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Central African Republic

April 09, 2023

Not to be confused with Central Africa.
"CAR" redirects here. For the region in the Philippines, see Cordillera Administrative Region. For the vehicle type, see car. For other uses, see Car (disambiguation).

The Central African Republic (CAR; Sango: Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka IPA: [kōdōrōsésè tí bé.àfríkà]; French: République centrafricaine, RCA;[8] French: [ʁepyblik sɑ̃tʁafʁikɛn], or Centrafrique, [sɑ̃tʁafʁik]) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, the Republic of the Congo to the southwest, and Cameroon to the west.

Central African Republic
  • Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka (Sango)
  • République centrafricaine (French)
Motto: 
  • "Unité, Dignité, Travail" (French)
  • "Unity, Dignity, Work"
  • "Zo Kwe Zo" (Sango)
  • "All people are people"
Anthem: 
Capital
and largest city
Bangui
4°22′N 18°35′E / 4.367°N 18.583°E / 4.367; 18.583
Official languagesFrench • Sango
Ethnic groups
Religion
(2020)[1]
Demonym(s)Central African
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic
• President
Faustin-Archange Touadéra
Félix Moloua
Simplice Sarandji
LegislatureNational Assembly
Independence
• Republic established
1 December 1958
• from France
13 August 1960
• Central African Empire established
4 December 1976
4 December 1977
21 September 1979
Area
• Total
622,984 km2 (240,535 sq mi) (44th)
• Water (%)
0
Population
• 2022 estimate
5,454,533[2] (119th)
• Density
7.1/km2 (18.4/sq mi) (221st)
GDP (PPP)2022 estimate
• Total
 $5.46 billion[3] (170th)
• Per capita
 $1,088[3] (190th)
GDP (nominal)2022 estimate
• Total
 $2.48 billion[3] (182nd)
• Per capita
 $496[3] (191st)
Gini (2008)56.3[4]
high
HDI (2021) 0.404[5]
low · 188th
Currency
Time zoneUTC+1 (WAT)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideright[7]
Calling code+236
ISO 3166 codeCF
Internet TLD.cf

The Central African Republic covers a land area of about 620,000 square kilometres (240,000 sq mi). As of 2021, it had an estimated population of around 5.5 million. As of 2023, the Central African Republic is the scene of a civil war, which is ongoing since 2012.[9]

Most of the Central African Republic consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas, but the country also includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. Two-thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin (which flows into the Congo), while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari, which flows into Lake Chad.

What is today the Central African Republic has been inhabited since at least 8,000 BCE. The country's borders were established by France, which ruled the country as a colony starting in the late 19th century. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders, including an abortive attempt at a monarchy.[10]

By the 1990s, calls for democracy led to the first multi-party democratic elections in 1993. Ange-Félix Patassé became president, but was later removed by General François Bozizé in the 2003 coup. The Central African Republic Bush War began in 2004 and, despite a peace treaty in 2007 and another in 2011, civil war resumed in 2012. The civil war perpetuated the country's poor human rights record: it was characterized by widespread and increasing abuses by various participating armed groups, such as arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of movement.

Despite (or arguably because of) its significant mineral deposits and other resources, such as uranium reserves, crude oil, gold, diamonds, cobalt, lumber, and hydropower,[11] as well as significant quantities of arable land, the Central African Republic is among the ten poorest countries in the world, with the lowest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity in the world as of 2017.[12] As of 2021, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), the country had the fourth-lowest level of human development, ranking 188 out of 191 countries. The country had the lowest inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), ranking 156th out of 156 countries.[13] The Central African Republic is also estimated to be the unhealthiest country[14] as well as the worst country in which to be young.[15]

The Central African Republic is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Etymology

The name of the Central African Republic is derived from the country's geographical location in the central region of Africa and its republican form of government. From 1976 to 1979, the country was known as the Central African Empire.

During the colonial era, the country's name was Ubangi-Shari (French: Oubangui-Chari), a name derived from the Ubangi River and the Chari River. Barthélemy Boganda, the country's first prime minister, favored the name "Central African Republic" over Ubangi-Shari, reportedly because he envisioned a larger union of countries in Central Africa.[16]

History

Main article: History of the Central African Republic
 
The Bouar Megaliths, pictured here on a 1967 Central African stamp, date back to the very late Neolithic Era (c. 3500–2700 BCE).

Early history

Approximately 10,000 years ago, desertification forced hunter-gatherer societies south into the Sahel regions of northern Central Africa, where some groups settled.[17] Farming began as part of the Neolithic Revolution.[18] Initial farming of white yam progressed into millet and sorghum, and before 3000 BCE[19] the domestication of African oil palm improved the groups' nutrition and allowed for expansion of the local populations.[20] This Agricultural Revolution, combined with a "Fish-stew Revolution", in which fishing began to take place, and the use of boats, allowed for the transportation of goods. Products were often moved in ceramic pots, which are the first known examples of artistic expression from the region's inhabitants.[citation needed]

The Bouar Megaliths in the western region of the country indicate an advanced level of habitation dating back to the very late Neolithic Era (c. 3500–2700 BCE).[21][22] Ironworking developed in the region around 1000 BCE.[23]

The Ubangian people settled along the Ubangi River in what is today Central and East Central African Republic while some Bantu peoples migrated from the southwest from Cameroon.[24]

Bananas arrived in the region during the first millennium BCE[25] and added an important source of carbohydrates to the diet; they were also used in the production of alcoholic beverages. Production of copper, salt, dried fish, and textiles dominated the economic trade in the Central African region.[26]

16th–19th century

 
The Sultan of Bangassou and his wives, 1906

In the 16th and 17th centuries slave traders began to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan and Nile River slave routes. Their captives were enslaved and shipped to the Mediterranean coast, Europe, Arabia, the Western Hemisphere, or to the slave ports and factories along the West and North Africa or South along the Ubanqui and Congo rivers.[27][28] In the mid 19th century, the Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast.[29] During the 18th century Bandia-Nzakara Azande peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi River.[28] In 1875, the Sudanese sultan Rabih az-Zubayr governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day Central African Republic.[30]

French colonial period

Main articles: Ubangi-Shari, French Equatorial Africa, and Colonialism in the Central African Republic

The European invasion of Central African territory began in the late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa.[31] Europeans, primarily the French, Germans, and Belgians, arrived in the area in 1885. France seized and colonized Ubangi-Shari territory in 1894. In 1911 at the Treaty of Fez, France ceded a nearly 300,000 km2 portion of the Sangha and Lobaye basins to the German Empire which ceded a smaller area (in present-day Chad) to France. After World War I France again annexed the territory. Modeled on King Leopold's Congo Free State, concessions were doled out to private companies that endeavored to strip the region's assets as quickly and cheaply as possible before depositing a percentage of their profits into the French treasury. The concessionary companies forced local people to harvest rubber, coffee, and other commodities without pay and held their families hostage until they met their quotas.[32]

