users: 20,000 (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 429 km; note: most sections of the railways were inoperable because of damage suffered during the civil wars from 1980 to 2003, but many are being rebuilt (2008). Highways: total: 10,600 km; paved: 657 km; unpaved: 9,943 km (2000 est.). Ports and harbors: Buchanan, Greenville, Harper, Monrovia. Airports: 29 (2012).

International disputes: although civil unrest continues to abate with the assistance of 18,000 UN Mission in Liberia peacekeepers, as of January 2007, Liberian refugees still remain in Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Ghana; Liberia, in turn, shelters refugees fleeing turmoil in Cote d'Ivoire; despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict continues to spread into neighboring states who can no longer send their migrant workers to Ivorian cocoa plantations; UN sanctions ban Liberia from exporting diamonds and timber.

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