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Krahn People
The Krahn are an ethnic group of Liberia and Ivory Coast. This group belongs to the Kru language family and its people are sometimes referred to as the Wee, Guéré, Sapo, or Wobe. It is likely that Western contact with the Kru language is the primary reason for the development of these different names. History The Krahn arrived in an area of Liberia previously known as the "Grain Coast" as part of early 16th-century migrations from the northeast and what is now Ivory Coast. This migration occurred due to pressure on local populations resulting from the emigration of ethnic groups from western Sudan after the decline of medieval empires, as well as an increase in regional wars. At the time, the African slave trade was becoming more prominent within Liberia. Some Kru subgroups were sold into slavery by their neighbours, but it was more common for the Krahn and other coastal peoples in Liberia to serve as local traders, brokering deals within the Western slave market. Many Kru c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Johnston
Sir Henry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927), known as Harry Johnston, was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely in Africa and spoke many African languages. He published 40 books on African subjects and was one of the key players in the Scramble for Africa that occurred at the end of the 19th century. Early years Born at Kennington Park, south London, the son of John Brookes Johnstone and Esther Laetitia Hamilton. He attended Stockwell grammar school and then King's College London, followed by four years studying painting at the Royal Academy. In connection with his study he travelled to Europe and North Africa, visiting the little-known (by Europeans) interior of Tunisia. Exploration in Africa In 1882 he visited southern Angola with the Earl of Mayo, and in the following year met Henry Morton Stanley in the Congo, becoming one of the first Europeans after Stanley to see the river above the Stanley P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudan (region)
Sudan is the geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic ' (), or "the lands of the Blacks", referring to West Africa and northern Central Africa. Historically, the name was understood to denote the western part of the Sahel region. It thus roughly encompassed the geographical belt between the Sahara and the coastal West Africa. In modern usage, the term "Sudan" is also used in a separate context to refer specifically to the geographic region comprising the present-day countries of the Sudan, including its western region which forms a part of the country, and South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011. In order to avoid confusion, the term "the Sudans" has become the preferred option when describing this region. Geography Sudan is marked by hay, forest cliffs and gallery forests along the rivers. Drought and livestock grazing threaten the area with desertification. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 Monrovia Clashes
The Monrovia clashes in 1998 were the result of Liberian President Charles Taylor's attempts to violently eliminate one of his last domestic political opponents, Roosevelt Johnson, a former warlord of Krahn ethnicity. At the time, Johnson still lived with a small loyal militia in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. After some minor armed altercations, almost all of Johnson's followers were finally killed by Taylor's security forces during a major firefight in September 1998, though Johnson himself managed to flee into the United States embassy. After one last attempt by Taylor's paramilitaries to kill him there, causing a major diplomatic incident, Johnson was evacuated to Ghana. Although the clashes were effectively a political victory for Taylor as he had removed Johnson from Liberia, the mass killings of ethnic Krahn after the clashes contributed to the outbreak of the Second Liberian Civil War which saw the president being toppled. Background After being elected in 1997, Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roosevelt Johnson
David Roosevelt Johnson (died October 23, 2004) was a Liberian who led a rebel group during the country's civil war. He was not a member of the Krahn ethnic group he fought for, however his wife was Krahn. Biography A former teacher, Johnson joined the rebel group United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) soon after the war began. ULIMO split into two factions in 1994: United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Kromah faction (ULIMO-K) led by Alhaji G.V. Kromah and the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Johnson faction (ULIMO-J), which was led by Johnson. Johnson had 6 sons in Liberia. Jotham, his eldest, would take care of the rest of his brothers while Johnson had been on rebel missions. Nigel, Justin, Rob, Hye and Igor had lived without knowing much about their father, as Johnson had hardly been home to care for them. Fighters loyal to Johnson triggered the first major violation of the Abuja Accord in December 1995, resisting ECOM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warlord
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of history, albeit in a variety of different capacities within the political, economic, and social structure of states or ungoverned territories. The term is most often applied to China in the mid-19th century and the early 20th century. The term can also be used for any supreme military leader. Historical origins and etymology The first appearance of the word "warlord" dates to 1856, when used by American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson in a highly critical essay on the aristocracy in England, "Piracy and war gave place to trade, politics and letters; the war-lord to the law-lord; the privilege was kept, whilst the means of obtaining it were changed." During the First World War, the term appeared in China as ''Junfa'' ( 軍閥), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Liberation Movement Of Liberia For Democracy
