15 Years of Civil War in Liberia
Liberia is Africa's oldest republic, but it became better known in the 1990s for its long-running, ruinous civil war and its role in a rebellion in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Although founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves, Liberia is mostly made up of indigenous Africans, with the slaves' descendants comprising 5% of the population.
The West African nation was relatively calm until 1980 when William Tolbert was overthrown by Sergeant Samuel Doe after food price riots. The coup marked the end of dominance by the minority Americo-Liberians, who had ruled since independence, but heralded a period of instability.
By the late 1980s, arbitrary rule and economic collapse culminated in civil war when Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) militia overran much of the countryside, entering the capital in 1990. Mr Doe was executed.
Fighting intensified as the rebels splintered and battled each other, the Liberian army and West African peacekeepers. Boys as young as eight were recruited to fight, and civilians who refused to join were executed. The siege temporarily shut down all transportation in or out of the capital and killed thousands of civilians in the crossfire.
Young persons were victimized during the civil war of the mid-1990s. An estimated 50,000 children were killed; many more were injured, orphaned, or abandoned. Approximately 100 underfunded orphanages operate in and around Monrovia; however, many orphans live outside these institutions. The National Military Families Association of Liberia (NAMFA) tried to provide for orphaned military children; it registered hundreds of street children. These institutions did not receive any government funding, but relied on private donations. Nearly all youths witnessed terrible atrocities.
Around 250,000 people were killed in Liberia's civil war and many thousands more fled the fighting.
The 1989-1996 civil war had a devastating effect on the country's economy. Most major businesses were destroyed or heavily damaged, and most foreign investors and businessmen left the country.
Liberia is still trying to recover from the ravages of war. Pipe-borne water and electricity are still unavailable, and schools, hospitals, roads, and infrastructure remain derelict.
Corruption is rife and unemployment and illiteracy are endemic. The infrastructure is in ruins.
In April 2007, the UN voted to lift a ban on diamond exports, which fueled the civil war. A ban on timber exports was lifted in 2006. 15,000 UN peacekeepers are in place; ex-president Charles Taylor is on trial in The Hague for alleged war crimes for supporting rebels in Sierra Leone; Liberian refugees are scattered across the region.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became president in 2006 after the first polls since the end of the civil war.
