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Liberia was founded in 1822 by Americans as a place to repatriate freed
slaves. By 1980, the descendents of these slaves comprised but five percent of
the 2.8 million people living in the country. The rest belonged to over a dozen
different tribes. Ten percent of the population is Christian, 20 percent Muslim
and the rest practice traditional religions. Until 1990, the Americo-Liberians
dominated the political and commercial life of the country. But in 1980 the
tribes revolted, executed the Americo-Liberian leadership and fought each other
for the next seven years. Some thirty percent of the population fled the
country, and as many became refugees within Liberia. There was actually a series
of coups, insurrections and general anarchy. In 1990, neighboring African states
sent in a peacekeeping force and by 1997 a semblance of peace had returned. But
in the meantime, some ten percent of the population had been killed. Not all the
rebels have made peace, and various factions still operate in and around the
largest tropical rainforest in Africa.
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