The demographics of Liberia Liberia's history as a place set up in 1821 as a colony for free slaves from the United States. The noun for a person from Liberia is Liberian(s). The adjective is Liberian. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock...

Population

As of 2006, Liberia has the highest population growth rate in the world (4.91%). The current population is 3,042,004^[1]. There are an average of 6.43 children born per woman^[2].

The increase in population in Liberia from 1961-2003^[3]

The birth rate is 47.22 births/1,000 population^[2]. Image File history File links Liberia-demography. ... Image File history File links Liberia-demography. ...

The death rate is 16.58 deaths/1,000 population^[2]. The infant mortality rate is 134.63 deaths/1,000 live births^[2].

The net migration rate is 27.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population^[4].

Age structure

0-14 years: 43% (male 681,136; female 680,501)
15-64 years: 54% (male 826,751; female 867,402)
65 years and over: 3% (male 54,334; female 54,032)^[2]

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female^[2]

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 51.02 years
male: 49.6 years
female: 52.49 years (2000 est.)

Ethnic groups

There are 16 ethnic groups that make up Liberia's indigenous population: indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mandingo , Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the U.S. who had not been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had not been slaves); About 5,000 persons of European descent. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... The Kpelle are the largest ethnic group of the West African nation of Liberia. ... The Bassa are a people of Liberia, living in Grand Bassa, Rivercess, and Montserrado counties, who speak a Kru language. ... GIO is a computer bus standard developed by SGI and used in a variety of their products in the 1990s as their primary expansion system. ... KRU is a popular Malaysian singing group that formed in the 1990s. ... The name Grebo is used to refer to an ethnic group or subgroup within the larger Kru group of West Africa, to certain of its constituent elements, or to the Grebo language. ... Mandingo may refer to: The Mandinka people of West Africa The Mandinka language Mandingo (book), a bestselling novel originally published in 1957 Mandingo (film), a 1975 film based on the novel Mandingo (pornstar), who took his name from the film ... Krahn is an ethnic group of Liberia; it is also the language traditionally spoken by these people. ... The Gola or Gula are a tribal people living in western Liberia and parts of eastern Sierra Leone. ... The Loma are an ethnic group living primarily in the mountainous, sparsely populated border region between Guinea and Liberia. ... Kissi (or Kisi) is a language split into two parts, northern and southern. ... The Vai are an ethnic group living in Liberia and Sierra Leone. ... Americo-Liberians are the relatively wealthy elite of Liberia. ...

The Kpelle in central and western Liberia is the largest ethnic group. Americo-Liberians, who are descendants of free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans that arrived in Liberia from 1822 onward, make up an estimated 5% of the population. There also is a sizable number of Lebanese, Indians, and other West African nationals who make up a significant part of Liberia's business community. Because of the civil war and its accompanying problem of insecurity, the number of Westerners in Liberia is low and confined largely to Monrovia and its immediate surroundings. The Liberian constitution restricts citizenship only to people of African descent. The Kpelle are the largest ethnic group of the West African nation of Liberia. ... Americo-Liberians are a Liberian ethnicity of African American descent. ... 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb[1] West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... For alternate meanings, see Monrovia (disambiguation). ...

Liberia was traditionally noted for its hospitality and academic institutions, iron mining and rubber industry booms, cultural skills and arts and craft works. But political upheavals beginning in the 1980s and the two civil wars (1989-96 and 1999-2003) brought about a steep decline in the living standards of the country, including its education and infrastructure. The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...

Religions

Christian 40% (5.8% Roman Catholic [1]), indigenous beliefs 40%, Muslim 20%, Jewish .06%

Languages

English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Literacy

Literacy in Liberia, as defined as age 15 and over and can read and write, is:
total population: 38.3%
male: 53.9%
female: 22.4%^[5]
note: these figures are increasing because of the improving school system World literacy rates by country The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. ...

See also

• Liberia
• List of countries by population growth rate

Population growth rate in percent, as listed on CIA factbook (2006 estimate). ...

References