IOL

Monrovia street

Climate

Economy

The city has two international airports. Monrovia is the only duty-free port in West Africa. The city receives significant income from the transit of goods to neighboring countries. Cargo turnover is about 12 million tons per year. The food, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, cement and fishing industries are developed.

Government

Culture

Tourist attractions in Monrovia include the National Museum of Liberia, the Monrovia Masonic Temple, the beach market, and several beaches. The city is also home to the Antoinette Tubman Stadium, which seats 10,000 people, and the Samuel Canyon Doe Sports Complex (a 40,000-seat stadium, one of the largest in Africa).

Education

Monrovia is home to the University of Liberia, Cuttington College and other public and private educational institutions. Medical education is available at the A. M. Dogliotti Medical College, and the basics of paramedicine and nursing are taught at the Tubman Institute of Medicine.

Monrovia is the only capital in the world, besides Washington, named after an American president.

MONROVIA

Monrovia is the capital and largest city of Liberia, the administrative center of Montserrado County. The city's population is about 670,000 inhabitants. Monrovia was founded in 1822 by blacks freed from slavery who moved from the United States (named after the then President of the United States, James Monroe). The city has developed over time into a thriving commercial center with 2 international airports and a seaport, the cargo turnover of which is about 12 million tons per year. Today, the descendants of freed slaves are only a minority in the ethnic diversity of the capital, but American blacks have a major influence on the political, cultural and social life of Monrovia. Monrovia is the only duty-free port in West Africa. It is located in an artificial bay at the mouth of the St. Paul River and is equipped with modern port facilities. The economic well-being of the city is reflected in its architecture. Tall office buildings are rising next to the shacks. The food, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, cement and fishing industries are developed. The city receives a lot of income from the transit of goods to neighboring countries. Many of the city's buildings were destroyed during the 1990 civil war. In 1994, it was decided to form a transitional government made up of factions from all the warring factions. However, the peace achieved with such difficulty turned out to be fragile, and already the following spring shooting began again on the streets of the city. The city became an arena for robbery and murder, and a plague swept through the crowded refugee camps, claiming thousands of lives. The year 1996 was marked by another outbreak of aggression, after which the services of foreign ambassadors were forced to leave the capital.

Cities and capitals of the world. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what MONROVIA is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

• MONROVIA
  (Monrovia) the capital of Liberia, the administrative center of Montserrado County. 250 thousand inhabitants (1986). Seaport (cargo turnover approx. 12 million tons per year). ...
• MONROVIA
  (Monrovia), capital of the Republic of Liberia. Located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, at the mouth of the river. St. Paul. The climate is subequatorial; average January temperature 26.5 |C, ...
• MONROVIA
  (Monrovia) is the capital of Africa. Negrit. Republic of Liberia, on the left bank of the river. St. Paul, with a harbor at Cape Mesurado. High school, library; ...
• MONROVIA
  MONROVIA, capital of Liberia, adm. c. County of Montserrado. 668 t.zh. (1990). Mor. port (cargo turnover approx. 12 million tons per year). ...
• MONROVIA
  (Monrovia) ? capital of Africa. Negrit. Republic of Liberia, on the left bank of the river. St. Paul, with a harbor at Cape Mesurado. High school, library; ...
• MONROVIA in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
  city, …
• MONROVIA in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
  (Monrovia), capital of Liberia, administrative center of Montserrado County. 250 thousand inhabitants (1986). Seaport (cargo turnover approx. 12 million tons in ...
• LIBERIA in the Directory of Countries of the World:
  REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA Country in West Africa. In the north it borders with Sierra Leone and Guinea, in the east - with Cote d'Ivoire. In the south ...
• LIBERIA in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  Republic of Liberia, a state in Western Europe. Africa. 111.4 thousand km2. Population approx. 2.8 million people (1993); kpelle, bakwe, …
• LIBERIA in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  (Liberia), Republic of Liberia, state in West Africa. Borders on the north-west. from Sierra Leone, to the north and northeast. With …
• AFRICA (CONTINENT) in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  I. General information There is great disagreement among scholars regarding the origin of the word “Africa”. Two hypotheses deserve attention: one of them explains...
• LIBERIA in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  I Negro Republic on the Pepper Coast of Upper Guinea. Founded by a colonization society for free blacks, which arose in 1816 in Washington. ...
• RAIN in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  one of the types of atmospheric precipitation (see) - is formed due to the condensation into drops of water vapor that saturates the air. D. falls from so...
• LIBERIA in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  LIBERIA, Republic of Liberia, state in the West. Africa. 111.4 t. km 2. Us. 2.1 million hours (1996); ...
• LIBERIA in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
  ? Negro republic on the Pepper Coast of Upper Guinea. Founded by a colonization society for free blacks, which arose in 1816 in Washington. ...
• COFFEE in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
  or Coffee (Coffea L.) ? genus of plants from the madder family (see). Shrubs or small trees. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs or...

