Monrovia Travel Guide, Liberia

Monrovia Travel Guide – The American City

This Monrovia travel guide will give you all the essential information you need upon visiting the capital of Liberia. Liberia is situated in West Africa and its capital Monrovia lies on the Atlantic shores at Cape Mesurado. It is the most populous city in the country and its metropolitan area concentrates 30 percent of the population of Liberia, with more than one million inhabitants. The city was named after U.S. President James Monroe at its foundation in 1822. Monrovia is the second American settlement in Africa after Freetown and the only non-American town in the world to be named by an ex American president. The Liberian Civil War took a heavy toll on the city and infrastructure was severely damaged, aspect which is still visible today. There are also lots of children who have been denied education because of the war and the country is still in the process of recuperating itself after the ‘90s conflicts.

Monrovia Travel Guide – The Port

The city lies on a peninsula between the Mesurado River and the Atlantic Ocean. This positioning offers it a pleasant, warm climate throughout the year, with maximum temperatures ranging from 29 to 34 degrees Celsius. The privilege of its location also manifests itself in the main income resource the city has, its port. The Monrovia harbor still thrives today after it knew significant expansion during the Second World War, handling export of latex and iron and manufacturing cement, petroleum, construction materials and chemicals on site. This, together with the government businesses, is the main income source for the city and provides employment opportunities for a significant part of the population.

Monrovia Travel Guide – Infrastructure and City Particulars

Any good Monrovia travel guide would strongly advice a trip to the Liberian National Museum and to the Masonic Temple, but if you plan on visiting as a family you can’t miss the city Zoo and its beaches. Sports lovers should visit The National Complex, which holds 40.000 people and is one of Africa’s largest stadiums. The University of Liberia is also based in Monrovia and there are several private and religious schools in the city. The main means of information in the city is the radio, which reaches 2/3 of the population, but there are also many tabloids that are printed on a daily basis. Television is not so comfortable to reach so most of the population gets the information from the radio. There are roads and boats connecting the city to other African countries, with Freetown in Sierra Leone located at 350 kilometers away and Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire at over 500 kilometers from Liberia’s capital.