Monrovia () is the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

of the

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n country of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Founded in 1822, it is located on

Cape Mesurado Cape Mesurado, also called Cape Montserrado, is a headland on the coast of Liberia near the capital Monrovia and the mouth of the Saint Paul River. It was named Cape Mesurado by Portuguese sailors in the 1560s. It is the promontory on which Afri ...

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 A primate city is a city that is the largest in its country, province, Federated state, state, or region, and disproportionately larger than any others in the urban hierarchy. A ''primate city distribution'' is a rank-size distribution that has on ...

, 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 The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

, a prominent supporter of the colonization of Liberia and the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

. Along with

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, it is one of two world

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

to be named after a U.S. President.

History

Before 1816, the area around

and the mouth of the

Mesurado River Mesurado River is a river of Liberia. It flows through the capital of 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 ...

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 Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Ottoman Algeria, Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Ottoman Tu ...

Kru KRU was a Malaysian pop boy band formed in 1992. The group comprises three brothers, namely Datuk Norman Abdul Halim, Datuk Yusry Abdul Halim and Edry Abdul Halim'. Apart from revolutionising the Malaysian music scene with their blend of pop ...

, Bassa, Gola, and Vai. The French cartographer and slave trader

Chevalier des Marchais Reynaud Des Marchais, Chevalier des Marchais was a French cartographer, navigator, and captain of a slave ship who travelled extensively in the west coast of Africa, the West Indies and the northwest coast of South America between 1704 and 1727, und ...

visited Ducor and the Cape in 1723, conducted business there and later published a map of the area. In 1816, with the aim of establishing a self-sufficient colony for emancipated American slaves, something that had already been accomplished in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, the first group of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

settlers arrived in West Africa from the United States under the auspices of the

and with the support of the U.S. government. They landed at

Sherbro Island Sherbro Island is in the Atlantic Ocean, and is included within Bonthe District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. The island is separated from the African mainland by the Sherbro River in the north and Sherbro Strait in the east. It is long a ...

in what today is

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. On January 7, 1822, a ship took these settlers to Dazoe Island (now called Providence Island) at the mouth of the Mesurado River. They subsequently went ashore at

, and established a settlement they called ''Christopolis''. In 1824, the city was renamed ''Monrovia'' after

, president of the United States at the time. Monroe was a prominent supporter of developing the city as a place to relocate formerly enslaved Black people from the United States, United States of America and

Caribbean islands Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are re ...

, as an alternative to abolishing the institution of slavery in America. In 1845, there was a constitutional convention in Monrovia, at which the document was drafted that would be adopted two years later as the constitution of the newly independent and sovereign

Republic of Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century, 2,500 of Monrovia’s 4,000 residents were

Americo-Liberian Americo-Liberian people or Congo people or Congau people in Liberian English,Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of Afric ...

. Monrovia was divided into two sectors: Monrovia proper, and Krutown. Monrovia proper was where the city's Americo-Liberian population resided; the architectural style of its buildings was reminiscent of that of the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Krutown was inhabited mainly by ethnic Krus, but also by Bassas, Grebos and members of other ethnic groups. By 1926, ethnic groups from Liberia's interior had begun migrating to Monrovia in search of jobs. By 1937, Monrovia’s population had grown to 10,000, and it had 30 police officers. Carter and Tolbert

In 1979, the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

held their conference near Monrovia, and it was chaired by the then president of Liberia,

William Tolbert William Richard Tolbert Jr. (13 May 1913 – 12 April 1980) was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until 1980. Tolbert was an Americo-Liberian and trained as a civil servant before entering the House of ...

. During his term, Tolbert improved

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

in Monrovia and cut in half the

tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...

at the

University of Liberia The University of Liberia (UL or LU in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia Coll ...

. In 1980, a military coup led by

Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951 – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician who served as the 21st president of Liberia from 1980 to 1990. Doe ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1984 and then a ...

overthrew the Tolbert government and executed many of its members. The

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe had established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of support from the United States by the late 1980s. The Nat ...

