Liberia

[lahy-beer-ee-uh] /laɪˈbɪər i ə/

noun

a republic in W Africa: founded by freed American slaves 1822. About 43,000 sq. mi. (111,000 sq. km).

Capital: Monrovia.

Related forms

Liberian, adjective, noun

pro-Liberian, adjective, noun

trans-Liberian, adjective

Examples from the web for Liberia

She held to the views that the freed slaves would colonize Liberia.

British Dictionary definitions for Liberia

Liberia

/laɪˈbɪərɪə/

noun

a republic in W Africa, on the Atlantic: originated in 1822 as a home for freed Afro-American slaves, with land purchased by the American Colonization Society; republic declared in 1847; exports are predominantly rubber and iron ore. Official language: English. Religion: Christian majority, also animist. Currency: dollar. Capital: Monrovia. Pop: 3 989 703 (2013 est). Area: 111 400 sq km (43 000 sq miles)

Word Origin and History for Liberia

African nation, begun as a resettlement project of freed American slaves in 1816 by the American Colonization Society, the name chosen by society member and U.S. senator Robert Goodloe Harper (1765-1825) from Latin liber "free" (see liberal).

Liberia in Culture

Liberia definition

Republic in western Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the north, the Ivory Coast to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest.

Note: The American Colonization Society began settlement of black Americans, most of them freed slaves, in 1822. Eventually, 15,000 blacks emigrated to Liberia.

Note: A civil war that commenced in 1989 and that lasted until the mid-1990s claimed more than 150,000 lives.