Liberia - Libéria (LR)

1. Language information / Données sur les langues

1.1 Languages spoken / Langues parlées

a) Official / Officielle(s) :

None. However, English serves this role de facto and is indicated as the language of the legislature (L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde).

b) National, indigenous / Nationale(s), indigène(s) :

None. Some 30 languages are listed for Liberia.

Ethnologue has an extensive list at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=LR

c) Relevant pages in the Major Languages section of this report / Pages appropriées dans la section de ce rapport sur les Langues principales :

Kpelle (Guerze), Kru/Bassa, Mende/Bandi/Loko

1.2 Language policy / Politique de langue

a) Laws/legislation / Lois/législation :

The site L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde has a page on Liberia at http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/liberia.htm

b) Agencies / Agences :

Two institutions "involved in or responsible for African Language research" in Liberia (UNESCO 1985). Updated information is needed:

• Liberian Language Programme, Department of Education, Ministry of Education, MONROVIA
• Institute for Liberian Languages, Box 513, MONROVIA

c) Languages in education/literacy / Langues dans l'éducation/l'alphabétisation :

1.3 Writing in national/indigenous languages / Ecriture en langues nationales/indigènes

a) Orthographies / Orthographes :

National languages are written in the Latin alphabet with some additional modified letters (extended characters) and diacritics. A chart showing the extended Latin characters and diacritics used in some Liberian languages is available at: http://www.bisharat.net/A12N/LIBERIA-table.htm

The Vai script, now nearly 200 years old, is still used by some for the minority Vai language. It is in the process of being encoded in Unicode.

b) Print publications / Editions imprimées :

UNESCO (1985) reported the following periodicals (name, frequency of publication, circulation, language). Updated information is needed:

• The Lorma Weekly, weekly, -, English/Lorma
• Kpelle Messenger, monthly, 500, Kpelle/English

1.4 Other comments / Autre commentaire :

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2. ICT situation / Situation des TIC

2.1 Infrastructure / Infrastructure

a) Telephones / Téléphones :

• Fixed lines: Telephone mainlines: 2 per 1000 people
• Mobile subscriptions: 2,000 (0.1 per 100 people) (ITU 2004 cited in Vodafone 2005)

b) Radio stations / Stations de radio :

c) Connectivity / Connectivité :

• International internet bandwidth / Bande passante internationale d'internet :
• ISPs / FSI :
• Geographic coverage / Couverture géographique :

2.2 Computer & internet access / Accès aux ordinateurs et à l'internet

a) Computers & points of access / Ordinateurs et lieux d'accès :

• Number of computers / Nombre d'ordinateurs:
• Cybercafés / Cybercafés:
• Project telecentres / Télécentres de projets:

b) Internet / Internet :

• Dial-up subscribers / Abonnés par ligne téléphonique :
• Internet users / Utilisateurs de l'internet : 1,000 Internet users as of Dec/2002, 0.03% of the population, per CIA (Internet World Stats)

c) Other / Autre :

2.3 [[ICT policy / Politique de TIC

The APC page, "ICT Policy in Liberia," has some information and links:

• In English: http://rights.apc.org/africa/index.shtml?apc=s21830e_1
• En français: http://afrique.droits.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=s21830e_1

2.4 ICT4D/E & ICT training / TIC pour le développement/éducation, et formation en TIC

2.5 Resources / Ressources

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3. Localisation situation / Situation de localisation

3.1 Country web content / Contenu web du pays

3.2 Web content in indigenous languages / Contenu web en langues indigènes

(See also specific language pages.)

3.3 Software localisation / Localisation de logiciel

Not aware of any software localisation activities.

(See also specific language pages.)

3.4 Projects & organisations / Projets et organisations

3.5 Localisation policy / Politique de localisation

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4. References / Références

APC, "ICT Policy in Liberia," Africa ICT Policy Monitor, http://rights.apc.org/africa/index.shtml?apc=s21830e_1 ("Politiques de TIC en/au Liberia," Observatoire des politiques des TIC en Afrique, http://afrique.droits.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=s21830e_1 )

International Telecommunications Union (ITU). 2004. African Telecommunication Indicators 2004. Geneva: ITU.

Internet World Stats: Africa. 2006. http://internetworldstats.com/africa.htm

Leclerc, Jacques. L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, "Liberia," http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/liberia.htm

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Languages of Liberia," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=LR

UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa. 1985. African Community Languages and Their Use in Literacy and Education: A Regional Survey. Dakar: UNESCO.

Vodafone. 2005. "Africa: The Impact of Mobile Phones." The Vodafone Policy Paper Series, Number 3, March 2005. http://www.vodafone.com/assets/files/en/GPP%20SIM%20paper.pdf

Wikipedia, "Liberia," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberia

______, "Libéria," http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libéria

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