 
Charles de Gaulle in Bangui, 1940

In 1920 French Equatorial Africa was established and Ubangi-Shari was administered from Brazzaville.[33] During the 1920s and 1930s the French introduced a policy of mandatory cotton cultivation,[33] a network of roads was built, attempts were made to combat sleeping sickness, and Protestant missions were established to spread Christianity.[34] New forms of forced labor were also introduced and a large number of Ubangians were sent to work on the Congo-Ocean Railway. Through the period of construction until 1934 there was a continual heavy cost in human lives, with total deaths among all workers along the railway estimated in excess of 17,000 of the construction workers, from a combination of both industrial accidents and diseases including malaria.[35] In 1928, a major insurrection, the Kongo-Wara rebellion or 'war of the hoe handle', broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari and continued for several years. The extent of this insurrection, which was perhaps the largest anti-colonial rebellion in Africa during the interwar years, was carefully hidden from the French public because it provided evidence of strong opposition to French colonial rule and forced labor.[36]

In September 1940, during the Second World War, pro-Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi-Shari and General Leclerc established his headquarters for the Free French Forces in Bangui.[37] In 1946 Barthélemy Boganda was elected with 9,000 votes to the French National Assembly, becoming the first representative of the Central African Republic in the French government. Boganda maintained a political stance against racism and the colonial regime but gradually became disheartened with the French political system and returned to the Central African Republic to establish the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa (Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire, MESAN) in 1950.[38]

Since independence (1960–present)

In the Ubangi-Shari Territorial Assembly election in 1957, MESAN captured 347,000 out of the total 356,000 votes[39] and won every legislative seat,[40] which led to Boganda being elected president of the Grand Council of French Equatorial Africa and vice-president of the Ubangi-Shari Government Council.[41] Within a year, he declared the establishment of the Central African Republic and served as the country's first prime minister. MESAN continued to exist, but its role was limited.[42] The Central Africa Republic was granted autonomy within the French Community on 1 December 1958, a status which meant it was still counted as part of the French Empire in Africa.[43]

After Boganda's death in a plane crash on 29 March 1959, his cousin, David Dacko, took control of MESAN. Dacko became the country's first president when the Central African Republic formally received independence from France at midnight on 13 August 1960, a date celebrated by the country's Independence Day holiday.[44] Dacko threw out his political rivals, including Abel Goumba, former Prime Minister and leader of Mouvement d'évolution démocratique de l'Afrique centrale (MEDAC), whom he forced into exile in France. With all opposition parties suppressed by November 1962, Dacko declared MESAN as the official party of the state.[45]

Bokassa and the Central African Empire (1965–1979)

Further information: Central African Empire

On 31 December 1965, Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état by Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly. President Bokassa declared himself President for Life in 1972 and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire (as the country was renamed) on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world.[10]

In April 1979, young students protested against Bokassa's decree that all school pupils were required to buy uniforms from a company owned by one of his wives. The government violently suppressed the protests, killing 100 children and teenagers. Bokassa might have been personally involved in some of the killings.[46] In September 1979, France overthrew Bokassa and restored Dacko to power (subsequently restoring the official name of the country and the original government to the Central African Republic). Dacko, in turn, was again overthrown in a coup by General André Kolingba on 1 September 1981.[47]

Central African Republic under Kolingba

Kolingba suspended the constitution and ruled with a military junta until 1985. He introduced a new constitution in 1986 which was adopted by a nationwide referendum. Membership in his new party, the Rassemblement Démocratique Centrafricain (RDC), was voluntary. In 1987 and 1988, semi-free elections to parliament were held, but Kolingba's two major political opponents, Abel Goumba and Ange-Félix Patassé, were not allowed to participate.[48]

By 1990, inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pro-democracy movement arose. Pressure from the United States, France, and from a group of locally represented countries and agencies called GIBAFOR (France, the US, Germany, Japan, the EU, the World Bank, and the UN) finally led Kolingba to agree, in principle, to hold free elections in October 1992 with help from the UN Office of Electoral Affairs. After using the excuse of alleged irregularities to suspend the results of the elections as a pretext for holding on to power, President Kolingba came under intense pressure from GIBAFOR to establish a "Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la République" (Provisional National Political Council, CNPPR) and to set up a "Mixed Electoral Commission", which included representatives from all political parties.[48]

When a second round of elections were finally held in 1993, again with the help of the international community coordinated by GIBAFOR, Ange-Félix Patassé won in the second round of voting with 53% of the vote while Goumba won 45.6%. Patassé's party, the Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain (MLPC) or Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People, gained a plurality (relative majority) but not an absolute majority of seats in parliament, which meant Patassé's party required coalition partners.[48]

Patassé government (1993–2003)

Patassé purged many of the Kolingba elements from the government and Kolingba supporters accused Patassé's government of conducting a "witch hunt" against the Yakoma. A new constitution was approved on 28 December 1994 but had little impact on the country's politics. In 1996–1997, reflecting steadily decreasing public confidence in the government's erratic behavior, three mutinies against Patassé's administration were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and heightened ethnic tension. During this time (1996), the Peace Corps evacuated all its volunteers to neighboring Cameroon. To date, the Peace Corps has not returned to the Central African Republic. The Bangui Agreements, signed in January 1997, provided for the deployment of an inter-African military mission, to the Central African Republic and re-entry of ex-mutineers into the government on 7 April 1997. The inter-African military mission was later replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force (MINURCA). Since 1997, the country has hosted almost a dozen peacekeeping interventions, earning it the title of "world champion of peacekeeping".[32]

In 1998, parliamentary elections resulted in Kolingba's RDC winning 20 out of 109 seats. The next year, however, in spite of widespread public anger in urban centers over his corrupt rule, Patassé won a second term in the presidential election.[49]

On 28 May 2001, rebels stormed strategic buildings in Bangui in an unsuccessful coup attempt. The army chief of staff, Abel Abrou, and General François N'Djadder Bedaya were killed, but Patassé regained the upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and Libyan soldiers.[50]

In the aftermath of the failed coup, militias loyal to Patassé sought revenge against rebels in many neighborhoods of Bangui and incited unrest including the murder of many political opponents. Eventually, Patassé came to suspect that General François Bozizé was involved in another coup attempt against him, which led Bozizé to flee with loyal troops to Chad. In March 2003, Bozizé launched a surprise attack against Patassé, who was out of the country. Libyan troops and some 1,000 soldiers of Bemba's Congolese rebel organization failed to stop the rebels and Bozizé's forces succeeded in overthrowing Patassé.[51]

Civil wars

 
Rebel militia in the northern countryside, 2007
See also: Central African Republic Bush War and Central African Republic Civil War