The United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was an anti-rebel group that participated in the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996). ULIMO was formed in May 1991 by Krahn and Mandingo refugees and soldiers who had fought in the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) fighters.Damrosch, Lori Fisler. ''Enforcing Restraint: Collective Intervention in Internal Conflicts'', 1993. Page 170. It was led by Alhadji Kromah and Raleigh Seekie, a deputy Minister of Finance in the Doe government. After fighting alongside the Sierra Leonean army against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), ULIMO forces entered western Liberia in September 1991. The group scored significant gains in areas held by another rebel group – the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), notably around the diamond mining areas of Lofa and Bomi counties. From its outset, ULIMO was beset with internal divisions and the group effectively broke into two separate militias in 1994: ULIMO-J, an ethnic Krahn f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberian General Election, 1997
General elections were held in Liberia on 19 July 1997 as part of the 1996 peace agreement ending the First Liberian Civil War. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate were up for election. Voter turnout was around 89%. Former rebel leader Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party (NPP) won the election with 75.3% of the vote, giving it about three-quarters of the legislative seats according to the proportional representation system. Taylor was inaugurated as president on 2 August 1997. Taylor campaigned on, among other slogans, "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him." The elections were overseen by the United Nations' peacekeeping mission, United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia, along with a contingent from the Economic Community of West African States. Taylor's closest competitor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, collected only 10 percent of the vote. Background During 1984 a new draft constitution was approved in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Taylor (Liberian Politician)
Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (born 28 January 1948) is a former Liberian politician and convicted warlord who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003, as a result of the Second Liberian Civil War and growing international pressure. Born in Arthington, Montserrado County, Liberia, Taylor earned a degree at Bentley College in the United States before returning to Liberia to work in the government of Samuel Doe. After being removed for embezzlement and imprisoned in Massachusetts by President Doe, Taylor would escape prison in 1989. He eventually arrived in Libya, where he was trained as a guerrilla fighter. He returned to Liberia in 1989 as the head of a Libyan-backed rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, to overthrow the Doe government, initiating the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996). Following Doe's execution, Taylor gained control of a large portion of the country and became one of the most prom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Gedeh County
Grand Gedeh is a county in the eastern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that constitute the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has three districts. Zwedru (formerly Tchien) serves as the capital with the area of the county. Measuring , it is larger than 28 independent countries including Lebanon, Trinidad and Tobago, Cape Verde, Malta and Mauritius and the combined area of the US states of Delaware and Rhode Island. As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 126,146, making it the ninth most populous county in Liberia. Grand Gedeh has lower tropical forests which has mid size hills composed of various valleys and water courses. These forests receive a very high rainfall ranging from to per year. Grand Gedeh's County Superintendent is Kai Farley. The county is bordered by Nimba County to the west, Sinoe County to the southwest, and River Gee County to the southeast. The northern part of Grand Gedeh borders the nation of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nimba County
Nimba County is a county in northeastern Liberia that shares borders with the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in the East and the Republic of Guinea in the Northwest. Its capital city is Sanniquellie and its most populous city is Ganta. With the county's area measuring , Nimba is the largest of Liberia's 15 counties. The county has six statutory districts. As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 462,026, making it the second most-populous county in Liberia. Named after Mount Nimba (Neinbaa Tohn in the Mahn (or Mano) language), which demarcates part of the Guinea-Côte d'Ivoire border, Nimba is also bordered by Bong and Grand Bassa counties to the west, Rivercess County to the southwest, and Grand Gedeh County to the southeast. The northern and northeastern parts of Nimba border the nation of Republic of Guinea, while the northeast lies along the border of Côte d'Ivoire. Government Nimba County is one of fifteen counties of Liberia. During the nearly three-decade administrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Patriotic Front Of Liberia
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996. Leadership The military aspects of NPFL were led by Charles Taylor, a former government official who was being sought for trial on charges of corruption, the NPFL took up arms against the regime of Samuel Doe on 24 December 1989. Most NPFL fighters were originally drawn from the Gio and Mano ethnic groups of northern Liberia who were persecuted under Doe's regime. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf served as International Coordinator of the NPFL. Taylor and Tom Woewiyu were also in leadership positions. Martina Johnson was one of the NPFL commanders who is alleged to have “participated directly in mutilation and mass killing in late 1992 during an NPFL offensive known as ‘Operation Octopus’. Support Popular support within Liberia helped the group grow from an initial force numbering in the low hundreds to a large irregular a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the nation's primate city, Monrovia is the country's economic, financial and cultural center; its economy is primarily centered on its harbor and its role as the seat of Liberian government. Etymology Monrovia is named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe, a prominent supporter of the colonization of Liberia and the American Colonization Society. Along with Washington, D.C., it is one of two world capitals to be named after a U.S. President. History Before 1816, the area around Cape Mesurado and the mouth of the Mesurado River was called Ducor. It had long been established as a crossroads and place of trade, and was inhabited by fishing, trading and farming communities of various ethnicities, including the Dey, Kru, Bassa, Gola, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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