The country of Liberia is located in West Africa, on the Atlantic coast. It stands out among all other African countries in many ways. For example, the history of Liberia is unusual and worthy of attention: in the 19th century, blacks, who were once slaves in the USA, and now became free, went to the shores of Africa, where they founded the so-called “Land of Freedom” Liberia. The city of Monrovia (named in honor of the 5th US President James Monroe, who contributed to the resettlement of freed black slaves to Liberia) was chosen as the capital of the new state.
As you can see, the USA played an important role in the history of the country, which is reflected, for example, in the flag it is created in the likeness of the American flag, with the only difference that the flag of Liberia consists of 11 alternating red and white stripes, and there is only one star. Well, as mentioned above, the capital of the country is named after the American president (by the way, in the whole world, there are only two such countries, the USA and Liberia).
As for Monrovia, its history is much longer than the history of the entire country. Back in the distant 60s of the 16th century, there was a settlement of natives, which later Portuguese sailors would rename the port of Mesuardo. Well, already in the 19th year the port city will receive its current name Monrovia.
The city is located in the tropical monsoon zone and the climate is characterized by two seasons: dry and wet. However, the features of the dry season are not as pronounced as in the heart of the legendary savannas of Africa: precipitation falls in Monrovia in both the wet and dry seasons, the only difference is in their quantity. In total, more than 5000 mm of precipitation falls annually. To make it clearer, in Moscow, on average, no more than 800 mm of precipitation falls, that is, in Monrovia it is about 6 times more. There are no large temperature changes; all year it fluctuates around 26-27 degrees Celsius.
Monrovia has endured a difficult past. So, for example, in the 20th century the city did not represent one whole. It was divided into two parts, in one of which lived visiting American blacks and their descendants (the architecture, by the way, was built in the spirit of the American South); this part of the city was called Monrovia. In another part of Krutown lived the natives (Kru, Bassa, Grebos peoples, etc.).
Interestingly, Monrovia was home to most of the city's population (out of 4,000 residents, only 1,500 lived in Krutown). As you can see, at the beginning of the 20th century the population of the city was very small. Everything has changed since 1926, since then the migration to the capital of people from other parts of Liberia in search of work has acquired an incredible pace. As a result, today more than a million people live in Monrovia. And this figure continues to grow tirelessly every year.
In the 70s of the 20th century, William Tolbert was in power in Liberia. During his reign, the government managed to implement a public housing construction program in the capital, which solved the then pressing problem of housing shortages for the country's growing population. Also, tuition fees at the University of Liberia were reduced by 2 times, which opened access to higher education to the poor segment of the population of the city and the entire country as a whole. In addition, the international prestige of Liberia was significantly increased so that the president of the country became the chairman of the Organization of African Unity, and in 1979, the capital of Liberia, the city of Monrovia, was honored to host a conference of the member countries of the association.
However, already in 1980, the country was rocked by a military coup, as a result of which President William Tolbert was overthrown from the presidency, and discontent began to brew among the population. All this led to two civil wars. The first lasted seven whole years from 1989 to 1996. The second began in 1999 and ended only in 2003. However, for Monrovia, it was the Second War that was most destructive, especially due to the blockade of the city in the summer of 2003. The city was almost completely destroyed, only a small part of the buildings survived.
An interesting fact is that it was women who significantly contributed to the speedy end of the civil war. For example, in 2002, the city organized a peaceful protest by women throughout the country, during which they prayed and sang. And with the end of the Second Civil War, the woman Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the new president of Liberia. Until this moment, no country in Africa had had a female president.
Monrovia is home to two of Liberia's largest international airports. And in all of West Africa, the port of Monrovia is the only duty-free port. Thus, Monrovia has a very favorable transit location, which, of course, it takes advantage of: the average annual turnover of the city exceeds 12 million tons.
Among tourists visiting Liberia, Monrovia enjoys continued popularity due to its large number of attractions. Thus, the National Museum of Liberia and the Samuel Canyon Doe Sports Complex (its stadium is considered one of the most spacious in all of Africa) are worthy of tourists' attention.
In addition, Monrovia is rightfully considered the center of education in all of Liberia. The University of Liberia, Cuttington College, A. M. Dogliotti Medical College and many other educational institutions are located here.
Thus, Monrovia, despite its difficult history and fate, always welcomes tourists and its new residents.