François Bozizé suspended the constitution and named a new cabinet, which included most opposition parties. Abel Goumba was named vice-president, which gave Bozizé's new government a positive image.[why?] Bozizé established a broad-based National Transition Council to draft a new constitution, and announced that he would step down and run for office once the new constitution was approved.[52]

In 2004, the Central African Republic Bush War began, as forces opposed to Bozizé took up arms against his government. In May 2005, Bozizé won the presidential election, which excluded Patassé, and in 2006 fighting continued between the government and the rebels.[53] In November 2006, Bozizé's government requested French military support to help them repel rebels who had taken control of towns in the country's northern regions.[54] Though the initial public details of the agreement pertained to logistics and intelligence, by December the French assistance included airstrikes by Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters against rebel positions.[55][56]

The Syrte Agreement in February and the Birao Peace Agreement in April 2007 called for a cessation of hostilities, the billeting of FDPC fighters and their integration with FACA, the liberation of political prisoners, integration of FDPC into government, an amnesty for the UFDR, its recognition as a political party, and the integration of its fighters into the national army. Several groups continued to fight but other groups signed on to the agreement, or similar agreements with the government (e.g. UFR on 15 December 2008). The only major group not to sign an agreement at the time was the CPJP, which continued its activities and signed a peace agreement with the government on 25 August 2012.[57]

In 2011, Bozizé was reelected in an election which was widely considered fraudulent.[11]

In November 2012, Séléka, a coalition of rebel groups, took over towns in the northern and central regions of the country. These groups eventually reached a peace deal with the Bozizé's government in January 2013 involving a power sharing government[11] but this deal broke down and the rebels seized the capital in March 2013 and Bozizé fled the country.[58][59]

 
Refugees of the fighting in the Central African Republic, January 2014

Michel Djotodia took over as president. Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye requested a UN peacekeeping force from the UN Security Council and on 31 May former President Bozizé was indicted for crimes against humanity and incitement of genocide.[60] By the end of the year there were international warnings of a "genocide"[61][62] and fighting was largely from reprisal attacks on civilians from Seleka's predominantly Muslim fighters and Christian militias called "anti-balaka."[63] By August 2013, there were reports of over 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)[64][65]

 
Current military situation in Central African Republic

French President François Hollande called on the UN Security Council and African Union to increase their efforts to stabilize the country. On 18 February 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy 3,000 troops to the country, bolstering the 6,000 African Union soldiers and 2,000 French troops already in the country, to combat civilians being murdered in large numbers. The Séléka government was said to be divided,[66] and in September 2013, Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka, but many rebels refused to disarm, becoming known as ex-Seleka, and veered further out of government control.[63] It is argued that the focus of the initial disarmament efforts exclusively on the Seleka inadvertently handed the anti-Balaka the upper hand, leading to the forced displacement of Muslim civilians by anti-Balaka in Bangui and western Central African Republic.[32]

On 11 January 2014, Michael Djotodia and Nicolas Tiengaye resigned as part of a deal negotiated at a regional summit in neighboring Chad.[67] Catherine Samba-Panza was elected as interim president by the National Transitional Council,[68] becoming the first ever female Central African president. On 23 July 2014, following Congolese mediation efforts, Séléka and anti-balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement in Brazzaville.[69] By the end of 2014, the country was de facto partitioned with the anti-Balaka in the southwest and ex-Seleka in the northeast.[32] In March 2015, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said 417 of the country's 436 mosques had been destroyed, and Muslim women were so scared of going out in public they were giving birth in their homes instead of going to the hospital.[70] On 14 December 2015, Séléka rebel leaders declared an independent Republic of Logone.[71]

Touadéra government (2016–present)

Presidential elections were held in December 2015. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a second round of elections was held on 14 February 2016 with run-offs on 31 March 2016.[72][73] In the second round of voting, former Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadéra was declared the winner with 63% of the vote, defeating Union for Central African Renewal candidate Anicet-Georges Dologuélé, another former Prime Minister.[74] While the elections suffered from many potential voters being absent as they had taken refuge in other countries, the fears of widespread violence were ultimately unfounded and the African Union regarded the elections as successful.[75]

Touadéra was sworn in on 30 March 2016. No representatives of the Seleka rebel group or the "anti-balaka" militias were included in the subsequently formed government.[76]

After the end of Touadéra's first term, presidential elections were held on 27 December 2020 with a possible second round planned for 14 February 2021.[77] Former president François Bozizé announced his candidacy on 25 July 2020 but was rejected by the Constitutional Court of the country, which held that Bozizé did not satisfy the "good morality" requirement for candidates because of an international warrant and United Nations sanctions against him for alleged assassinations, torture and other crimes.[78]

As large parts of the country were at the time controlled by armed groups, the election could not be conducted in many areas of the country.[79][80] Some 800 of the country's polling stations, 14% of the total, were closed due to violence.[81] Three Burundian peacekeepers were killed and an additional two were wounded during the run-up to the election.[82][83] President Faustin-Archange Touadéra was reelected in the first round of the election in December 2020.[84] Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group have supported President Faustin-Archange Touadéra in the fight against rebels. Russia's Wagner group has been accused of harassing and intimidating civilians.[85][86] In December 2022 Roger Cohen wrote in the New York Times that "Wagner shock troops form a Praetorian Guard for Mr. Touadéra, who is also protected by Rwandan forces, in return for an untaxed license to exploit and export the Central African Republic's resources" and that "one Western ambassador called the Central African Republic’s status as a “vassal state” of the Kremlin."[87]

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Central African Republic
 
Falls of Boali on the Mbali River
 
A village in the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. The country lies between latitudes 2° and 11°N, and longitudes 14° and 28°E.[88]

Much of the country consists of flat or rolling plateau savanna approximately 500 metres (1,640 ft) above sea level. In addition to the Fertit Hills in the northeast of the Central African Republic, there are scattered hills in the southwest regions. In the northwest is the Yade Massif, a granite plateau with an altitude of 348 metres (1,143 ft). The Central African Republic contains six terrestrial ecoregions: Northeastern Congolian lowland forests, Northwestern Congolian lowland forests, Western Congolian swamp forests, East Sudanian savanna, Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic, and Sahelian Acacia savanna.[89]

At 622,984 square kilometres (240,535 sq mi), the Central African Republic is the world's 44th-largest country. It is comparable in size to Ukraine, as Ukraine is 603,500 square kilometres (233,000 sq mi) in area, according to List of countries and dependencies by area.[90]

Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River; the Mbomou River in the east merges with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River, which also comprises portions of the southern border. The Sangha River flows through some of the western regions of the country, while the eastern border lies along the edge of the Nile River watershed.[88]

It has been estimated that up to 8% of the country is covered by forest, with the densest parts generally located in the southern regions. The forests are highly diverse and include commercially important species of Ayous, Sapelli and Sipo.[91] The deforestation rate is about 0.4% per annum, and lumber poaching is commonplace.[92] The Central African Republic had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.28/10, ranking it seventh globally out of 172 countries.[93]

