Liberia Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Dragon 2000 Proof Silver 20 Dollars 38.6mm (28.35 grams) 0.999 Silver Reference: N# 70261 Certification: NGC PF 69 ULTRA CAMEO 2863588-010 REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA THE LOVE OF LIBERTY BROUGHT US 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 $20, Dragon left, Chinese characters below.
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The Dragon, also known as Loong, (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍) is the fifth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Dragon is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 辰, pronounced chen.
It has been proposed by one academic researcher that the Earthly Branch character may have been associated with scorpions; it may have symbolized the star Antares. In the Buddhist calendar used in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, the Dragon is replaced by the nāga. In the Gurung zodiac, the Dragon is replaced by the eagle. In Old Turkic calendar it is replaced by the fish or crocodile. Early Persian translations of the medieval period change to dragon to a sea serpent although in current times is generally refer to as whale.
During the Cultural Revolution, giant panda was situated in the place of the dragon although this didn’t last long.
Liberia officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. Liberia means “Land of the Free” in Latin. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and Ivory Coast to its east. It covers an area of 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi) and is home to 4,503,000 people. English is the official language and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, representing the numerous tribes who make up more than 95% of the population.
Forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees, while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May-October rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century.
The Republic of Liberia, beginning as a settlement of the American Colonization Society (ACS), declared its independence on July 26, 1847. The United States did not recognize Liberia’s independence until after the American Civil War on February 5, 1862. Between January 7, 1822 and the American Civil War, more than 15,000 freed and free-born Black Americans from United States and 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans relocated to the settlement. The Black American settlers carried their culture with them to Liberia. The Liberian constitution and flag were modeled after the United States. In January 3, 1848 Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a wealthy free-born Black American from Virginia who settled in Liberia, was elected as Liberia’s first president after the people proclaimed independence.
Unlike other African countries, Liberia is the only African republic to have self-proclaimed independence without gaining independence through revolt from any other nation, being Africa’s first and oldest republic. Although it is said that neither Liberia nor Ethiopia, which was a kingdom, were controlled or colonized by foreign powers, this seems contradictory since the country was actually started by the American Colonization Society (ACS). Liberia maintained and kept its independence during the European colonial era.
During World War II, Liberia supported the United States war efforts against Germany and in turn the United States invested in considerable infrastructure in Liberia to help its war effort, which also aided the country in modernizing and improving its major air transportation facilities. In addition, President William Tubman encouraged economic changes. Internationally, Liberia was a founding member of League of Nations, United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity.
Longstanding political tensions from the 27 year rule of William Tubman resulted in a military coup in 1980 that overthrew the leadership soon after his death, marking the beginning of political instability. Five years of military rule by the People’s Redemption Council and five years of civilian rule by the National Democratic Party of Liberia were followed by two civil wars – the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars. These resulted in the deaths and displacement of more than half a million people and devastated Liberia’s economy. A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. Recovery proceeds but about 85% of the population live below the international poverty line.
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