African country on the Atlantic Ocean which borders Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d'Ivoire. The first colony of former American slaves was sent there in 1822, and the area proclaimed itself an independent nation in 1847 after the U.S. refused to claim sovereignty over it and it faced threats of being taken over, mostly from Britain, because it was neither a sovereign power nor a bona fide colony of any other nation. Only about 2.5% of the modern population are descended from former slaves.
Things are settling down since the end of the civil war, and Liberia is still a common flag of convenience for ships that are actually based in other countries.