In 2008, Central African Republic was the world's least light pollution affected country.[94]

The Central African Republic is the focal point of the Bangui Magnetic Anomaly, one of the largest magnetic anomalies on Earth.[95]

Wildlife

Main article: Wildlife of the Central African Republic

In the southwest, the Dzanga-Sangha National Park is located in a rain forest area. The country is noted for its population of forest elephants and western lowland gorillas. In the north, the Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park is well-populated with wildlife, including leopards, lions, cheetahs and rhinos, and the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park is located in the northeast of the Central African Republic. The parks have been seriously affected by the activities of poachers, particularly those from Sudan, over the past two decades.[96]

Climate

Main article: Climate of the Central African Republic
 
Central African Republic map of Köppen climate classification

The climate of the Central African Republic is generally tropical, with a wet season that lasts from June to September in the northern regions of the country, and from May to October in the south. During the wet season, rainstorms are an almost daily occurrence, and early morning fog is commonplace. Maximum annual precipitation is approximately 1,800 millimetres (71 in) in the upper Ubangi region.[97]

The northern areas are hot and humid from February to May,[98] but can be subject to the hot, dry, and dusty trade wind known as the Harmattan. The southern regions have a more equatorial climate, but they are subject to desertification, while the extreme northeast regions of the country are a steppe.[99]

Prefectures and sub-prefectures

Main articles: Prefectures of the Central African Republic and Sub-prefectures of the Central African Republic
BanguiSangha-MbaéréMambéré-KadéïNana-MambéréOuham-PendéOuhamOmbella-M'PokoLobayeNana-GrébiziKémoOuakaBasse-KottoBamingui-BangoranVakagaHaute-KottoMbomouHaut-Mbomou 
A clickable map of the fourteen prefectures of the Central African Republic.

The Central African Republic is divided into 16 administrative prefectures (préfectures), two of which are economic prefectures (préfectures economiques), and one an autonomous commune; the prefectures are further divided into 71 sub-prefectures (sous-préfectures).[100][101]

The prefectures are Bamingui-Bangoran, Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou, Kémo, Lobaye, Mambéré-Kadéï, Mbomou, Nana-Mambéré, Ombella-M'Poko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pendé and Vakaga. The economic prefectures are Nana-Grébizi and Sangha-Mbaéré, while the commune is the capital city of Bangui.[100]

Politics and government

Main articles: Politics of the Central African Republic, Central African Republic Council of Ministers, and List of political parties in the Central African Republic
 
Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 11 April 2019

Politics in the Central African Republic formally take place in a framework of a presidential republic. In this system, the President is the head of state, with a Prime Minister as head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.[11]

Changes in government have occurred in recent years by three methods: violence, negotiations, and elections. A new constitution was approved by voters in a referendum held on 5 December 2004. The government was rated 'Partly Free' from 1991 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2013.[102]

Executive branch

The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term, and the prime minister is appointed by the president. The president also appoints and presides over the Council of Ministers, which initiates laws and oversees government operations. However, as of 2018 the official government is not in control of large parts of the country, which are governed by rebel groups.[103]

Acting president since April 2016 is Faustin-Archange Touadéra who followed the interim government under Catherine Samba-Panza, interim prime minister André Nzapayeké.[104]

Legislative branch

The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 140 members, elected for a five-year term using the two-round (or Run-off) system.[11]

Judicial branch

As in many other former French colonies, the Central African Republic's legal system is based on French law.[105] The Supreme Court, or Cour Supreme, is made up of judges appointed by the president. There is also a Constitutional Court, and its judges are also appointed by the president.[11]

Foreign relations

See also: Central African Armed Forces and Foreign relations of the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic relies heavily on Russian mercenaries for the protection of its diamond mines.[106]

 
President Faustin-Archange Touadéra with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 23 May 2018

Foreign aid and UN Involvement

The Central African Republic is heavily dependent upon foreign aid and numerous NGOs provide services that the government does not provide.[107] In 2019, over US$100 million in foreign aid was spent in the country, mostly on humanitarian assistance.[108]

In 2006, due to ongoing violence, over 50,000 people in the country's northwest were at risk of starvation,[109] but this was averted due to assistance from the United Nations.[110] On 8 January 2008, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon declared that the Central African Republic was eligible to receive assistance from the Peacebuilding Fund.[111] Three priority areas were identified: first, the reform of the security sector; second, the promotion of good governance and the rule of law; and third, the revitalization of communities affected by conflicts. On 12 June 2008, the Central African Republic requested assistance from the UN Peacebuilding Commission,[112] which was set up in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict avoid devolving back into war or chaos.[113]

In response to concerns of a potential genocide, a peacekeeping force – the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) – was authorized in December 2013. This African Union force of 6,000 personnel was accompanied by the French Operation Sangaris.[114]

In 2017, Central African Republic signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[115]

Human rights

Main articles: Human rights in the Central African Republic, LGBT rights in the Central African Republic, Child marriage in the Central African Republic, and Polygamy in the Central African Republic

The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that human rights in the Central African Republic were poor and expressed concerns over numerous government abuses.[116] The U.S. State Department alleged that major human rights abuses such as extrajudicial executions by security forces, torture, beatings and rape of suspects and prisoners occurred with impunity. It also alleged harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention centers, arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention and denial of a fair trial, restrictions on freedom of movement, official corruption, and restrictions on workers' rights.[116]

The State Department report also cites widespread mob violence, the prevalence of female genital mutilation, discrimination against women and Pygmies, human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor.[117] Freedom of movement is limited in the northern part of the country "because of actions by state security forces, armed bandits, and other nonstate armed entities", and due to fighting between government and anti-government forces, many persons have been internally displaced.[118]

Violence against children and women in relation to accusations of witchcraft has also been cited as a serious problem in the country.[119][120][121] Witchcraft is a criminal offense under the penal code.[119]

Freedom of speech is addressed in the country's constitution, but there have been incidents of government intimidation of the media.[116] A report by the International Research & Exchanges Board's media sustainability index noted that "the country minimally met objectives, with segments of the legal system and government opposed to a free media system".[116]

Approximately 68% of girls are married before they turn 18,[122] and the United Nations' Human Development Index ranked the country 188 out of 188 countries surveyed.[123] The Bureau of International Labor Affairs has also mentioned it in its last edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.

Demographics

 
Fula women in Paoua
Main article: Demographics of the Central African Republic

The population of the Central African Republic has almost quadrupled since independence. In 1960, the population was 1,232,000; as of a 2021 UN estimate, it is approximately 5,457,154.[124][125]

The United Nations estimates that approximately 4% of the population aged between 15 and 49 is HIV positive.[126] Only 3% of the country has antiretroviral therapy available, compared to a 17% coverage in the neighboring countries of Chad and the Republic of the Congo.[127]

The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language. The largest ethnic groups are the Baggara Arabs, Baka, Banda, Bayaka, Fula, Gbaya, Kara, Kresh, Mbaka, Mandja, Ngbandi, Sara, Vidiri, Wodaabe, Yakoma, Yulu, Zande, with others including Europeans of mostly French descent.[11]

 
 
Largest cities or towns in Central African Republic
According to the 2003 Census[128]
Rank Name Prefecture Pop. Rank Name Prefecture Pop.
 
