^ Introductory 



square miles in extent, bounded on the west by the British 

 colony of Sierra Leone, on the north and east by the French 

 possessions in the Niger Basin and on the Ivory Coast. The 

 southern boundary, of course, is the Atlantic Ocean. By this 

 coast-line Liberia occupies an important strategic position. The 

 general trend of its scarcely indented littoral is from north- 

 west to south-east, so that it is nearly parallel to the course 

 taken by steamers plying between Europe and South Africa. 



6. PROMONTORY OF CAPE PALMAS 



In its physical geography Liberia does not at first sight 

 seem specially marked off from the rest of West Africa ; and 

 yet to a certain extent in its fauna and flora it is a peculiar 

 country, almost rising to the dignity of a distinct sub-district of 

 the West African sub-region. Its characteristic features in plants 

 and animals are naturally not confined strictly within the actual 

 political boundaries, but overlap into the eastern part of Sierra 

 Leone and the western part of the Ivory Coast. 



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