MONROVIA (Reuters) - Here are some key facts about Liberia:

* Africa's oldest independent republic was founded by freed American slaves in 1847 and enjoyed relative stability for well over a century. It was once one of the region's more prosperous states thanks to its rubber and iron ore production.

* Liberia became synonymous with brutality during 14 years of civil war which ended in 2003 after claiming around 250,000 lives, creating hundreds of thousands of refugees and spawning a generation of trigger-happy child soldiers.

* Its 3.4 million people scrape by on an average income of $130 per year and can expect to live an average of 47 years, according to World Bank statistics. The country has been without mains electricity or running water for more than a decade.

* Former President Charles Taylor, in exile in Nigeria, is seen as the mastermind behind a web of conflicts in West Africa. He was indicted by a U.N.-backed court in neighbouring Sierra Leone in March 2003 on 17 counts of crimes against humanity.

* Liberia is home to one of the biggest U.N. peacekeeping forces in the world -- numbering 15,000 soldiers -- which has helped disarm more than 95,000 fighters although disarmament has not yet reached all parts of the country.