Bangui 		1 Bangui Bangui 622,771 11 Kaga-Bandoro Nana-Grébizi 24,661
2 Bimbo Ombella-M'Poko 124,176 12 Sibut Kémo 22,419
3 Berbérati Mambéré-Kadéï 76,918 13 Mbaïki Lobaye 22,166
4 Carnot Mambéré-Kadéï 45,421 14 Bozoum Ouham-Pendé 20,665
5 Bambari Ouaka 41,356 15 Paoua Ouham-Pendé 17,370
6 Bouar Nana-Mambéré 40,353 16 Batangafo Ouham 16,420
7 Bossangoa Ouham 36,478 17 Kabo Ouham 16,279
8 Bria Haute-Kotto 35,204 18 Bocaranga Ouham-Pendé 15,744
9 Bangassou Mbomou 31,553 19 Ippy Ouaka 15,196
10 Nola Sangha-Mbaéré 29,181 20 Alindao Basse-Kotto 14,401

Religion

Main article: Religion in the Central African Republic
 
Worshippers at the Bangui Cathedral. Christianity is the main religion in the Central African Republic.

According to the 2003 national census, 80.3% of the population was Christian (51.4% Protestant and 28.9% Roman Catholic), 10% was Muslim and 4.5 percent other religious groups, with 5.5 percent having no religious beliefs.[129] More recent work from the Pew Research Center estimated that, as of 2010, Christians constituted 89.8% of the population (60.7% Protestant and 28.5% Catholic) while Muslims made up 8.9%.[130][131] The Catholic Church claims over 1.5 million adherents, approximately one-third of the population.[132] Indigenous belief (animism) is also practiced, and many indigenous beliefs are incorporated into Christian and Islamic practice.[133] A UN director described religious tensions between Muslims and Christians as being high.[134]

There are many missionary groups operating in the country, including Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Grace Brethren, and Jehovah's Witnesses. While these missionaries are predominantly from the United States, France, Italy, and Spain, many are also from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other African countries. Large numbers of missionaries left the country when fighting broke out between rebel and government forces in 2002–3, but many of them have now returned to continue their work.[135]

According to Overseas Development Institute research, during the crisis ongoing since 2012, religious leaders have mediated between communities and armed groups; they also provided refuge for people seeking shelter.[114]

Languages

Main article: Languages of the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic's two official languages are French and Sango (also spelled Sangho),[136] a creole developed as an inter-ethnic lingua franca based on the local Ngbandi language. The Central African Republic is one of the few African countries to have granted official status to an African language.

Healthcare

Main article: Health in the Central African Republic
 
Mothers and babies aged between 0 and 5 years are lining up in a Health Post at Begoua, a district of Bangui, waiting for the two drops of the oral polio vaccine.

The largest hospitals in the country are located in the Bangui district. As a member of the World Health Organization, the Central African Republic receives vaccination assistance, such as a 2014 intervention for the prevention of a measles epidemic.[137] In 2007, female life expectancy at birth was 48.2 years and male life expectancy at birth was 45.1 years.[138]

Women's health is poor in the Central African Republic. As of 2010, the country had the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the world.[139] The total fertility rate in 2014 was estimated at 4.46 children born/woman.[11] Approximately 25% of women had undergone female genital mutilation.[140] Many births in the country are guided by traditional birth attendants, who often have little or no formal training.[141]

Malaria is endemic in the Central African Republic, and one of the leading causes of death.[142] According to 2009 estimates, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is about 4.7% of the adult population (ages 15–49).[143] This is in general agreement with the 2016 United Nations estimate of approximately 4%.[144] Government expenditure on health was US$20 (PPP) per person in 2006[138] and 10.9% of total government expenditure in 2006.[138] There was only around 1 physician for every 20,000 persons in 2009.[145]

Education

 
Classroom in Sam Ouandja
Main article: Education in the Central African Republic

Public education in the Central African Republic is free and is compulsory from ages 6 to 14.[146] However, approximately half of the adult population of the country is illiterate.[147] The two institutions of higher education in the Central African Republic are the University of Bangui, a public university located in Bangui, which includes a medical school; and Euclid University, an international university.[148][149]

Economy

 
A proportional representation of Central African Republic exports, 2019
 
GDP per capita development in the Central African Republic
 
Bangui shopping district
Main article: Economy of the Central African Republic

The per capita income of the Republic is often listed as being approximately $400 a year, one of the lowest in the world, but this figure is based mostly on reported sales of exports and largely ignores the unregistered sale of foods, locally produced alcoholic beverages, diamonds, ivory, bushmeat, and traditional medicine.[150]

The currency of the Central African Republic is the CFA franc, which is accepted across the former countries of French West Africa and trades at a fixed rate to the euro. Diamonds constitute the country's most important export, accounting for 40–55% of export revenues, but it is estimated that between 30% and 50% of those produced each year leave the country clandestinely.[150] On 27 April 2022,[151] Bitcoin (BTC) was adopted as an additional legal tender. Lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill that made bitcoin legal tender alongside the CFA franc and legalized the use of cryptocurrencies. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra signed the measure into law, said his chief of staff Obed Namsio.

Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation and sale of food crops such as cassava, peanuts, maize, sorghum, millet, sesame, and plantain. The annual real GDP growth rate is just above 3%. The importance of food crops over exported cash crops is indicated by the fact that the total production of cassava, the staple food of most Central Africans, ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 tonnes a year, while the production of cotton, the principal exported cash crop, ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 tonnes a year. Food crops are not exported in large quantities, but still constitute the principal cash crops of the country, because Central Africans derive far more income from the periodic sale of surplus food crops than from exported cash crops such as cotton or coffee.[150] Much of the country is self-sufficient in food crops; however, livestock development is hindered by the presence of the tsetse fly.[152]

The Republic's primary import partner is France (17.1%). Other imports come from the United States (12.3%), India (11.5%), and China (8.2%). Its largest export partner is France (31.2%), followed by Burundi (16.2%), China (12.5%), Cameroon (9.6%), and Austria (7.8%).[11]

The Central African Republic is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). In the 2009 World Bank Group's report Doing Business, it was ranked 183rd of 183 as regards 'ease of doing business', a composite index which takes into account regulations that enhance business activity and those that restrict it.[153]

Infrastructure

Transportation

See also: Transportation in the Central African Republic
 
Trucks in Bangui

Bangui is the transport hub of the Central African Republic. As of 1999, eight roads connected the city to other main towns in the country, Cameroon, Chad and South Sudan; of these, only the toll roads are paved. During the rainy season from July to October, some roads are impassable.[154][155]

