) ▁and ▁their ▁descend ants . ▁The ▁term ▁was ▁used ▁because ▁many ▁of ▁these ▁res cu ed ▁Afr icans ▁were ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁from ▁the ▁Congo ▁River ▁Bas in . ▁ ▁Im migr ants ▁from ▁Leb anon ▁In ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ▁to ▁early ▁ 2 0 th ▁century ▁Leb an ese ▁mer ch ants , ▁families ▁and ▁business men ▁began ▁arriv ing ▁in ▁Liber ia . ▁Leb an ese ▁currently ▁own ▁many ▁major ▁business es ▁such ▁as ▁super mark ets , ▁restaur ants , ▁text iles , ▁construction ▁works , ▁fact ories ▁and ▁other ▁production ▁based ▁companies ▁across ▁the ▁country . ▁Despite ▁living ▁in ▁the ▁country , ▁Leb an ese ▁are ▁denied ▁citizens hip ▁rights ▁due ▁to ▁Liber ia ' s ▁national ity ▁law ▁and ▁are ▁seen ▁in ▁a ▁political ▁view ▁as ▁foreign ers . ▁ ▁Religion ▁▁▁ ▁According ▁to ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁National ▁Census , ▁ 8 5 . 5 % ▁of ▁Liber ia ' s ▁ ▁population ▁practices ▁Christian ity . ▁Muslim s ▁compr ise ▁ 1 2 . 2 % ▁of ▁the ▁population , ▁largely ▁coming ▁from ▁the ▁Mand ingo ▁and ▁V ai ▁eth nic ▁groups . ▁The ▁vast ▁majority ▁of ▁Muslim s ▁are ▁Mal ik ite ▁Sun ni , ▁with ▁size able ▁Sh ia ▁and ▁A hm adi y ya ▁minor ities . ▁Trad itional ▁ind igen ous ▁relig ions ▁are ▁pract iced ▁by ▁ 0 . 5 % ▁of ▁the ▁population , ▁while ▁ 1 . 8 % ▁sub scribe ▁to