Description: LIBERIA: PRESIDENT CHARLES TAYLOR PRESS CONFERENCE, Liberia's president-elect to review mining concessions, Liberia: citizens hail Weah's concession in light of election results, Liberia: President questions gov’t bank balance record of Weah administration
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Coordinates : 6°30′N 9°30′W / 6.500°N 9.500°W / 6.500; -9.500
Liberia i / l aɪ ˈ b ɪər i ə / , officially 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 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi) and is home to 4,503,000 people. English is the official language and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, representing the numerous tribes who make up more than 95% of the population.
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 . It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century.