(1989 to 1997) and

Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War was a conflict in the West African nation of Liberia lasted from 1999 to 2003. It was preceded by the First Liberian Civil War, which ended in 1996. President Charles Taylor came to power in 1997 after victory in t ...

(1999 to 2003) severely damaged many buildings and nearly all the infrastructure in the city, particularly during the

siege of Monrovia The siege of Monrovia or Fourth Battle of Monrovia, which occurred in Monrovia, Liberia between July 18 and August 14, 2003, was a major military confrontation between the Armed Forces of Liberia and LURD rebels during the Second Liberian Civil Wa ...

. There were major battles between Samuel Doe's government forces and

Prince Johnson Prince Yormie Johnson"Prince" is a common given name for men in Liberia, rather than a royal title. (born 6 July 1952) is a Liberian politician and the current Senior Senator from Nimba County. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent ...

's forces in 1990, and during the

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 governme ...

's assault on the city in 1992. During the wars, many children and youths were forced to be involved in the fighting, and were deprived of any schooling, and afterwards, many of them were left homeless. In 2002,

Leymah Gbowee Leymah Roberta Gbowee (born 1 February 1972) is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her ef ...

organized the

Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace is a peace movement started in 2003 by women in Monrovia, Liberia, Africa, that worked to end the Second Liberian Civil War. Organized by Crystal Roh Gawding and social workers Leymah Gbowee and Comfort Freem ...

, as part of which, in Monrovia, local women gathered in a fish market to pray and sing. This movement helped to end the war the following year, and to bring about the election of

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Mon ...

as president of Liberia, which thereby became the first African nation to have a

female president The following is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period (1918–1939). The first list includes female presidents who are heads of state and may also ...

. In 2014, the city was affected by the

2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in Western Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and S ...

. The

Ebola virus epidemic in Liberia An epidemic of Ebola virus disease occurred in Liberia from 2014 to 2015, along with the neighbouring countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone. The first cases of virus were reported by late March 2014. The Ebola virus, a biosafety level four path ...

was declared to be over on 3 September 2015.

Geography

Monrovia lies along the Cape Mesurado peninsula, between the Atlantic Ocean and the

, whose mouth forms a large natural harbor. The

Saint Paul River The Saint Paul River is a river of western Africa. Its headwaters are in southeastern Guinea. Its upper portion in Guinea is known as the Diani River or Niandi River, and forms part of the boundary between Guinea and Liberia. It is known local ...

lies directly north of the city and forms the northern boundary of

Bushrod Island Bushrod Island is an island near Monrovia, Liberia surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Saint Paul River, the Mesurado River and Stockton Creek (a tidal channel that connects the two rivers). It contains the Freeport of Monrovia, the major natio ...

, which is reached by crossing the "New Bridge" from downtown Monrovia. Monrovia is located in

Montserrado County Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia containing its national capital, Monrovia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has 17 sub p ...

and is Liberia's largest city and its administrative, commercial and financial center.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Monrovia has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(''Am''). It is the wettest capital city in the world, with annual rainfall averaging . It has a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

and a

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

, but gets precipitation even during the dry season. Temperatures are fairly constant throughout the year, averaging around .

Neighborhoods

Monrovia comprises several districts spread across the Mesurado peninsula; the greater metropolitan area encircles the mouth of the marshy Mesurado River. The historic downtown area, centered on Broad Street, is at the very end of the peninsula; the major market district, Waterside, immediately to its north, faces the city's large natural harbor. Northwest of Waterside is the large, low-income

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

community. To the west and southwest of the downtown area is Mamba Point, traditionally the city's principal diplomatic quarter and home to the embassies of the United States and United Kingdom, as well as the European Union delegation. South of the city center is Capitol Hill, where the major institutions of the national government, including the Temple of Justice and the Executive Mansion, are located. Further east along the peninsula is the

Sinkor Sinkor is a section of the Monrovia metropolitan area in Liberia. United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has its headquarters in Sinkor. Embassies, health facilities, and educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations are also in ...

