Liberia (2001) | Grenada (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 13 counties; Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland, Montserrado, Nimba, River Cess, Sinoe | 6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
43.21% (male 698,178; female 695,599) 15-64 years: 53.34% (male 840,103; female 880,403) 65 years and over: 3.45% (male 56,073; female 55,481) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 33.9% (male 15,329/female 14,997)
15-64 years: 62.7% (male 29,711/female 26,436) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 1,431/female 1,598) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, sugarcane, bananas; sheep, goats; timber | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables |
Airports | 46 (2000 est.) | 3 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
44 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 36 (2000 est.) |
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Area | total:
111,370 sq km land: 96,320 sq km water: 15,050 sq km |
total: 344 sq km
land: 344 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Tennessee | twice the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Seven years of civil strife were brought to a close in 1996 when free and open presidential and legislative elections were held. President TAYLOR now holds strong executive power with no real political opposition. The years of fighting coupled with the flight of most businesses have disrupted formal economic activity. A still unsettled domestic security situation has slowed the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country. | One of the smallest independent countries in the western hemisphere, Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October 1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following year. |
Birth rate | 46.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 22.3 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $85.8 million
expenditures: $102.1 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) |
Capital | Monrovia | Saint George's |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers | tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | 579 km | 121 km |
Constitution | 6 January 1986 | 19 December 1973 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Liberia conventional short form: Liberia |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Grenada |
Currency | Liberian dollar (LRD) | - |
Death rate | 16.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.17 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $3 billion (1999 est.) | $196 million (2000) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Bismarck MYRICK embassy: 111 United Nations Drive, P. O. Box 10-0098, Mamba Point, Monrovia mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [231] 226-370 through 226-380 FAX: [231] 226-148 |
chief of mission: the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Grenada
embassy: Lance-aux-Epines Stretch, Saint George's mailing address: P. O. Box 54, Saint George's, Grenada, West Indies telephone: [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176 FAX: [1] (473) 444-4820 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador William BULL chancery: 5201 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 723-0437 FAX: [1] (202) 723-0436 consulate(s) general: New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE
chancery: 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2561 FAX: [1] (202) 265-2468 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | large refugee population from civil war in Sierra Leone | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $200 million pledged (1998) | $8.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | A civil war in 1989-96 destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Many businessmen fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them. Some returned during 1997. Many will not return. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a producer and exporter of basic products, while local manufacturing, mainly foreign owned, had been small in scope. The democratically elected government, installed in August 1997, inherited massive international debts and currently relies on revenues from its maritime registry to provide the bulk of its foreign exchange earnings. The restoration of the infrastructure and the raising of incomes in this ravaged economy depend on the implementation of sound macro- and micro-economic policies of the new government, including the encouragement of foreign investment. Recent growth has been from a low base, and continued growth will require major policy successes. | Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985. Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to growth in national output. |
Electricity - consumption | 401.8 million kWh (1999) | 138.6 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 432 million kWh (1999) | 149 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Wuteve 1,380 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m |
Environment - current issues | tropical rain forest subject to deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity; pollution of coastal waters from oil residue and raw sewage | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94 signed, but not ratified: Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves) | black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5%, and trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian |
Exchange rates | Liberian dollars per US dollar - 39.8100 (December 2000), 41.0483 (2000), 41.9025 (1999), 41.5075 (1998), 1.0000 (officially fixed rate 1940-97); market exchange rate: Liberian dollars per US dollar - 40 (December 1998), 50 (October 1995)
note: until December 1997, rates were based on a fixed relationship with the US dollar; beginning in January 1998, rates are market determined |
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (since 2 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (since 2 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (renewable); election last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held NA July 2003) election results: Charles Ghankay TAYLOR elected president; percent of vote - Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (NPP) 75.3%, Ellen Johnson SIRLEAF (UP) 9.6%, Alhaji KROMAH (ALCOP) 4%, other 11.1% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general |
Exports | $55 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | diamonds, iron ore, rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace |
Exports - partners | Belgium 53%, Switzerland 9%, US 6%, France 4% (1999) | Saint Lucia 12.7%, US 12.2%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.7%, Netherlands 7.9%, Saint Kitts and Nevis 7.8%, Dominica 7.8%, Germany 7.1%, France 4.6% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 11 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a white five-pointed star on a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner; the design was based on the US flag | a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars represent the seven administrative divisions |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $3.35 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
60% industry: 10% services: 30% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 7.7%
industry: 23.9% services: 68.4% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 15% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 6 30 N, 9 30 W | 12 07 N, 61 40 W |
Geography - note | - | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada |
Highways | total:
10,600 km paved: 657 km unpaved: 9,943 km note: (there is major deterioration on all highways due to heavy rains and lack of maintenance) (1996 est.) |
total: 1,040 km
paved: 638 km unpaved: 402 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | increasingly a transshipment point for Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine for the European and US markets | small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US |
Imports | $170 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods; rice and other foodstuffs | food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel |
Imports - partners | South Korea 30%, Italy 24%, Japan 15%, Germany 9% (1999) | Trinidad and Tobago 29.6%, US 27.8%, UK 4.8% (2004) |
Independence | 26 July 1847 | 7 February 1974 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 0.7% (1997 est.) |
Industries | rubber processing, palm oil processing, diamonds | food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction |
Infant mortality rate | 132.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 14.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.18 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5% (2000 est.) | 2.8% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 20 sq km (1993 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada) |
Labor force | - | 42,300 (1996) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 70%, industry 8%, services 22% (1999 est.) | agriculture 24%, industry 14%, services 62% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
1,585 km border countries: Guinea 563 km, Cote d'Ivoire 716 km, Sierra Leone 306 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
1% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 59% forests and woodland: 18% other: 19% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 5.88%
permanent crops: 29.41% other: 64.71% (2001) |
Languages | English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence | English (official), French patois |
Legal system | dual system of statutory law based on Anglo-American common law for the modern sector and customary law based on unwritten tribal practices for indigenous sector | based on English common law |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (26 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve nine-year terms) and the House of Representatives (64 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held in NA 2006); House of Representatives - last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held in NA 2003) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 21, UP 3, ALCOP 2; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 49, UP 7, ALCOP 3, Alliance of Political Parties 2, UPP 2, LPP 1; note - the Alliance of Political Parties was a coalition of the LAP and the Liberia Unification Party or LUP |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 13-member body, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition) and the House of Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 27 November 2003 (next to be held by November 2008) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NNP 8, NDC 7 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
51.41 years male: 49.96 years female: 52.91 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 64.53 years
male: 62.74 years female: 66.31 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 38.3% male: 53.9% female: 22.4% (1995 est.) note: these figures are increasing because of the improving school system |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | territorial sea:
200 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
1,478 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 49,456,361 GRT/76,620,648 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 3, bulk 324, cargo 97, chemical tanker 163, combination bulk 20, combination ore/oil 38, container 245, liquefied gas 97, multi-functional large-load carrier 4, passenger 24, petroleum tanker 310, refrigerated cargo 74, roll on/roll off 19, short-sea passenger 3, specialized tanker 12, vehicle carrier 45 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 8, Australia 1, Ashmore and Cartier Islands 1, Austria 5, Bermuda 5, Belgium 5, Burma 1, Brazil 8, Canada 1, China 28, Chile 7, Costa Rica 8, Cyprus 27, Denmark 4, Ecuador 1, Germany 117, Greece 83, Hong Kong 54, Croatia 9, Indonesia 2, India 8, Israel 1, Italy 8, Japan 85, South Korea 8, Latvia 15, Monaco 28, Mexico 6, Malaysia 1, Nigeria 1, Netherlands 7, Norway 86, Netherlands Antilles 1, NZ 1, Poland 2, Portugal 2, Philippines 1, Russia 22, Saudi Arabia 20, South Africa 1, Slovenia 1, Singapore 30, Spain 1, Sweden 8, Switzerland 23, UAE 5, Taiwan 10, UK 15, US 85, Uruguay 1, Vietnam 1 (2000 est.) |
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Military branches | Army, Air Force, Navy | no regular military forces; Royal Grenada Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $1 million (FY98) | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2% (FY98) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
715,753 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
385,460 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 26 July (1847) | Independence Day, 7 February (1974) |
Nationality | noun:
Liberian(s) adjective: Liberian |
noun: Grenadian(s)
adjective: Grenadian |
Natural hazards | dust-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to March) | lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November |
Natural resources | iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, hydropower | timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors |
Net migration rate | -11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: by the end of 1999, all Liberian refugees, who had fled the domestic strife, were assumed to have returned |
-13.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | All Liberia Coalition Party or ALCOP [Lusinee KAMARA]; Liberian Action Party or LAP [Cletus WOTORSON]; Liberian National Union or LINU [Henry MONIBA, chairman]; Liberian People's Party or LPP [Togba-Nah TIPOTEH, chairman]; National Democratic Party of Liberia or NDPL [Isaac DAKINAH]; National Patriotic Party or NPP [Charles Ghankay TAYLOR] - governing party; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Chea CHEAPOO, chairman]; Reformation Alliance Party or RAP [Henry Boimah FAHNBULLEH, chairman]; True Whig Party or TWP [Rudolph SHERMAN, chairman]; United People's Party or UPP [Gabriel Baccus MATTHEWS, chairman]; Unity Party or UP [Charles Clarke] | Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Gloria Payne BANFIELD]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Tillman THOMAS]; New National Party or NNP [Keith MITCHELL]; People Labor Movement or PLM [Dr. Francis ALEXIS] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 3,225,837 (July 2001 est.) | 89,502 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 80% | 32% (2000) |
Population growth rate | 1.92% (2001 est.) | 0.19% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Buchanan, Greenville, Harper, Monrovia | Saint George's |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 6, shortwave 4 (1999) | AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 790,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
490 km (328 km single track); note - three rail systems owned and operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with the Liberian Government; one of these, the Lamco Railroad, closed in 1989 after iron ore production ceased; the other two were shut down by the civil war; large sections of the rail lines have been dismantled; approximately 60 km of railroad track was exported for scrap standard gauge: 345 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 145 km 1.067-m gauge |
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Religions | indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20% | Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2% |
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 (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
telephone and telegraph service via microwave radio relay network; main center is Monrovia domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: automatic, islandwide telephone system
domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links international: country code - 1-473; new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad |
Telephones - main lines in use | 6,000 (1997) | 33,500 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1995) | 7,600 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (plus four low-power repeaters) (2000) | 2 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast | volcanic in origin with central mountains |
Total fertility rate | 6.36 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.37 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 70% | 12.5% (2000) |
Waterways | none | - |