Liberia
The Republic of Liberia was originally inhabited by Mende-speaking tribes and was later peopled with refugees from the declining Mali and Songhai Empires. Between 1461 and late 17th century, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders made contact with coastal tribes and built a number of trading posts in what became Liberia. The Portuguese had named the area Costa da Pimenta (Pepper Coast) due to the abundance of certain types of chile peppers.
Modern Liberia began to take shape in 1822, when the American Colonization Society began working to repatriate former slaves there. Known as Americo-Liberians, many chose to emigrate and on July 26, 1847 these settlers declared the independence of the Republic of Liberia. Yet these American settlers did not integrate easily into African society, prefering instead to establish many of their own American style institutions. The nation retained its independence during the European "Scramble for Africa" and enjoyed large-scale support from the United States and American businesses throughout much of the 20th century.
In 1980, a group of NCOs under the leadership of Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe staged a military coup d'etat and wrested power from the legitimately elected leaders, claiming marginalization of tribal societies at the hands of the Americo-Liberian descendants. In 1985 new elections were held, but the results were nullified by Samuel Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia, which in turn claimed his own victory as president. An attempted counter-coup in November of that year failed, while under Doe's regime government oppression intensified.
The First Liberian Civil War erupted in 1989, resulting from nine years of iron-fisted rule under Doe. Two non-cooperating movements waged war against the goverment forces of Doe's regime, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (under Charles Taylor) and the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (under Prince Johnson). In August 1990 an intervention force sponsored by the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) entered the country to impose a cease-fire.
