Liberia is also known as the Republic of Liberia. It is a sovereign country in West Africa. The country shares its borders with Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast. Home to 4 million people, Liberia has English as its official language. Apart from English, an incredible 15 indigenous languages are also spoken in Liberia. At one point of time, Liberia used to be an American colony, but was granted its freedom in 1847 due to the pressure on America by the British. After gaining sovereignty, it became the first democratic nation in the entire continent of Africa!

1. One of the most influential leaders of Africa, who is known as the most revered statesman, Nelson Mandela was born in Liberia.

2. After Haiti, Liberia is the world’s second black republic.

3. The Liberian flag was modeled on the design of the American flag. The eleven white and red stripes on the Liberian flag represent the eleven individuals who were present for the signing of the independence declaration of the country.

4. Liberia’s capital city, Monrovia was named after the American president named James Monroe.

5. Liberia was not only founded but also colonized by former American slaves and the land was taken out of the adjoining nation of Sierra Leone.

6. Liberia is completely a bird haven with 700 different species of birds found in the country, which also includes a bird which is a slight bit larger than a honey bee which is named as the bee warbler.

7. Oprah Winfrey confirms her ancestors to be from the Liberian region of Kpelle.

8. George Weah is the only Liberian citizen to get three prestigious sports titles in a single year. In 1995 he was named as African footballer of the year. In the same year he was also recognized as the FIFA world player of the year as well as the European footballer of the year.

9. The second largest rainforest of West Africa is located here named the sap national park. It has around 125 species of mammals with the rare pygmy hippopotamus having its home there.

10. Being English as the official language of Liberia is only spoken by the fifth of the population of the country.

11. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, who was born in Virginia, USA became the first president of Liberia.

12. Liberia literally, means the land of the free, which was formed and colonized by the freed slaves from the USA. So officially it was the United States of America that created Liberia.

13. Cavalla River is the longest river in Liberia and was named after a fish Cavalla, a kind of a horse mackerel.

14. The coast of Liberia the melegueta coast was named after a spice by the Portuguese traders.

15. During the times of civil war Liberia used to mine and trade diamonds to fund the fighting, which led the country to face poor reputation.

16. In the surprising area of ship registries of the economy, Liberia has become a highly ranked country.

17. Till 2003 the literacy rate of Liberia had only been 58%.

18. For 133 years all the presidents who sworn in as the president of Liberia have been descended from the American freed slaves. However a new president after 133 years broke this tradition in the 1980 coup, his name was Samuel doe.

19. Liberia has been an established country from the year 1847 but it was recognized as a sovereign independent country only in the year of 1862 for some reasons by the United States.

20. Liberia was originally created by America to settle its free slaves who had been liberated which led to the American Civil war.