cluding fishing and forestry);
principal products - rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava,
palm oil, sugarcane, bananas, sheep, goats; not self-sufficient in
food, imports 25% of rice consumption
Illicit drugs:
increasingly a transshipment point for heroin and cocaine
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $665 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $870
million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $25 million; Communist
countries (1970-89), $77 million
Currency:
1 Liberian dollar (L$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
Liberian dollars (L$) per US$1 - 1.00 (officially fixed rate since
1940); unofficial parallel exchange rate of L$7 = US$1, January 1992
(unofficial rate floats against the US dollar)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

@Liberia, Communications

Railroads:
480 km total; 328 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 152 km 1.067-meter
narrow gauge; all lines single track; rail systems owned and operated
by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with Liberian
Government
Highways:
total:
10,087 km
paved:
603 km
unpaved:
gravel 5,171 km (includes 2323km of private roads of rubber and timber
firms, open to the public); earth 4,313 km
Ports:
Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, Harper (or Cape Palmas)
Merchant marine:
1,595 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 56,923,236 GRT/97,692,316
DWT, barge carrier 3, bulk 423, cargo 126, chemical 122, combination
bulk 30, combination ore/oil 64, container 112, liquefied gas 67, oil
tanker 468, passenger 32, refrigerated cargo 61, roll-on/roll-off
cargo 19, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 7, vehicle carrier
59
note:
a flag of convenience registry; all ships are foreign owned; the top 4
owning flags are US 14%, Japan 13%, Norway 10%, and Hong Kong 8%
Airports:
total:
59
usable:
41
with permanent-surface runways:
2
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
4
Telecommunications:
telephone and telegraph service via radio relay network; main center
is Monrovia; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 4 FM, 5 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station; most telecommunications services inoperable
due to insurgency movement

@Liberia, Defense Forces

Branches:
the ultimate structure of the Liberian military force will depend on
who is the victor in the ongoing civil wa