Origins: Freed American slaves founded Liberia as Africa's first independent republic in 1847. Their descendants ruled and developed a flourishing economy based on iron ore, diamonds, the flagging of ships and rubber from what was once the world's biggest plantation - Firestone.
Population: 2.6 million, descendants of slaves and of 16 tribes from four main ethnic groups.
Religion: Christians, Muslims, traditional African beliefs.
Area: 111,300 sq km (43,000 square miles) on the Atlantic Ocean with Sierra Leone to the west, Guinea to the north and Ivory Coast to the east.
Capital: Monrovia (one million people), named after the US president, James Monroe.
Language: English (official) and 28 tribal languages.
Recent history: William Tubman was president from 1944 until his death in 1971; succeeded by William Tolbert.
Origins of present troubles: Tension between the descendants of slaves and of the indigenous tribes spilled over into bloodshed in 1980. Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, from the Krahn ethnic group, killed Tolbert in a coup and then executed government members on a palm fringed beach.
Since then: In 1985, Doe was elected president in a multi party contest critics say was marred by fraud. Months later, his troops, mainly Krahn, defeated a coup attempt backed by the Gio and Mano tribes.
At the end of 1989, a former civil servant, Charles Taylor, launched a revolt from the Ivory Coast with 150 guerrillas. Rival faction leaders tortured Doe to death. Six years of civil war since then have brought Liberia to its knees, with more than 150,000 people killed.
Peace efforts: The main warring factions and an increasing number of splinter groups have agreed a dozen peace deals. A deal signed in Nigeria last August agreed on power sharing, an interim ruling council, disarming fighters and elections.
The latest fighting: Fighting erupted again in Monrovia on April 6th when Mr Taylor and the transitional ruling Council of State tried to arrest a Krahn warlord, Mr Roosevelt Johnson, for murder. A ceasefire on April 19th collapsed after 10 days.
The fighting has derailed August's peace accord. The US airlifted out more than 2,000 foreign nationals by helicopter.