city, western Liberia, on the road from Monrovia to Gbarnga. It is the site of the Booker Washington Institute (1929; Liberia's first vocational and agricultural school), the Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute, and several church secondary schools. Rubber production, diamond prospecting, and subsistence rice farming are important to Kakata's economy. Barite deposits are found in the nearby Gibi Ridge. Pop. (latest census) 9,992.