什么是赖比瑞亚

正式名称赖比瑞亚共和国（Republic of Liberia）

非洲西部共和国。面积99,067平方公里。人口约3,226,000（2001）。首都︰蒙罗维亚。民族群体包括美洲－赖比瑞亚人，19世纪从美国移居该地的自由黑人的後裔；还有原住民，包括曼德人（Mande）、克瓦人（Kwa）和梅尔人（Mel）。语言︰英语（官方语）和土语。宗教：基督教、伊斯兰教、传统信仰。货币︰赖比瑞亚元（L$）。赖比瑞亚的大西洋沿岸地带延伸近560公里，内陆为丘陵和低山。约1/5的地区为热带雨林，可耕地不到4%，但境内铁矿储量丰富，为主要出口来源。主要经济作物有橡胶、咖啡和可可，主要农作物为水稻和木薯。政府形式为共和国，两院制。国家元首暨政府首脑为总统，由国务委员会辅助。

赖比瑞亚是非洲历史最长的共和国。在美国殖民地协会支持下，设为安顿被释放的美国奴隶的地方。1821年该协会在梅苏拉多角（Cape Mesurado）建立了一块殖民地，翌年卫理公会牧师阿什蒙（J. Ashmun）成为该移民地总督。1824年这块移民地被命名为赖比瑞亚，其最主要的移民区被命名为蒙罗维亚。1847年赖比瑞亚第一位黑人总督罗伯次（J. J. Roberts）宣布赖比瑞亚独立，将该国版图扩大。该国与法国及英国的边疆争端一直持续到1892年才正式确立疆界。1980年由杜（S. K. Doe）主导的政变，标志着美洲－赖比瑞亚人对内陆非洲原住民长期政治统治的结束。1989年的一场叛乱，在1990年代逐步升级为破坏性内战，1996年达成和平协定，1997年举行选举。

Liberia

Republic, western Africa. Area: 38,250 sq mi (99,067 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 2,602.000. Capital: Monrovia. Liberia's ethnic groups include the Americo-Liberians, descendants of the black freedmen who emigrated from the U.S. in the 19th century; and indigenous peoples, including the Mande, Kwa, and Mel. Languages: English (official), native languages. Religions: Christianity, Islam, traditional beliefs. Currency: Liberian dollar. Liberia has coastal lowlands extending 350 mi (560 km) along the Atlantic; farther inland are hills and low mountains. Roughly one-fifth of Liberia consists of tropical rain forest. Less than 4 percent of Liberia is considered arable, but the country has rich iron-ore reserves, which are a major source of exports. The principal cash crops are rubber, coffee, and cacao; the staple crops are rice and cassava. It is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the state minister for presidential affairs. Africa's oldest republic, Liberia was established on land bought from local tribes as a home for freed U.S. slaves under the American Colonization Society, which founded a colony at Cape Mesurado in 1821. In 1822 Jehudi Ashmun, a Methodist minister, became the director of the settlement and Liberia's real founder. In 1824 it was named Liberia, and its main settlement was named Monrovia. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia's first nonwhite governor, proclaimed Liberian independence in 1847 and expanded its boundaries. Border disputes with the French and British lasted until 1892, when its boundaries were officially established. In 1980 a coup led by Gen. Samuel K. Doe marked the end of the Americo-Liberians' long political dominance over the indigenous Africans. A rebellion in 1989 escalated into a destructive civil war in the 1990s. A peace agreement was reached in 1996, and elections were held in 1997.