Liberia Shares Rivers with All Its Neighboring Countries

Six main rivers flow across the African country of Liberia.

Liberia shares rivers with all its neighboring countries. The Mano River forms a border between Liberia and Sierra Leone and the Cavalla or Cavally River forms a border between Côte d'Ivoire.

Liberia, located in West Africa, covers an area of 111,370 square km or around 27.5 million acres of land. Just over 14 percent of the total area of Liberia is water from rivers, lakes, swamps, lagoons, creeks, and streams that drain to the Atlantic Ocean.
It borders Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the north, Cote d’Ivoire to the northeast and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and southwest. Liberia shares rivers with all its neighboring countries.

Rainfall amounts vary a lot in Africa and Liberia is one of the wettest countries in Africa with 45,550 cubic meters of rich natural renewable water resources. Liberia receives 2,391mm of precipitation per year with a climate that is tropical, hot and humid wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers. Liberia has 2 1/2 times the rainfall of most African countries except Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea.

Mesurado River Monrovia Liberia

Six main rivers flow across the African country of Liberia from the Fouta Djallon Mountains of Guinea. These are the rivers Lofa that traverse Liberia and Guinea discharging to the Atlantic Ocean, Saint Paul, Saint John and Cestos, the Mano River that begins in the Guinea highlands and forms a border between Liberia and Sierra Leone and the Cavalla or Cavally River forms a border between Côte d'Ivoire. In addition, there are several smaller streams such as the Grand Cess River, the Sino River, and the Farmington River.

Liberia shares rivers with all its neighboring countries, the Mano and Mugowi Rivers with Sierra Leone, the Makone, Lofa, Via, Nianda and Mani Rivers with Guinea and the Cavalla River with Côte d’Ivoire, which forms a large part of the border between the two countries. The major basins, which drain 97 percent of the land, of these, the six major rivers, originating in Sierra Leone, Guinea or in Côte d’Ivoire, are the Mano, Lofa, Saint Paul, Saint John, Cestos and Cavalla, and together drain over 65 percent of Liberia.

The main environmental problems in Liberia are tropical rain forest deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and pollution of coastal waters from oil residue and raw sewage. Water-borne diseases are common. Water deficiency in the dry season, poor drainage, flooding of lowlands and the hazard of water erosion are all problems.

Liberia is in a post-war period facing serious political, financial, administrative and organizational problems. Ten years of conflict have led to multiple internal displacements of hundreds of thousands of people.
An estimated 80 percent of schools, health service structures, water wells, and sanitation facilities have been either destroyed or abandoned since 1998. No up-to-date water supply and sanitation coverage data are available, but those still functioning are in alarming and worrying conditions in almost all counties in Liberia.

Did you know
Liberia is a small country by African country size standards and is located in West Africa situated above the equator. Liberia is slightly larger than the USA state of Tennessee.

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