River ferries sail from the river port at Bangui to Brazzaville and Zongo. The river can be navigated most of the year between Bangui and Brazzaville. From Brazzaville, goods are transported by rail to Pointe-Noire, Congo's Atlantic port.[156] The river port handles the overwhelming majority of the country's international trade and has a cargo handling capacity of 350,000 tons; it has 350 metres (1,150 ft) length of wharfs and 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) of warehousing space.[154]

Bangui M'Poko International Airport is Central African Republic's only international airport. As of June 2014 it had regularly scheduled direct flights to Brazzaville, Casablanca, Cotonou, Douala, Kinshasa, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, N'Djamena, Paris, Pointe-Noire, and Yaoundé.[citation needed]

Since at least 2002 there have been plans to connect Bangui by rail to the Transcameroon Railway.[157]

Energy

The Central African Republic primarily uses hydroelectricity as there are few other low cost resources for generating electricity.[158]

Communications

See also: Communications in the Central African Republic

Presently, the Central African Republic has active television services, radio stations, internet service providers, and mobile phone carriers; Socatel is the leading provider for both internet and mobile phone access throughout the country. The primary governmental regulating bodies of telecommunications are the Ministère des Postes and Télécommunications et des Nouvelles Technologies. In addition, the Central African Republic receives international support on telecommunication related operations from ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) within the International Telecommunication Union to improve infrastructure.[159]

Culture

See also: List of African writers by country § Central African Republic, and Music of the Central African Republic
 
A Central African woman

Sports

See also: Central African Republic at the Olympics

Football is the country's most popular sport. The national football team is governed by the Central African Football Federation and stages matches at the Barthélemy Boganda Stadium.[160]

Basketball also is popular[161][162] and its national team won the African Championship twice and was the first Sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the Basketball World Cup, in 1974.

See also

References

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Bibliography

  • Eur (31 October 2002). Africa South of the Sahara 2003. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-85743-131-5.
  • Kalck, Pierre (2004). Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic.
  • McKenna, Amy (2011). The History of Central and Eastern Africa. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1615303229.
  • Balogh, Besenyo, Miletics, Vogel: La République Centrafricaine

Further reading

  • Doeden, Matt, Central African Republic in Pictures (Twentyfirst Century Books, 2009).
  • Petringa, Maria, Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006). ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0.
  • Titley, Brian, Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa, 2002.
  • Woodfrok, Jacqueline, Culture and Customs of the Central African Republic (Greenwood Press, 2006).

External links

Overviews

News

Other

  • at Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT)
  • Johann Hari in Birao, Central African Republic. "Inside France's Secret War" from The Independent, 5 October 2007

