Liberia, a small country on the West African coast, began as a modern country in the early 19th century as an American project to resettle freed and free-born African-Americans. Liberia was Africa's first and oldest modern republic and has never been colonized since declaring its independence in the mid-1800s. The country's landscape is predominantly flat to rolling coastal plains, featuring mangroves and swamps that give way to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast. Tropical rainforests cloak the hills, while the northern regions are characterized by elephant grass and semi-deciduous forests. Liberia's equatorial climate ensures year-round warmth, with heavy rainfall between May and October. The winter months, from November to March, bring dry, dust-laden Harmattan winds inland. Despite its size, Liberia is home to an astounding 42% of the remaining tropical rainforest in the region, a stark contrast to its deforested neighbors, where cocoa plantations have taken over. Unlike its powerhouse cocoa-producing neighbours (Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ivory Coast), Liberia accounts for only a modest 0.2% of the world's cocoa output. This is due to challenges of years of civil war, Ebola epidemics, and the fact that Liberian cocoa farmers are currently operating at only 20% of their potential output. However, its lush forests and abundant rainfall provide an ideal environment for cultivating sustainable, high-quality beans.