LIBERIA:  ITS LAND 
  
Liberia is a small country on the southern turn of the West 
African bulge (see cover page), between Sierra Leone (n.w.), 
Guinea (n.), and Ivory Coast (e.). It contains 43,000 square miles, 
or 2.7 times the area of Switzerland. 
The country has a very warm, humid tropical climate. Its 
rainy season extends from May through October, and its dry season 
from November through April. Annual rainfall varies from 200 inches 
(along the coast) to 70 inches (in the north). 
Geographically, Liberia is divided into three regions; (1) the 
coastal region, (2) the plateau region, and (3) the highlands. 
The Atlantic coastline, which extends for 350 miles in a south- 
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erly direction, is bordered by a narrow, low-lying plain, dotted 
by tidal creeks, shallow lagoons and mangrove swamps. Some 20 to 40 
miles inland, the land rises abruptly to a region of tall, dense 
forest, with elevations 
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ranging from 600 to 1,000 feet. 
Farther north, the land rises again to a less densely forested 
plateau, broken by the Nimba and Waulo mountains, which rise to 
heights exceeding 4,000 feet. Six major rivers flow southwestward 
into the Atlantic Ocean.