Coordinates: 7°N 21°E / 7°N 21°E / 7; 21

April 09, 2023
central, african, republic, confused, with, central, africa, redirects, here, region, philippines, cordillera, administrative, region, vehicle, type, other, uses, disambiguation, sango, ködörösêse, bêafrîka, kōdōrōsésè, àfríkà, french, république, centrafricai. Not to be confused with Central Africa CAR redirects here For the region in the Philippines see Cordillera Administrative Region For the vehicle type see car For other uses see Car disambiguation The Central African Republic CAR Sango Kodorosese ti Beafrika IPA kōdōrōsese ti be afrika French Republique centrafricaine RCA 8 French ʁepyblik sɑ tʁafʁikɛn or Centrafrique sɑ tʁafʁik is a landlocked country in Central Africa It is bordered by Chad to the north Sudan to the northeast South Sudan to the southeast the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south the Republic of the Congo to the southwest and Cameroon to the west Central African RepublicKodorosese ti Beafrika Sango Republique centrafricaine French Flag Coat of armsMotto Unite Dignite Travail French Unity Dignity Work Zo Kwe Zo Sango All people are people Anthem La Renaissance French E Zingo Sango The Renaissance source source track track track track Show globeShow map of AfricaCapitaland largest cityBangui4 22 N 18 35 E 4 367 N 18 583 E 4 367 18 583Official languagesFrench SangoEthnic groupsBaggara ArabsBakaBandaBayakaFulaGbayaKaraKreshMbakaMandjaNgbandiSaraVidiriWodaabeYakomaYuluKanuriZandeotherReligion 2020 1 73 2 Christianity13 9 Islam12 0 Traditional faiths0 9 other noneDemonym s Central AfricanGovernmentUnitary presidential republic PresidentFaustin Archange Touadera Prime MinisterFelix Moloua President of the National AssemblySimplice SarandjiLegislatureNational AssemblyIndependence Republic established1 December 1958 from France13 August 1960 Central African Empire established4 December 1976 Coronation of Bokassa I4 December 1977 Bokassa I s overthrow and republic restored21 September 1979Area Total622 984 km2 240 535 sq mi 44th Water 0Population 2022 estimate5 454 533 2 119th Density7 1 km2 18 4 sq mi 221st GDP PPP 2022 estimate Total 5 46 billion 3 170th Per capita 1 088 3 190th GDP nominal 2022 estimate Total 2 48 billion 3 182nd Per capita 496 3 191st Gini 2008 56 3 4 highHDI 2021 0 404 5 low 188thCurrencyCentral African CFA franc XAF Bitcoin BTC 6 Time zoneUTC 1 WAT Date formatdd mm yyyyDriving sideright 7 Calling code 236ISO 3166 codeCFInternet TLD cfThe Central African Republic covers a land area of about 620 000 square kilometres 240 000 sq mi As of 2021 update it had an estimated population of around 5 5 million As of 2023 update the Central African Republic is the scene of a civil war which is ongoing since 2012 9 Most of the Central African Republic consists of Sudano Guinean savannas but the country also includes a Sahelo Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south Two thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin which flows into the Congo while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari which flows into Lake Chad What is today the Central African Republic has been inhabited since at least 8 000 BCE The country s borders were established by France which ruled the country as a colony starting in the late 19th century After gaining independence from France in 1960 the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders including an abortive attempt at a monarchy 10 By the 1990s calls for democracy led to the first multi party democratic elections in 1993 Ange Felix Patasse became president but was later removed by General Francois Bozize in the 2003 coup The Central African Republic Bush War began in 2004 and despite a peace treaty in 2007 and another in 2011 civil war resumed in 2012 The civil war perpetuated the country s poor human rights record it was characterized by widespread and increasing abuses by various participating armed groups such as arbitrary imprisonment torture and restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of movement Despite or arguably because of its significant mineral deposits and other resources such as uranium reserves crude oil gold diamonds cobalt lumber and hydropower 11 as well as significant quantities of arable land the Central African Republic is among the ten poorest countries in the world with the lowest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity in the world as of 2017 12 As of 2021 update according to the Human Development Index HDI the country had the fourth lowest level of human development ranking 188 out of 191 countries The country had the lowest inequality adjusted Human Development Index IHDI ranking 156th out of 156 countries 13 The Central African Republic is also estimated to be the unhealthiest country 14 as well as the worst country in which to be young 15 The Central African Republic is a member of the United Nations the African Union the Economic Community of Central African States the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Non Aligned Movement Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Early history 2 2 16th 19th century 2 3 French colonial period 2 4 Since independence 1960 present 2 4 1 Bokassa and the Central African Empire 1965 1979 2 4 2 Central African Republic under Kolingba 2 4 3 Patasse government 1993 2003 2 4 4 Civil wars 2 4 5 Touadera government 2016 present 3 Geography 3 1 Wildlife 3 2 Climate 3 3 Prefectures and sub prefectures 4 Politics and government 4 1 Executive branch 4 2 Legislative branch 4 3 Judicial branch 5 Foreign relations 5 1 Foreign aid and UN Involvement 5 2 Human rights 6 Demographics 6 1 Religion 6 2 Languages 6 3 Healthcare 6 4 Education 7 Economy 7 1 Infrastructure 7 1 1 Transportation 7 1 2 Energy 7 1 3 Communications 8 Culture 8 1 Sports 9 See also 10 References 10 1 Citations 10 2 Bibliography 11 Further reading 12 External links 12 1 Overviews 12 2 News 12 3 OtherEtymology EditThe name of the Central African Republic is derived from the country s geographical location in the central region of Africa and its republican form of government From 1976 to 1979 the country was known as the Central African Empire During the colonial era the country s name was Ubangi Shari French Oubangui Chari a name derived from the Ubangi River and the Chari River Barthelemy Boganda the country s first prime minister favored the name Central African Republic over Ubangi Shari reportedly because he envisioned a larger union of countries in Central Africa 16 History EditMain article History of the Central African Republic The Bouar Megaliths pictured here on a 1967 Central African stamp date back to the very late Neolithic Era c 3500 2700 BCE Early history Edit Approximately 10 000 years ago desertification forced hunter gatherer societies south into the Sahel regions of northern Central Africa where some groups settled 17 Farming began as part of the Neolithic Revolution 18 Initial farming of white yam progressed into millet and sorghum and before 3000 BCE 19 the domestication of African oil palm improved the groups nutrition and allowed for expansion of the local populations 20 This Agricultural Revolution combined with a Fish stew Revolution in which fishing began to take place and the use of boats allowed for the transportation of goods Products were often moved in ceramic pots which are the first known examples of artistic expression from the region s inhabitants citation needed The Bouar Megaliths in the western region of the country indicate an advanced level of habitation dating back to the very late Neolithic Era c 3500 2700 BCE 21 22 Ironworking developed in the region around 1000 BCE 23 The Ubangian people settled along the Ubangi River in what is today Central and East Central African Republic while some Bantu peoples migrated from the southwest from Cameroon 24 Bananas arrived in the region during the first millennium BCE 25 and added an important source of carbohydrates to the diet they were also used in the production of alcoholic beverages Production of copper salt dried fish and textiles dominated the economic trade in the Central African region 26 16th 19th century Edit The Sultan of Bangassou and his wives 1906 In the 16th and 17th centuries slave traders began to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan and Nile River slave routes Their captives were enslaved and shipped to the Mediterranean coast Europe Arabia the Western Hemisphere or to the slave ports and factories along the West and North Africa or South along the Ubanqui and Congo rivers 27 28 In the mid 19th century the Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast 29 During the 18th century Bandia Nzakara Azande peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi River 28 In 1875 the Sudanese sultan Rabih az Zubayr governed Upper Oubangui which included present day Central African Republic 30 French colonial period Edit Main articles Ubangi Shari French Equatorial Africa and Colonialism in the Central African Republic The European invasion of Central African territory began in the late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa 31 Europeans primarily the French Germans and Belgians arrived in the area in 1885 France seized and colonized Ubangi Shari territory in 1894 In 1911 at the Treaty of Fez France ceded a nearly 300 000 km2 portion of the Sangha and Lobaye basins to the German Empire which ceded a smaller area in present day Chad to France After World War I France again annexed the territory Modeled on King Leopold s Congo Free State concessions were doled out to private companies that endeavored to strip the region s assets as quickly and cheaply as possible before depositing a percentage of their profits into the French treasury The concessionary companies forced local people to harvest rubber coffee and other commodities without pay and held their families hostage until they met their quotas 32 Charles de Gaulle in Bangui 1940 In 1920 French Equatorial Africa was established and Ubangi Shari was administered from Brazzaville 33 During the 1920s and 1930s the French introduced a policy of mandatory cotton cultivation 33 a network of roads was built attempts were made to combat sleeping sickness and Protestant missions were established to spread Christianity 34 New forms of forced labor were also introduced and a large number of Ubangians were sent to work on the Congo Ocean Railway Through the period of construction until 1934 there was a continual heavy cost in human lives with total deaths among all workers along the railway estimated in excess of 17 000 of the construction workers from a combination of both industrial accidents and diseases including malaria 35 In 1928 a major insurrection the Kongo Wara rebellion or war of the hoe handle broke out in Western Ubangi Shari and continued for several years The extent of this insurrection which was perhaps the largest anti colonial rebellion in Africa during the interwar years was carefully hidden from the French public because it provided evidence of strong opposition to French colonial rule and forced labor 36 In