Enumeration total: 32,821 across 5 clans and 53 towns/villages. Note: "Tchien Menyea / Zwe #2" (1 entry, pop. 25,349) is Zwedru City, the dominant urban unit accounting for 77.2% of the district's enumerated population. Official LISGIS district total: 75,771.

5 Largest Towns:

Zwedru is the commercial hub of southeastern Liberia. The Zwedru Central Market draws traders from Liberia, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, making it one of the most active cross-border trading centres in the sub-region. The Grand Gedeh County Community College is located in Garloville, on the outskirts of Zwedru. Samuel Doe, Liberia’s 21st President and the first indigenous Liberian head of state, was born in Tuzon, 19 km north of Zwedru in Tchien District. In June 2025, Liberia held a state funeral in Zwedru for former President Doe and former First Lady Nancy Doe as part of a national reconciliation process.

Enumeration total: 13,314 across 4 clans and 46 towns/villages, the most towns/villages of any Grand Gedeh district. Official LISGIS district total: 34,960.

5 Largest Towns:

The Cavalla River is one of Liberia’s most important waterways, running along most of the Liberian-Ivorian border. Cavala District’s Krahn communities have historic and familial connections with Eastern Krahn subgroups across the Ivorian border. The Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), a rebel group founded by Krahn members in 2003 to fight against Charles Taylor, operated partly through the Côte d’Ivoire border corridor in this zone. The Cavalla River basin contains biodiversity-significant forests and has been subject to post-war logging concession debates.

Enumeration total: 16,426 across 4 clans and 26 towns/villages. Putu has the highest male proportion in the enumeration data (55.1% M), consistent with iron ore mining labour migration. Official LISGIS district total: 34,026.

5 Largest Towns:

The Putu Iron Ore Project is one of the largest undeveloped iron ore deposits in West Africa. The concession has attracted multiple international mining companies since the early 2000s. A fully operational mine would require major infrastructure investment including a rail link to a port; a coastal port route through River Gee County is among proposed options. The Putu Range is a significant highland feature within Grand Gedeh’s forested terrain. Krahn communities of Putu District combine subsistence farming with the expectation of mining-driven economic development that has been repeatedly delayed by financing and infrastructure challenges.

Enumeration total: 24,705 across 4 clans and 41 towns/villages. Official LISGIS district total: 26,588.

5 Largest Towns:

Konobo is one of the Eastern Krahn tribal subgroups listed in historical records, the name refers both to the people and the district. Along with Tchien and Niabo, the Konobo were among the Eastern Krahn groups whose migrations from the Sassandra River area in Côte d’Ivoire crossed into present Liberian territory around 1790. Ziah Town (pop. 9,253 in the enumeration) is by far the district’s largest settlement, a remarkable concentration for a rural interior district. Agriculture, comprising primarily rice, cassava, and cocoa, constitutes the main livelihood.

Enumeration total: 12,324 across 4 clans and 37 towns/villages. Note: Jaladaye clan alone accounts for 49.2% of the enumerated population, centred on Zleh Town. Official LISGIS district total: 19,211.

5 Largest Towns:

Gbao District’s position along the Ivorian border gives it cross-border economic and cultural significance. During the civil war period, Gbao and other border districts served as corridors for refugee flows into Côte d’Ivoire, and later for the return of displaced Krahn populations. The Eastern Krahn subgroups historically associated with the Gbao area are part of the broader Gbarzon-Tchien-Niabo-Kenna Krahn cluster. Subsistence agriculture, comprising rice, cassava and forest products, is the primary livelihood.

Enumeration total: 10,367 across 4 clans and 20 towns/villages, the fewest towns/villages of any Grand Gedeh district. Note: B’hai and Gbao are the only Grand Gedeh districts where females outnumber males in the B’Hai-Nicko and Wromel clans respectively. Marbo #1 is a single-town clan (Sennehwen, pop. 2,275). Official LISGIS district total: 13,013.

5 Largest Towns:

B’hai (also written Bhai or Bhaai) is one of the districts formed from the reorganisation of the old Gbarzon District structure. Its location in the eastern section of the county means it shares the cross-border cultural dynamics common to Gbao, Cavala and other eastern Grand Gedeh districts. Post-war resettlement has been gradual, with access constrained by limited road infrastructure connecting B’hai communities to Zwedru and regional markets.

Enumeration total: 9,030 across 4 clans and 14 towns/villages. Official LISGIS district total: 6,659. Note: the enumeration total (9,030) exceeds the LISGIS official figure (6,659), one of the more pronounced discrepancies in the county, likely reflecting different geographic boundary definitions between the two surveys.

5 Largest Towns:

Glio and Twabo are specifically named in historical records of Eastern Krahn tribal origins; all Eastern Krahn tribes including Gbarzon, Gbargbo, Nyezon, Marbo, Borbo, Tchien, Niabo, Kenna, Glio and Twabo once lived together in Nyaya before successive migrations brought them across the Cavalla River into Liberian territory from 1750 onward. The district’s small population and high male ratio reflects its character as a dispersed interior settlement with limited road access and subsistence agricultural livelihoods.

Enumeration total: 6,271 across 4 clans and 16 towns/villages. Official LISGIS district total: 6,464.

5 Largest Towns:

Gboe-Ploe and Glio-Twarbo represent the smallest population tier among Grand Gedeh’s eight administrative districts. Both emerged from the 2008 Gbarzon District (74,255 residents). Their small populations reflect low settlement density in the county’s most remote forested interior zones. The civil war displaced a significant proportion of these communities to Côte d’Ivoire and urban centres, and resettlement has been slow. Subsistence farming, forest products, and limited artisanal activity constitute primary livelihoods.