About River Gee County

River Gee is a county in the southern portion of Liberia. One of 15 counties that constitute the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Fish Town serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring 5,113 square kilometres (1,974 sq. mi). As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 66,789, making it the third-least populous county in Liberia. It was created in 2000.


Map of Liberia

Tenth-largest in size, it is bordered by Sinoe County to the west, Grand Gedeh County to the north, and Grand Kru and Maryland counties to the south. The eastern part of River Gee borders the nation of Ivory Coast along the Cavalla River. The current County Superintendent is Daniel Johnson.

River Gee split from Grand Gedeh County in May 2000 after receiving approval from Liberia's House of Representatives in May 1997 and Senate approval in March 2000. On the east of the county is the Cavalla River that forms Liberia's border with the Ivory Coast. River Gee's capital is Fishtown. The Country was created by splitting the Grand Gedeh County.

River Gee has lower tropical forests which has midsize hills composed of various valleys and water courses. These forests receive a very high rainfall ranging from 3,000 mm (120 in) to 4,100 mm (160 in) per year in two distinct seasons. It has evergreen forests. While in the uplands it is conducive for rice cultivation, the low lying areas are conducive for yam, cocoa, plantains, potatoes, vegetables, rubber, coffee and sugarcane. The county accommodates the Glaro Reforestation Project with a designated National Plantation area of 1,008.89 ha (2,493.0 acres). It also shares the National proposed reserve of Grebo Forest (97,136 ha (240,030 acres)) with Grand Cheda County.

As of 2008, the county had a population of 66,789, comprising of 34,863 males and 31,926 females. The sex ratio was 109.2 compared to 96.2 in 1994 census. The number of households during 2008 was 9,822 and the average size of the households was 6.5. The population was 1.90 per cent of the total population, while it was 1.90 per cent in 1994. The county had an area of 1,974 sq. mi and the density per square miles was 34. The density during the 1984 census stood at 20. Liberia experienced civil war during various times and the total number of people displaced on account of wars as of 2008 in the county was 7,862. The number of people residing in urban areas was 13,370, with 6,698 males and 6,672 females.

The total number of people in rural areas was 89,021, with 48,069 males and 40,952 females. The total fraction of people residing in urban areas was 20.02 per cent, while the remaining 133 per cent were living in rural areas. The number of people resettled as of 2008 was 7,320 while the number of people who were not resettled was 258. The number of literates above the age of ten as of 2008 was 24,062 while the number of illiterates was 20,684 making the literacy rate to 53.77. The total number of literate males was 15,006 while the total number of literate females was 9,056.

As of 2011, the area of rice plantation was 7,190 ha (17,800 acres), which was 3.011 per cent of the total area of rice planted in the country. The total production stood at 8040 metric tons. As of 2011, the number of Cassava plantation was 3790, which was 3.1 per cent of the total area of Cassava planted in the country. The total production stood at 1550 metric tons. The number of Cocoa plantation was 1550, which was 4 per cent of the total area of Cassava planted in the country. The number of rubber plantation was 660, which was 1.1 per cent of the total area of Cassava planted in the country.

The number of Coffee plantation was 140, which was 0.6 per cent of the total area of Cassava planted in the country. As of 2008, the county had 1,744 paid employees, 19,331 self-employed people, and 4,381 family workers, 566 people looking for work, 1,300 not working people, and 2,154 people working in households, 19,290 students, 090 retired people, 252 incapacitated people, 334 part-time workers and 4,053 others, making the total working population of 53,495.^[

The districts of River Gee County include (2008 population): Chedepo District (10,518), Gbeapo District (10,934), Glaro District (4,992), Karforh District (5,956), Nanee District (6,002), Nyenawliken District (5,159), Nyenebo District (5,703), Potupo District (7,337), Sarbo District (5,320) and Tuobo District (4,868). The Legislature of Liberia was modeled based on the Legislature of United States. It is bicameral in nature with a Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 13 counties in the country and based on the population, each county is defined to have at least two members, while the total number of members to the house including the Speaker being 64.

Each member represents an electoral district and elected to a six year term based on popular vote. There were 30 senators, two each for the 15 counties and they serve a nine year term. Senators are also elected based on plurality of votes. The Vice-President is the head of the Senate and he also acts as President in his absence. The current senators of River Gee County are Seegi Peegray and Bray DeHararn.




Map of River Gee County