section of Monrovia. Originally a suburban residential district, today Sinkor is the bustling midtown section of the city. It includes many diplomatic missions, major hotels, businesses, and residential neighborhoods, including informal communities such as Plumkor, Jorkpentown, Lakpazee and Fiamah. Sinkor is also home to the city's secondary airport, Spriggs Payne, and the area immediately next to the airport, called Airfield, is a major nightlife district for the whole city. East of the Airfield is the Old Road section of Sinkor, which is predominantly residential, and includes informal settlements such as Chugbor and

Gaye Town Gaye () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the following intercom ...

. At the southeastern base of the peninsula is the independent township of Congo Town, and to its east is the large suburb of Paynesville. Other suburbs, such as Chocolate City,

Gardnersville Gardnersville or Gardnesville is a township in the Greater Monrovia District, Liberia. During the Liberian Civil War, the area was war torn and thousands of refugees hid in buildings in Gardnersville and Chocolate City. On 20 October 1992, two A ...

, Barnesville,

Kaba Town Kaba Town is a community in Gardnersville, Greater Monrovia District Greater Monrovia is one of four districts located in Montserrado County, Liberia. It contains the country's capital Monrovia. It recorded a population of 970,824 in the 2008 ce ...

Dandawailo Dixville is a town and northern suburb of Monrovia, Liberia, to the north of Kaba Town Kaba Town is a community in Gardnersville, Greater Monrovia District Greater Monrovia is one of four districts located in Montserrado County, Liberia. It c ...

, and

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 200th-largest island in the world. Geography New Georgia island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of ...

lie to the north, across the river. On

, north of Monrovia, are the neighborhoods of

Clara Town Clara Town is a slum located on Bushrod Island in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. It is built upon a swamp. Clara Town was one of several ethnic communes that was squatted in the outskirts of Monrovia. Clara Town had around 4,500 inhabitants ...

, Logan Town and

New Kru Town New Kru Town is a northwestern coastal suburb of Monrovia, Liberia. Overview New Kru Town is a northwestern coastal suburb of Monrovia, located on the north end of Bushrod Island. It is the only borough in Liberia. The town grew as a planned ...

. To the far east are the suburbs of

Stockton Creek Bridge Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom * Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk * Stockton, Ch ...

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, East ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, and Cassava Hill. ; Other neighborhoods and suburbs of Monrovia include: * Bakoi * Banjoa * Barekling * Bassa Community * Buzzi Quarters *

* Crown Hill * Dixville * Doin Town * Dwahn Town * Duala * Fanti Town * Jatuja *

Jacob Town Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Jacob in Islam, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel (name), Israel, is regarded as a Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religi ...

* Jallah Town * Logan Town *

Matadi Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...

Old Road Old Road is a town located on a roadstead in southern Antigua island in Antigua and Barbuda. It is overlooked by Boggy Peak, which lies to its northwest. Old Road F.C. is based in the town. Demographics Enumeration Districts * 80800 ...

* Point Four * Red Light *

Slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

Snapper Hill Snapper(s) may refer to: Animals * Lutjanidae, a family of fish known as snappers **''Lutjanus campechanus'', a fish found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of the United States ** Bigeye snapper (''Lutjanus lutjanus''), a fish that p ...

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

Toe Town Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plant ...

* Tomo * Topoe Village *

Vai Town Vai or VAI has several possible meanings: * Vai people ** Vai language ** Vai syllabary ** Vai (Unicode block) * Vai (Crete) * Văi, a village in Lupșa Commune, Alba County, Romania Abbreviation * VAI, Video Artists International, a classical m ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Notable people

, Liberian politician *

Clarence Kparghai Clarence Kparghai (born 13 May 1985 in Monrovia, Liberia) is a Liberian-born Swiss professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specifi ...

, Swiss ice hockey player *

Sio Moore Snorsio Alston "Sio" Moore (born May 2, 1990) is a Liberian former American football linebacker. He played college football at Connecticut. Moore was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He also played for the ...

