Liberia

Liberia is a West African nation that is a prime example of irony. The country was founded by African Americans who had gained their freedom, having once been slaves. This group of ex-slaves moved back to Africa and founded the city of Monrovia (named after the American president of the time, James Monroe) and proceeded to subjugate the tribal people living in the rest of the country. By the middle of the 20th Century, Americo-Liberians had a stranglehold on the politics and economy of the nation, while those Africans who were the original "Liberians" were treated as second-class citizens. This accounts in part for the overthrow of the government in 1980, which led to over 20 years of violent civil war.