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ABOUT MARYLAND COUNTY
The longest serving president in Liberia ’s
history, William V.S. Tubman, and the first indigenous Vice President of Liberia, Henry Too Wesley, were born in Maryland
County, located in the south-eastern corner of the country. Maryland borders the Atlantic Ocean on the south, Côte d
’Ivoire on the east, Grand Kru County on the west and River Gee County on the north- west. The County ’s origins date back to 12
February, 1834, when the “Colony of Maryland in Africa ” was founded by the Maryland State Colonization Society
in the United States of America as a homeland for freed American slaves. It
later gained independence and became the “State of Maryland in Africa ” on 29 May 1854. However, three years later,
Maryland was annexed to the Republic of Liberia . The port city of Harper, previously known as Cape Palmas, is the capital
of the County and is named after US Congressman Robert Goodloe Harper who assisted the Maryland State Colonization Society
to facilitate the return of freed slaves to Liberia. Maryland County is divided into four districts --Barrobo
District, Harper Commonwealth, Karluway District and Pleebo/Sodoken district. The main ethnic group in the county is
Grebo, also found in neighbouring River Gee County, eastern Grand Kru and south-eastern Sinoe Counties. Since UNMIL ’s
(The United Nations Mission in Liberia) deployment of the Senegalese Contingent, Military Observers and UN Police in July
2004, Maryland County has remained relatively calm. Peacekeepers vigilantly monitor the border along northern Maryland and
southern River Gee in view of the unresolved political impasse in neighboring Côte d ’Ivoire. Local security personnel
from the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization as well as Customs and Internal Revenue officials are deployed at strategic
border crossing points. The lack of transportation, communication and
adequate office space are major handicaps to smooth operations in the county. The Liberia National Police has less than 40 officers
deployed in Maryland. There are eight Magistrate Courts in the County, all housed in sub-standard facilities. The health sector, like elsewhere in southeastern
Liberia, is in a shambles. Most health facilities were looted or destroyed during the conflict. Marylanders heavily depend
on NGOs for health assistance. Prior to the war, the County possessed a variety of agricultural processing industries such
as rubber, sugarcane, palm oil production and logging. Today, subsistence farming, rubber tapping and informal palm oil and
sugar cane production are the main sources of livelihood.
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