, American football player * Aloysius Wleh Penie, Liberian footballer *

, former president of Liberia *

Takun J Jonathan Koffa (born May 14, 1981), known professionally as Takun J (often stylized as Takun-J), is a Liberian rapper, songwriter and activist. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of hipco, a politically-charged music genre. The Liberian Gende ...

, Liberian musician * Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia *

Benoni Urey Benoni Wilfred Urey (born 22 June 1957) is an Americo-Liberian businessman and politician, who was formerly the Liberian Commissioner of Maritime Affairs. In 2014 ''The Economist'' reported that Urey was Liberia's wealthiest man.George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served a ...

, Liberian president and former footballer *

Ashton Youboty Ashton Youboty (born July 7, 1984), is a Liberian-American football coach and former cornerback, who is the current cornerbacks coach at Purdue. He played college football at Ohio State for coach Jim Tressel from 2003 to 2006 and played in the ...

, American football player

Economy

Market stall @ Monrovia, Liberia - panoramio

Monrovia's economy is dominated by its harbor - the

Freeport of Monrovia The Freeport of Monrovia is the main commercial port facility in the West African nation of Liberia. It was artificially created on Bushrod Island near Monrovia in 1948. The facility contains four piers and one main wharf with four berths. The po ...

- and as the location of Liberia's government offices. Monrovia's harbor was significantly expanded by U.S. forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the main exports include

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

and

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

. Materials are also manufactured on-site, such as

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

, refined

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

, food products,

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

, furniture, and

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

. Located on

between the mouths of the Mesurado and

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

rivers, the harbor also has facilities for storing and repairing vessels.

Transport

Robert International Airport, Margibi County, Liberia

Boats link the city's Freeport of Monrovia, the country's busiest port, with Greenville and

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Il ...

. The nearest airport is

Spriggs Payne Airport James Spriggs Payne Airport is an airport located from downtown Monrovia, the capital of the Republic of Liberia in West Africa. The airfield is located within the busy and thickly settled Sinkor section of the city, and is therefore convenient ...

, located less than four miles () from the city center.

Roberts International Airport Roberts International Airport , informally also known as ''Robertsfield'', is an international airport in the West African nation of Liberia. Located near the town of Harbel in Margibi County, the single runway airport is about outside of t ...

, the largest international airport in Liberia, is away in Harbel. Monrovia is connected with the rest of the country via a network of roads and railways. Monrovia is listed as the home port by between ten and fifteen percent of the world's merchant shipping, registered in Liberia under

Flag of Convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...

arrangements. Both private taxis and minibuses run in the city, and are supplemented by larger buses run by the

Monrovia Transit Authority The Monrovia Transit Authority (MTA) is a publicly owned company started 1979 in Monrovia, Liberia, to provide timetabled bus services in the capital city. Operations ceased prior to the war. The MTA owns and runs a depot outside of Monrovia in Gar ...

. In recent years (2005–present) the roads on many streets in Monrovia have been rebuilt by the World Bank and the Liberian Government. Private and public infrastructures are being built or renovated as reconstruction takes place.

Administration and government

Monrovia is situated in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Greater Monrovia Greater Monrovia is one of four districts located in Montserrado County, Liberia. It contains the country's capital Monrovia. It recorded a population of 970,824 in the 2008 census. Greater Monrovia has no official administrative status. Unlike ...

. Instead of being divided into

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

like other districts of Liberia, Greater Monrovia is divided into 16 "zones". Like clans, these zones are subdivided into 161 communities. Greater Monrovia does not have an organized district administration like other districts, with all lower-level local authorities being directly supervised by the Montserrado County Superintendent. Municipally, Greater Monrovia District is subdivided into two city corporations and ten other local authorities (nine townships and one borough). Established by law in 1973 and operational since 1976, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) is responsible for the city's administration. The MCC also provides services to the townships and borough through a revenue-sharing arrangement, but has no zoning or enforcement jurisdiction in them. City corporations *Monrovia City Corporation * Paynesville City Corporation Townships *Barnesville *

*Congo Town * Dixville *

*Garworlon *Johnsonville *

Borough *

Former mayors include: * W. F. Nelson, 1870s * C. T. O. King, 1880s and served three terms * H. A. Williams, 1890s *

Arthur Barclay Arthur Barclay (31 July 1854 – 10 July 1938) was the 15th president of Liberia from 1904 to 1912. Early life and education Barclay was born at Bridgetown, Barbados, on 31 July 1854, the tenth of twelve children of Anthony and Sarah Barcl ...

