Gbarnga (Liberia)

Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia. Cuttington College, a private, Episcopal-affiliated institution, is located near the town. Its campus was once home to the Africana Museum, which was destroyed during the civil war. As of the 2008 census, Gbarnga has a population of 34,046. Of this, 16,080 were male and 17,966 female; it is the fourth-most populous urban area in Liberia. Gbarnga is the hometown of Tamba Hali, a former professional football player for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League in the United States. The town is twinned with Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.