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Liberia , Cape Mesurado, Grain Coast, Pepper Coast, (Little America) or (LIB), commonly and officially referred to as the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. Liberia means "Land of the Free" in Latin. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and Ivory Coast to its east. It covers an area of and is home to 4,503,000 people.〔 English is the official language and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken. Forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May–October rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. The Republic of Liberia, formerly a colony of the American Colonization Society (ACS), declared its independence on July 26, 1847. The United States did not accept and recognize Liberia's independence until February 5, 1862, during the American Civil War. Liberia was the first African nation to gain its independence, although it was not the only independent state in Africa at the time. Liberia was founded and established as a homeland for freed African-American and Caribbean slaves. They traveled from the Caribbean islands and the United States with the help and support of the American Colonization Society. Liberia is Africa's oldest democratic republic and the second-oldest black republic in the world after Haiti. Liberia is unique among African countries because it was the only African nation that was colonized and controlled by freed African-American and Caribbean slaves as a free state and a homeland. Liberia and Ethiopia were the only two African countries during the 19th century conquest of Africa that were not controlled or colonized by European powers. During the colonial era, Liberia was presumed a protectorate of the United States. The Liberian constitution and flag were modeled after the Constitution of the United States and the American flag. The Liberian capital city of Monrovia was named after James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the American Colonization Society. Monrovia is one of two capital cities in the world that were named after a former American president, the other being Washington, D.C. named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. In January 3, 1848 Joseph Jenkins Roberts, an African American, was elected and became Liberia's first Black American president.〔("July 26, 1847 Liberian independence proclaimed" ). This Day In History.〕 The American Colonization Society was founded in December 21, 1816 by American Robert Finley to return freed African-Americans to Africa. In 1820, the first former American slaves arrived at the British colony of Sierra Leone from the United States and in 1821 the American Colonization Society founded the colony of Liberia as a homeland for freed African-American and ex-Caribbean slaves to live .〔("July 26,1847 Liberian independence proclaimed" ). This Day In History〕 The American Colonization Society came under attack from American abolitionists, who charged that the removal of freed slaves from the United States strengthened the institution of slavery. In addition, most Americans of African descent living in the United States were not enthusiastic to abandon their native lands in the United States for the harsh West African coast. Nevertheless, between January 7, 1822 and the American Civil War, over 15,000 African-American and 3,198 ex-Caribbean slaves from the United States and Caribbean islands settled in Liberia. Independence was granted by the American Colonization Society on July 26, 1847 and on February 5, 1862 the United States accepted and recognized Liberia's Independence.〔("July 26,1847 Liberian independence proclaimed" ). This Day In History〕 Liberia was presumed a protectorate of the United States from January 7, 1822 until the Liberian Declaration of Independence on July 26, 1847. With the backing and support from the United States, Liberia kept its independence during the colonial era. Liberia was never colonized or controlled by European powers, making it the oldest republic on the African continent.〔("July 26,1847 Liberian independence proclaimed" ).this Day In History〕 Liberia began to modernize in the 1940s following investment by the United States during World War II and economic liberalization under President William Tubman. Liberia was a founding member of League of Nations, United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity. In 1980 a military coup overthrew the True-Whig Party leadership, marking the beginning of political instability. Five years of military rule by the People Redemption Council and five years of civilian rule by the National Democratic Party of Liberia were followed by two civil wars – the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars. These resulted in the deaths of between 250,000 and 520,000 people and devastated Liberia's economy. A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. Today, about 85% of the population live below the international poverty line. Liberia's economic and political stability was threatened by a deadly Ebola virus epidemic which originated in Guinea in December 2013 and entered Liberia in March 2014, but the outbreak officially ended on May 8, 2015, after 42 days with no new cases. ==History== (詳細はPepper Coast, also known as the Grain Coast, has been inhabited by indigenous peoples of Africa at least as far back as the 12th century and perhaps earlier. Mende-speaking people expanded westward from the Sudan, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Dei, Bassa, Kru, Gola and Kissi were some of the earliest documented peoples in the area.〔 〕 This influx was compounded by the decline of the Western Sudanic Mali Empire in 1375 and the Songhai Empire in 1591. Additionally, as inland regions underwent desertification, inhabitants moved to the wetter coast. These new inhabitants brought skills such as cotton spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting, rice and sorghum cultivation, and social and political institutions from the Mali and Songhai empires. Shortly after the Mane conquered the region, the Vai people of the former Mali Empire immigrated into the Grand Cape Mount region. The ethnic Kru opposed the influx of Vai, forming an alliance with the Mane to stop further influx of Vai. People along the coast built canoes and traded with other West Africans from Cap-Vert to the Gold Coast. Between 1461 and late 17th century, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders had contacts and trading posts in the region. The Portuguese named the area ''Costa da Pimenta'' ("Pepper Coast") but it later came to be known as the Grain Coast, due to the abundance of grains of melegueta pepper. European traders would barter various commodities and goods with local people. When the Kru began trading with Europeans, they initially traded in commodities, but later they actively participated in the African slave trade. They raided their neighbors and sold captives to the Europeans, especially those taken after armed conflict. In 1822, the American Colonization Society began sending African-American volunteers to the Pepper Coast to establish a colony for freed African Americans. Slaveholders wanted to get free people of color out of the South, where they were thought to threaten the stability of the slave societies. Some abolitionists collaborated on relocation of free blacks, as they were discouraged by discrimination against them in the North and Midwest. By 1867, the ACS (and state-related chapters) had assisted in the migration of more than 13,000 African Americans to Liberia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The African-American Mosaic )〕 These free African Americans came to identify themselves as Americo-Liberian, developing a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism and Protestant Christianity. The ACS, a private organization supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed repatriation of free blacks was preferable to widespread emancipation of slaves.〔Maggie Montesinos Sale (1997). ''The Slumbering Volcano: American Slave Ship Revolts and the Production of Rebellious Masculinity'', p.264. Duke University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8223-1992-6〕 Similar state-based organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa and the Republic of Maryland, which were later annexed by Liberia. On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution. Based on the political principles denoted in the United States Constitution, it established the independent Republic of Liberia.〔Adekeye Adebajo (2002) ''Liberia's Civil War: Nigeria, ECOMOG, and Regional Security in West Africa'', International Peace Academy, p. 21, ISBN 1588260526.〕 The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians, who initially established dominance in the coastal areas that had been purchased by the ACS; they maintained relations with United States contacts in developing these areas and resulting trade. Their passage of the 1865 Ports of Entry Act, prohibiting foreign commerce with the inland tribes, was intended to encourage the growth of civilized values before such trade was allowed.〔 By 1877, the Americo-Liberian True Whig Party was the most powerful political power in the country. Competition for office was usually contained within the party, whose nomination virtually ensured election.〔 Pressure from the United Kingdom, which controlled Sierra Leone to the west, and France with interests in the north and east, led to a loss of Liberia's claims to extensive territories, which were annexed by adjoining countries. Economic development was hindered by the low level of civilization in the country, as evidenced by both the decline of production of Liberian goods in the late 19th century and by poor government finances, causing indebtedness on a series of international loans. In Liberia's early years, the Americo-Liberian settlers periodically encountered hostile and sometimes violent contact with tribal Africans in the bush who would raid and rob the coastal settlements. Tribesmen were excluded from birthright citizenship until 1904.〔"(Liberia )". U.S. State Department.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Liberia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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