Monrovia was founded in 1822 by black settlers from the United States. The American Colonization Society bought a small coastal plot of land from local leaders and settled freed slaves from the United States on it. The settlement was named after US President J. Monroe. By 1830 Monrovia had 700 inhabitants and about 100 houses. In 1835, the first municipal council was created - the oldest institution of its kind in West Africa. In 1847, Monrovia was proclaimed the capital of a new state - the Republic of Liberia. The State Council and government agencies of the country are located in Monrovia.

The city grew slowly. The impetus for accelerating the pace of development of Monrovia was the construction of a seaport (1948). It connects Monrovia with all the major ports in the world. There are two international airports - Robertsfield and Payne Springs.

What to see

The capital of Liberia is divided into an old and a new part. The old town is located on the left bank of the Mesurado River. It is crossed by Monrovia's main street, Broad Street, which is 4 km long. On Broad Street there are representative offices of various companies, shops, cinemas, and restaurants.

Parallel to Broad Street is Ashmun Street, a street of government offices and banks. The Centennial Pavilion on Ashmun Street was built in 1947 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Liberia. In the park adjacent to the Centennial Pavilion, a monument honors the first settlers of Liberia.

The city's oldest street, Water Street, stretches along the banks of the Mesurado River. This is the main shopping center of the capital. The new city is the Maleba Point area. It is built up with modern buildings of European architecture. These are the university, the Capitol, the stadium, colleges, hotels, and administrative buildings. Residential buildings are usually two or three stories high, made of wood and stone, with verandas, attics and colorful shutters.

The outskirts of the capital are built up with local huts. The most common type of huts are round or rectangular structures made of bundles of bamboo or stakes held together by vines, plastered with white clay, on which painting is applied with geometric designs. High conical roofs, made of raffia palm leaves or grass, have a characteristic cornice - gathers at the bottom and a spire. Houses are also built from stone or clay, sometimes they have terraces.

Monrovia is the main center of culture and education of the republic. The city is home to the State University of Liberia (founded in 1862 as a college, received university status in 1951). The university consists of colleges: pedagogical, forestry and agriculture, business, medical, natural sciences and technology, law school. There are Cuttinggon College and College of Technology. The National Museum and the African Museum at Cuttington College exhibit rich collections of traditional Liberian art. Particularly interesting is the collection of masks, which are made from both wood and other plant materials. Monrovia is home to the country's largest library, the State University (founded in 1862) and the UNESCO Mission Library.

In addition to Washington, named after the US President. James Monroe received this honor as the author of the idea of ​​​​repatriating former slaves to the homeland of their ancestors.

The history of the main city of the small African country of Liberia was formed thanks to a decision made in 1816 on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in the USA.

According to archaeologists, the coast, on which in the 19th century. The port city of Monrovia grew and was settled around the 12th century. people who migrated here mainly due to desertification of the interior of West Africa. According to the Dutch, Portuguese and British merchants who created their trading posts here starting from the 15th century, by the 16th century the local residents were already skilled farmers: they grew rice, sorghum, and cotton. They also smelted iron from local ore. They also traded with neighboring regions, transporting their products on boats similar in design to canoes. The small piers of these boats became the prototype of the future port of Monrovia, built later in an artificially created bay. The name of Cape Mezurado (Mezurado) first appears in port documents of the Portuguese in 1760. The law abolishing slavery in the United States was passed in 1865, but in the northern states of the country it was gradually abolished from the end of the 18th century. In 1816, the American Colonization Society was created, the program goal of which was to support the return of freed black slaves to Africa. Members of society were firmly convinced that there, in their historical homeland, these people would receive much greater opportunities for a prosperous life than in the United States. What seemed surprising was that slave owners also advocated the repatriation of former slaves and sponsored the society. In fact, all this was explained more simply: firstly, the planters at that time no longer needed so much unskilled labor, and secondly, they had every reason to fear slave uprisings.