, 1892–1902 * Gabriel M. Johnson, 1912-1913; 1920-1921 * Thomas J.R. Faulkner, 1914-1918 * Nathan C. Ross, 1956–1969 *

Ellen A. Sandimanie Ellen Ann Brathwaite Stryker Sandimanie was a Liberian city official. She was an ordained Presbyterian minister and the first woman mayor of Monrovia. She represented Liberia at an international gatherings of Presbyterian women in the 1960s and ...

, 1970–1973 * Ophelia Hoff Saytumah, 2001–2009 *

Mary Broh Mary Tanyonoh Broh (born in 1951) is the former mayor of Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. She first served the Liberian government in March 2006 as the Special Projects Coordinator for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's executive staff. In ...

, February 2009 – February 2013 * Henry Reed Cooper, March 2013 – July 2013 *

, July 2013 * Clara Doe-Mvogo, 2014 – January 2018 * Jefferson Tamba Koijee, January 2018 – present

Culture and media

Cultural attractions in Monrovia include the

Liberian National Museum The National Museum of Liberia is a national museum in Monrovia, Liberia. Initially housed in the First Executive Mansion on Ashmun Street of the city which is now used as a library, it was established by an Act of the National Legislature in 1958 ...

, the

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

, the Waterside Market, and several beaches. The city also houses

Antoinette Tubman Stadium Antoinette Tubman Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Monrovia, Liberia. It is used mostly for football matches. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators. In 2014 it was converted into an Ebola treatment unit.Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex The Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Stadium (frequently abbreviated SKD Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium which is part of the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville, Liberia, a suburb of the country's capital, Monrovia. Built in 1986, it is ...

, which boasts one of the largest stadiums in Africa, with

seats A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair equ ...

for 40,000. The newspaper industry in Monrovia dates back to the 1820s, with the founding of the '' Liberia Herald'', one of the first newspapers to be published in Africa. Today, numerous tabloid-style newspapers are printed daily or bi-weekly, most are 20 pages or less. The ''

Daily Talk ''The Daily Talk'' is an English-language news medium published daily on a blackboard on Tubman Boulevard in the center of the Liberian capital Monrovia. According to the ''New York Times'', it is "the most widely read report" in Monrovia, as m ...

'' is a compilation of news and Bible quotations written daily on a roadside blackboard in the

section of Monrovia. Monrovia also has radio and TV stations. Radio is the dominant source of news, because problems with the

electric grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

make watching television more difficult.

UNMIL The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberi ...

Radio has been broadcasting since October 1, 2003, and is the only radio station in Liberia that is on the air 24 hours a day. It reaches an estimated of the population. The state-owned

Liberia Broadcasting System The Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) is a state-owned radio and television network in Liberia. Founded as a corporation in 1960, the network was owned and operated by Rediffusion London until 1968, when management passed to the Government of Libe ...

broadcasts nationwide from its headquarters in Monrovia. STAR radio broadcasts at 104 FM.

Education

Monrovia is home to the

, along with

African Methodist Episcopal University The African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) is a private institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, in the West African nation of Liberia. Located on Camp Johnson Road, the school is the second largest college in Liberia with ove ...

United Methodist University The United Methodist University (UMU) is a private institution of higher learning located in Monrovia in the West African nation of Liberia. Established in 1998 and opened in 2000, the school had 9,118 students as of 2016. UMU is certified by the ...

