Monrovia was founded during the administration of the U.S. Pres. James Monroe (for whom it was named) the second permanent African American settlement in Africa. At the beginning of the 20th century, Monrovia was contrastingly divided into two parts: Monrovia, the residential nucleus where the Americo-Liberian population resided, and Krutown, which was mainly inhabited by ethnic <i>Krus</i> and other ethnicities in precarious and low-rise buildings. During the first and Second Liberian Civil Wars, the city underwent severe damage and nearly all the infrastructure was destroyed. Today, Monrovia’s economy is shaped primarily by its free and best-equipped port and its role as Liberia’s governmental center.