What land was used to establish Liberia in 1821?

Question:

What land was used to establish Liberia in 1821?

i.e. what country was Liberia before the US aided the settlement of former slaves/ descendents?

I've checked the usual sources but they just say 'local tribal leaders' (don't specify from which country) 'agreed' at gunpoint to give up a 36 mile stretch of coastline where Liberia was established.

I'm guessing land was taken from one or more what would now be considered the surrounding countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast but can anyone tell me in greater detail?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: In short it was formed from lands occupied by the indigenous African tribes. There was no preceding national entity or Colonial power in the area.

Portuguese explorers established contacts with Liberia as early as 1461 and named the area Grain Coast because of the abundance of grains of Malegueta Pepper. In 1663 the British installed trading posts on the Grain Coast, but the Dutch destroyed these posts a year later. There were no further reports of European settlements along the Grain Coast until the arrival of freed slaves in the early 1800s.

Liberia, which means "land of the free," was founded by free African-Americans and freed slaves from the United States in 1820. An initial group of 86 immigrants, who came to be called Americo-Liberians, established a settlement in Christopolis (now Monrovia, named after U.S. President James Monroe) on February 6, 1820.

Thousands of freed American slaves and free African-Americans arrived during the following years, leading to the formation of more settlements and culminating in a declaration of independence of the Republic of Liberia on July 26, 1847.