Virginia, Liberia
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Virginia is a western suburb of
Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
,Huband, Mark
''The Liberian Civil War''
/ref> located near the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
on the northern side of 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 ...
in
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–Lib ...
. It was the birthplace of Angie Brooks, the first African female president of the
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...
. A settlement originally called New Virginia, the
American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn peop ...
used it as a location for
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
immigrants from the United States.Thomas C. Thornton, ''An Inquiry Into the History of Slavery''
/ref> It gets its name from the U.S. state of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, where most of the town's settlers originated before emigration to Liberia. Virginia was also the location of the
Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...
conference hosted by President William R. Tolbert, Jr. – who was the group's chair at the time – at
Hotel Africa Hotel Africa was a hotel on the western coast of Liberia in the northern Monrovia suburb of Virginia. In 1979, the hotel, the largest in Liberia, hosted the Organisation of African Unity conference. The conference was led by President William R ...
in 1979, just months before he was overthrown by
Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951 – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician and military officer who served as the 21st President of Liberia from 1986 to 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 ...
. During the
Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War was a civil war in the West African nation of Liberia that lasted from 1999 to 2003. The war was mainly caused by transition failures after the First Civil War, especially the peace-building process which would res ...
, rebels used Virginia to launch an onslaught on
Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
in 2003. A South African consortium plans to invest US$100 million (~$ in ) to renovate the historic hotel in time for Liberia's hosting duties of an international women's colloquium in 2009. It contains the Seaview Golf Club.


References

{{Authority control Populated places in Liberia Montserrado County Suburbs of Monrovia Populated places established by Americo-Liberians