Stella Maris Polytechnic Stella Maris Polytechnic University (SMPU) is a private university in Monrovia, Liberia. Founded in 1988, the school is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia. Located on Capitol Hill, the school has approximately 2,300 s ...

, and many other public and private schools. Medical education is offered at the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine, and there is a nursing and paramedical school at the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts. Kindergarten through twelfth grade education is provided by the

Monrovia Consolidated School System The Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) provides primary and secondary education to the population of the Monrovia metropolitan area, Liberia. The MCSS was established by government charter in 1964 under the ''Act to Amend the Education La ...

, which serves the greater Monrovia area. Schools include Monrovia Central High School, Bostwain High School, D. Twe High School, G. W. Gibson High School and William V. S. Tubman High School. The American International School of Monrovia is located in

Congo Town Congo Town is a small village located in South Andros district, part of Andros Island in the Bahamas. It is served by the South Andros Airport. In 2010, the population was 90.places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

in Monrovia are predominantly

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

churches and temples. These include the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia The Archdiocese of Monrovia (''Archidioecesis Monroviensis'') is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Monrovia, Liberia. It follows the Latin Rite. It was elevated to an archdiocese in December 1981. It was initially established as the Prefecture Ap ...

(

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

the United Methodist Church in Liberia The United Methodist Church in Liberia is a member of the United Methodist Church, one of the world’s largest denominations. It is part of the Wesleyan Tradition, a methodical faith and practice started by John Wesley, whose father was a prie ...

(

World Methodist Council The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 138 countries which together represent an estimated 80 million people; this ...

), the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational convention (

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

) and the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

.J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘‘Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices’’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1716 In October 2021, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints announced plans to construct a temple in Monrovi

The city also has Islam, Muslim mosques.

Pollution

Pollution is a significant challenge in Monrovia."Monrovia’s ‘Never-Ending’ Pollution Issues In 2013"
Edwin M. Fayia III, The

Liberian Observer The ''Liberian Observer'' or ''Daily Observer Newspaper'' is a newspaper published in Liberia. Based in Monrovia, The Liberian Observer Corporation was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Y. Best in 1981. An independent newspaper, it states that its ...

, December 30, 2014. Piles of household and industrial rubbish tend to build up. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

pays sanitation companies to collect it, but collections are irregular. In 2013, the problem of uncollected rubbish in the Paynesville area of Monrovia became so acute that traders and residents burnt "the huge garbage piles that seemed on the verge of cutting off the main road" out of Monrovia to

Kakata Kakata (pronounced ''Kak-ah-tah''), is the capital city of Liberia's Margibi County and is located in Kakata District just over the Du River bridge which is its border with Todee District. It is a transit town at the heart of the historical natur ...

. Flooding brings additional environmental problems to residents: flood water picks up the waste that has been deposited in swamps at the edge of residential areas, and spreads it around. In 2009, only one-third of Monrovia's 1.5 million people had access to clean toilets. Those without their own toilets defecate in the narrow alleyways between their houses, or on the beach, or into plastic bags that they dump onto nearby piles of rubbish or into the sea."LIBERIA: Disease rife as more people squeeze into fewer toilets"

IRIN News The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News, or Integrated Regional Information Networks News) is an independent, non-profit news agency focusing on humanitarian stories in regions that are often forgotten, under-reported, misunderstood or ignored. ...

, 19 November 2009. Congested housing, a lack of any requirement that landlords provide working toilets, and virtually no urban planning "have combined to create lethal sanitation conditions in the capital"."LIBERIA: No relief as most Monrovians go without toilets"

, 19 November 2008.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Monrovia is twinned with: *

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

Bibliography

External links

City Map

Map of Greater Monrovia showing population densities
* {{Spoken Wikipedia, Monrovia.ogg, date=2019-6-19 Capitals in Africa James Monroe Mesurado River Montserrado County Populated places established by Americo-Liberians Populated places established in the 1820s Populated places in Liberia Port cities in Liberia Saint Paul River 1822 establishments in Africa