Value of imports, 1883, $8,755,535; exports, $4,158,735. Principal exports: hides, $255,040; ostrich feathers, $72,530; unrefined sugar, $610,420; wool, $2,595,805. Principal imports are manufactured goods and flour. In 1883, 328 vessels, of 232,097 tons, entered, and 326, of 231,892 tons, cleared, the ports. There are 105 miles of railway built, and 120 under construction.
TRANSVAAL.Trans-val´.
A South African republic founded by Boers who left Cape Colony in 1835 for Natal, quitted the latter country on its annexation to Great Britain, and settled in the territory north of the Vaal river. Recognized as an independent state in 1852. Executive authority is in the hands of a President, assisted by a Council of 4 members; legislative vested in a Volksraad of 44 members. Area of republic, 114,360 square miles. Population estimated, 1884, at 50,000 whites, of whom 40,000 are Dutch, and about 700,000 natives. Chief city, Pretoria; population, 4,440.
The country is favorable for agriculture and stock raising. Chief crop, wheat; sugar, coffee and cotton are grown. Cattle, sheep and ostriches are reared. There is a great deal of mineral wealth, which has been but little developed. The yearly exports are valued at $3,000,000, and are principally grain, cattle, hides, wool, ostrich feathers, butter, ivory, gold and other minerals.
LIBERIA.Li-bee´re-a.
A republic of South Africa, founded in 1820 as a colony by the American Colonization Society in behalf of liberated slaves from the United States. Liberia was declared an independent state in 1847. The government is modeled after that of the United States. The republic has 600 miles of coast line, and extends inland about 100 miles; area, 14,300 square miles. The population is wholly African, and numbers 18,000 Americo-Liberians and 1,050,000 aborigines. Capital, Monrovia; population, 3,000. The Liberians have established churches and schools, and possess a number of printing presses. The climate, which is still fatal to Europeans, has been much improved by systematic drainage.