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People
Background
Civil war between 1989 and 1996 drove hundreds of thousands of Liberians into neighboring countries as refugees, dwindling the population from 2.7 million in 1989 to 1.5 million in 1997. Today repatriation, refugees from Sierra Leone and a high birthrate have returned the population to over 3.5 million; an estimated 46 percent now live in cities and towns for reasons of work and security. This is in contrast to before the war when more than 80 percent of the population was engaged in agriculture.
Ethnicity
There are approximately 16 ethnic groups in Liberia. The largest of these groups are the Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende peoples. The population also includes a number of descendants of freed slaves from the United States and the Caribbean. Referred to as Americo-Liberians, they make up about five percent of the population and live mostly in coastal cities and towns. The American settlers of African descent brought with them the way of life they had known in the southeastern United States.
Language
English is Liberia's official language but is spoken by only about one-fifth of the people. The remaining population speaks local indigenous languages, most commonly belonging to 20 different Niger-Congo and West Atlantic linguistic groups.
Religion
Religions include animist faiths, Christianity and Islam. About 10 percent of Liberia's people are Christian, principally Protestant. Islam has made progress among the people of the interior, though the majority has retained animist religions. Altogether, about 70 percent of the people follow local religions and 20 percent follow Islam.
Education and Literacy
As a result of low income, poor infrastructure, and the long civil war, literacy is low in Liberia even when compared to other sub-Saharan African countries. According to recent estimates, about 57 percent of the people of Liberia are literate. That literacy rate, however, belies gender differences whereby the literacy rate for males is 73 percent and the rate for females is 42 percent. School attendance is still immeasurable as reconstruction of the buildings and hiring and training of new teachers is still in process following the war. Note that 2.7 percent of GDP in this country is spent on educational expenditures.
Health and Welfare
By virtually all other human indicators, Liberia also fairs poorly in comparison to the sub-continent as a whole. Whereas in sub-Saharan Africa the percentage of the population living in absolute poverty is estimated at 32 percent, in Liberia it is 46 percent. In sub-Saharan Africa infant mortality is 90 for every 1,000 births; in Liberia it is 143.89 deaths per 1,000 live births. Meanwhile, the overall life expectancy is 41 years, according to recent estimates.
In sub-Saharan Africa an alarming 56 percent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water; in Liberia an even more alarming 70 percent do not have access to safe drinking water. Meanwhile, the HIV/AIDs prevalence rate is around six percent, according to the most recently available statistics.
Note that 3.9 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at CountryWatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.
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