Harbel

Harbel, town, west-central Liberia, West Africa. It lies along the Farmington River, 15 miles (24 km) upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. In 1926 the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company established what became a vast rubber plantation operation centred on Harbel. Liquid latex and crepe rubber are shipped via the company’s river port to Monrovia (32 miles west) for export. At Harbel, Firestone operates a hospital, a hydroelectric power plant, a botanical research division, and a transatlantic radio service; it also maintains roads, housing, schools, and a literacy program. Roberts International Airport and the Liberian Institute of Tropical Medicine (1952) are at Robertsfield, 2 miles southwest. Pop. (2008) 25,309.