The first black envoys from America went to West Africa in the same year, 1816, but, unfriendly to the natives, they got stuck in the jungle (many of them died there). In 1820, a second American ship finally transported the settlers to Cape Mezurado. In 1822, a new large party of African Americans arrived here. They created a colony of “free citizens of color”, and called their settlement Christopolis - “City of Christ”. In 1824, there was already a full-fledged city here, renamed Monrovia - in honor of the American President James Monroe (1758-1831) - an ardent supporter of the repatriation of former slaves. Monroe believed that the fewer Africans remained in America, the easier it would be for those remaining to integrate into white society.

In 1845, a constitutional meeting was held in Monrovia, at which the American Colonization Society presented a draft Constitution for a new state - the Republic of Liberia (“Land of the Free”). A democratic system on the American model was established, but not for everyone; local residents received almost no rights, and in the Constitution of Liberia, officially formed in 1847, they were called, with a clear shade of arrogance, “tribes.” This was a natural manifestation of the style of behavior in the “American” community. Its core consisted of fairly educated and ambitious people who declared their commitment to the ideals of democracy, but in practice carried out a policy of double standards. What emerged was what G. Hegel (1770-1831) formulated as follows: “For one who is not free himself, neither are others.” The philosopher meant internal freedom and lack of freedom.

For a long time it was not possible to establish peaceful relations between the repatriates and the natives. Until the beginning of the 20th century. Monrovia was divided into two parts: descendants of African Americans lived in one, and representatives of local peoples settled in the other (Krutown). Only by 1926 did local residents begin to move to “African-American” Monrovia: widespread unemployment pushed them to do so.

In Monrovia itself, the concept of “freedom” has a completely different weight. The situation in the capital of Liberia until the end of 2003 remained stable only in rare and very short periods - due to frequent changes of power and the split of the country's political elite into factions along ethnic lines. The city was practically reduced to ruins during the first (1989-1996) and second (1999-2003) civil wars in Liberia. In September 1990, the country's president, Samuel Doe, received a false call from his opponents to the UN mission, and then was killed with unheard-of cruelty.

In the first civil war in Liberia, 150 thousand people died, in the second - about 300 thousand people. Monrovia's economy was completely destroyed. To add insult to injury, a plague broke out in the overcrowded refugee camps, killing thousands.

Having recovered from these disasters, today's Monrovia looks like a city that has managed to largely restore its economic potential, becoming a major commercial, industrial and cultural center of West Africa. The city was allocated to a special district, subordinate to a municipal board appointed by the president of the country. Enterprises from the food, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and cement industries operate here, constantly expanding and updating their equipment. Raw materials for the food industry are supplied by neighboring agricultural areas, as well as Liberia's fishing fleet.

In the city, according to Western methods, the State University of Liberia, the large Cuttington College and several other specialized colleges operate. Monrovia's revival is reflected in its current architecture: the old rectangular street layout (similar to that adopted in American cities) was retained, but entire slum blocks were demolished and multi-story office buildings were built. Residential buildings have retained the traditional style: wooden or stone, they consist mainly of two or three floors, have verandas and attics. Today, the descendants of freed slaves are a minority in the ethnic picture of the Liberian capital, although the descendants of American slaves still exert great influence on the political, cultural and social life of Monrovia, as well as on its economy, holding key positions there. Specific “African-American” racism still occurs, especially in the selection of senior managers, but not in such an obvious and crude form as in the 19th century. The United States and the World Monetary Fund are providing considerable financial assistance to Liberia, implying that the country's image as a “promised land” will someday be firmly established in the minds of African Americans.

The most visited place in Monrovia is Gurley Street, which is nicknamed the “African Amsterdam” for the large number of entertainment venues located on it. But the main thing that attracts tourists here are the beaches, which stretch from Monrovia for almost 600 km.