Editing Demographics of Liberia (section)

== Ethnic groups==

{{bar box
|title=Ethnic groups in Liberia (2008)<ref name="CIATONGA">{{cite web|url= https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/liberia/|title= Africa :: LIBERIA
|date= 19 April 2022
|publisher= CIA The World Factbook}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Ethnic groups
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Kpelle people|Kpelle]]|Black|20.3}}
{{bar percent|Other|cyan|20.1}}
{{bar percent|[[Bassa people (Liberia)|Bassa]]|gold|13.4}}
{{bar percent| [[Grebo people|Grebo]]|blue|10}}
{{bar percent|[[Gio people|Gio]]|silver|8}}
{{bar percent|[[Mano people|Mano]]|pink|7.9}}
{{bar percent|[[Kru people|Kru]]|yellow|6}}
{{bar percent|[[Loma people|Lorma]]|red|5.1}}
{{bar percent|[[Gola people|Gola]]|silver|5.1}}
{{bar percent|[[Kissi people|Kissi]]|green|4.8}}
}}

There are officially 17<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lisgis.net/pg_img/Population%20size%20210512.pdf|title=2008 POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS|website=Lisgis.net|access-date=26 October 2017|archive-date=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118080906/http://lisgis.net/pg_img/Population%20size%20210512.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> ethnic groups that make up [[Liberia]]'s indigenous [[Africa]]n population, making up maybe 95% of the total: [[Kpelle people|Kpelle]], the largest group; [[Bassa people (Liberia)|Bassa]], [[Gio Tribe|Gio]], [[Kru people|Kru]], [[Grebo (ethnic group)|Grebo]], [[Mandinka people|Mandingo]], [[Mano people|Mano]], [[Krahn]], [[Gola (ethnic group)|Gola]], [[Gbandi]], [[Lorma people|Loma]], [[Kissi people|Kissi]], [[Vai (ethnic group)|Vai]], [[Sapo language|Sapo]], [[Kuwaa language|Belleh (Kuwaa)]], [[Mandé peoples|Mende]] and [[Dewoin language|Dey]].

There are also more or less nomadic groups like the [[Fula people|Fula]], who engage mostly in trade, and the [[Fanti people|Fanti]], who are often fishermen or traders of fish, usually from [[Ghana]], living seasonally and more and more often permanently in Liberia.

Then there are [[Americo-Liberian]]s, who are descendants of free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans who arrived in Liberia from 1822 onward and Congo People (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean), making up an estimated 5% of the population. They used to dominate political life in Liberia and still have a lot of influence.

There are about 5,000 people of European descent, many of them having settled down as miners, missionaries, business people, and so on. There also is a sizeable number of [[Lebanon|Lebanese]], [[India]]ns, and other people with Asian roots who make up a significant part of Liberia's business community. Because of the civil war and its accompanying problem of insecurity, the number of non-Africans in Liberia is low and confined largely to [[Monrovia, Liberia|Monrovia]] and its immediate surroundings.

The [[Constitution of Liberia|Liberian Constitution]] restricts citizenship of Liberia only to people who are either 'Negroes or of Negro descent' wherein the Liberian Constitution / Chapter 4 / Article 27b states: "In order to preserve, foster and maintain the positive Liberian culture, values and character, only persons who are Negroes or of Negro descent shall qualify by birth or by naturalization to be citizens of Liberia."<ref>http://judiciary.gov.lr/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CONSTITUTION-OF-THE-REPUBLIC-OF-LIBERIA.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

===Indigenous===
The indigenous ethnic groups of Liberia can be linguistically divided into three groups who speak;

* The isolate [[Gola language]] and the
* [[Mel languages]] (particularly [[Kissi people|Kissi]]) in the east and
* [[Kru languages]] (particularly [[Bassa people (Liberia)|Bassa]]) in the southeast

to which must be added the immigrant communities;

* Mande-Fu ([[Kpelle people|Kpelle]], Gio, Mano, [[Loma people|Loma]])
* Mande-Tan ([[Vai people|Vai]], [[Mende people|Mende]], [[Mandinka people|Mandingo]])
* Repatriated (Americo-Liberians, Congo, Caribbean)

The Gola ethnic group originated somewhere in central Africa.  During the Empire of Ancient Ghana they were involved in the land-surveying and jurisprudence of the empire.

The other ethnic groups that fall under the Mande-Tan, Mande-Fu were also members of Ancient Ghana.  Because of their influence in the judicial aspects of the Ghana, the Gola's social structure dominated through the Poro.

With the influx of Islam many groups adopted it while others resisted. The Golas fought three wars with pro-Islamic elements in a changing Ghana. These wars were known as the Kumba Wars. The Golas lost the third of these wars and were forced to retreat toward Sierra Leone.  They were pursued by the Mende, Gbandi and Loma. Their battles with the Mende in Sierra Leone forced them to retreat yet again and settle finally in Liberia where they encountered the Dei.

===Immigrants from Mali===
The Kpelle, Gio, Mano, Mandingo and Vai groups migrated from the [[Empire of Mali]] for various reasons, some escaping political intrigue, others looking for a better life. The Vais, settled in Grand Cape Mount county in the west of Liberia, were the first to [[Vai syllabary|invent a form of writing]] in 1833 or 1834. The reported inventor was Dwalu Bukele of Bandakor along the [[Robertsport]] (provincial capital) highway.

===Immigrants from Côte d'Ivoire===
In the 16th century;  [[Kru people|Kru]] (Tajuasohn), Bassa, Belleh, Krahn, Grebo.

===19th century immigrants===
*[[Americo-Liberians]]: Free black people and emancipated [[slavery|slave]]s, and their descendants, from the [[United States|U.S.]] and the [[Caribbean]]
*Congos is an eponymic term for "recaptives," people rescued from slave ships after the slave trade, not slavery itself, was abolished by Great Britain and the United States. These people were "repatriated" to Liberia (and Sierra Leone if rescued by the British) and their descendants. The term was used because many of these rescued Africans were thought to be from the Congo River Basin.<ref>Clegg 2004</ref><ref>Ciment 2013</ref><ref>Sundiata 2003</ref>

===Immigrants from Lebanon===
In the late 19th century to early 20th century [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] merchants, families and businessmen began arriving in Liberia. Lebanese currently own many major businesses such as supermarkets, restaurants, textiles, construction works, factories and other production based companies across the country.