September 1940 during the Second World War pro Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi Shari and General Leclerc established his headquarters for the Free French Forces in Bangui 37 In 1946 Barthelemy Boganda was elected with 9 000 votes to the French National Assembly becoming the first representative of the Central African Republic in the French government Boganda maintained a political stance against racism and the colonial regime but gradually became disheartened with the French political system and returned to the Central African Republic to establish the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa Mouvement pour l evolution sociale de l Afrique noire MESAN in 1950 38 Since independence 1960 present Edit In the Ubangi Shari Territorial Assembly election in 1957 MESAN captured 347 000 out of the total 356 000 votes 39 and won every legislative seat 40 which led to Boganda being elected president of the Grand Council of French Equatorial Africa and vice president of the Ubangi Shari Government Council 41 Within a year he declared the establishment of the Central African Republic and served as the country s first prime minister MESAN continued to exist but its role was limited 42 The Central Africa Republic was granted autonomy within the French Community on 1 December 1958 a status which meant it was still counted as part of the French Empire in Africa 43 After Boganda s death in a plane crash on 29 March 1959 his cousin David Dacko took control of MESAN Dacko became the country s first president when the Central African Republic formally received independence from France at midnight on 13 August 1960 a date celebrated by the country s Independence Day holiday 44 Dacko threw out his political rivals including Abel Goumba former Prime Minister and leader of Mouvement d evolution democratique de l Afrique centrale MEDAC whom he forced into exile in France With all opposition parties suppressed by November 1962 Dacko declared MESAN as the official party of the state 45 Bokassa and the Central African Empire 1965 1979 Edit Further information Central African Empire Jean Bedel Bokassa self crowned Emperor of Central Africa 10 On 31 December 1965 Dacko was overthrown in the Saint Sylvestre coup d etat by Colonel Jean Bedel Bokassa who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly President Bokassa declared himself President for Life in 1972 and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire as the country was renamed on 4 December 1976 A year later Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world 10 In April 1979 young students protested against Bokassa s decree that all school pupils were required to buy uniforms from a company owned by one of his wives The government violently suppressed the protests killing 100 children and teenagers Bokassa might have been personally involved in some of the killings 46 In September 1979 France overthrew Bokassa and restored Dacko to power subsequently restoring the official name of the country and the original government to the Central African Republic Dacko in turn was again overthrown in a coup by General Andre Kolingba on 1 September 1981 47 Central African Republic under Kolingba Edit Kolingba suspended the constitution and ruled with a military junta until 1985 He introduced a new constitution in 1986 which was adopted by a nationwide referendum Membership in his new party the Rassemblement Democratique Centrafricain RDC was voluntary In 1987 and 1988 semi free elections to parliament were held but Kolingba s two major political opponents Abel Goumba and Ange Felix Patasse were not allowed to participate 48 By 1990 inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall a pro democracy movement arose Pressure from the United States France and from a group of locally represented countries and agencies called GIBAFOR France the US Germany Japan the EU the World Bank and the UN finally led Kolingba to agree in principle to hold free elections in October 1992 with help from the UN Office of Electoral Affairs After using the excuse of alleged irregularities to suspend the results of the elections as a pretext for holding on to power President Kolingba came under intense pressure from GIBAFOR to establish a Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la Republique Provisional National Political Council CNPPR and to set up a Mixed Electoral Commission which included representatives from all political parties 48 When a second round of elections were finally held in 1993 again with the help of the international community coordinated by GIBAFOR Ange Felix Patasse won in the second round of voting with 53 of the vote while Goumba won 45 6 Patasse s party the Mouvement pour la Liberation du Peuple Centrafricain MLPC or Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People gained a plurality relative majority but not an absolute majority of seats in parliament which meant Patasse s party required coalition partners 48 Patasse government 1993 2003 Edit Patasse purged many of the Kolingba elements from the government and Kolingba supporters accused Patasse s government of conducting a witch hunt against the Yakoma A new constitution was approved on 28 December 1994 but had little impact on the country s politics In 1996 1997 reflecting steadily decreasing public confidence in the government s erratic behavior three mutinies against Patasse s administration were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and heightened ethnic tension During this time 1996 the Peace Corps evacuated all its volunteers to neighboring Cameroon To date the Peace Corps has not returned to the Central African Republic The Bangui Agreements signed in January 1997 provided for the deployment of an inter African military mission to the Central African Republic and re entry of ex mutineers into the government on 7 April 1997 The inter African military mission was later replaced by a U N peacekeeping force MINURCA Since 1997 the country has hosted almost a dozen peacekeeping interventions earning it the title of world champion of peacekeeping 32 In 1998 parliamentary elections resulted in Kolingba s RDC winning 20 out of 109 seats The next year however in spite of widespread public anger in urban centers over his corrupt rule Patasse won a second term in the presidential election 49 On 28 May 2001 rebels stormed strategic buildings in Bangui in an unsuccessful coup attempt The army chief of staff Abel Abrou and General Francois N Djadder Bedaya were killed but Patasse regained the upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the Congolese rebel leader Jean Pierre Bemba and Libyan soldiers 50 In the aftermath of the failed coup militias loyal to Patasse sought revenge against rebels in many neighborhoods of Bangui and incited unrest including the murder of many political opponents Eventually Patasse came to suspect that General Francois Bozize was involved in another coup attempt against him which led Bozize to flee with loyal troops to Chad In March 2003 Bozize launched a surprise attack against Patasse who was out of the country Libyan troops and some 1 000 soldiers of Bemba s Congolese rebel organization failed to stop the rebels and Bozize s forces succeeded in overthrowing Patasse 51 Civil wars Edit Rebel militia in the northern countryside 2007 See also Central African Republic Bush War and Central African Republic Civil War Francois Bozize suspended the constitution and named a new cabinet which included most opposition parties Abel Goumba was named vice president which gave Bozize s new government a positive image why Bozize established a broad based National Transition Council to draft a new constitution and announced that he would step down and run for office once the new constitution was approved 52 In 2004 the Central African Republic Bush War began as forces opposed to Bozize took up arms against his government In May 2005 Bozize won the presidential election which excluded Patasse and in 2006 fighting continued between the government and the rebels 53 In November 2006 Bozize s government requested French military support to help them repel rebels who had taken control of towns in the country s northern regions 54 Though the initial public details of the agreement pertained to logistics and intelligence by December the French assistance included airstrikes by Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters against rebel positions 55 56 The Syrte Agreement in February and the Birao Peace Agreement in April 2007 called for a cessation of hostilities the billeting of FDPC fighters and their integration with FACA the liberation of political prisoners integration of FDPC into government an amnesty for the UFDR its recognition as a political party and the integration of its fighters into the national army Several groups continued to fight but other groups signed on to the agreement or similar agreements with the government e g UFR on 15 December 2008 The only major group not to sign an agreement at the time was the CPJP which continued its activities and signed a peace agreement with the government on 25 August 2012 57 In 2011 Bozize was reelected in an election which was widely considered fraudulent 11 In November 2012 Seleka a coalition of rebel groups took over towns in the northern and central regions of the country These groups eventually reached a peace deal with the Bozize s government in January 2013 involving a power sharing government 11 but this deal broke down and the rebels seized the capital in March 2013 and Bozize fled the country 58 59 Refugees of the fighting in the Central African Republic January 2014 Michel Djotodia took over as president Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye requested a UN peacekeeping force from the UN Security Council and on 31 May former President Bozize was indicted for crimes against humanity and incitement of genocide 60 By the end of the year there were international warnings of a genocide 61 62 and fighting was largely from reprisal attacks on civilians from Seleka s predominantly Muslim fighters and Christian militias called anti balaka 63 By August 2013 there were reports of over 200 000 internally displaced persons IDPs 64 65 Current military situation in Central African Republic French President Francois Hollande called on the UN Security Council and African Union to increase their efforts to stabilize the country On 18 February 2014 United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon called on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy 3 000 troops to the country bolstering the 6 000 African Union soldiers and 2 000 French troops already in the country to combat civilians being murdered in large numbers The Seleka government was said to be divided 66 and in September 2013 Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka but many rebels refused to disarm becoming known as ex Seleka and veered further out of government control 63 It is argued that the focus of the initial disarmament efforts exclusively on the Seleka inadvertently handed the anti Balaka the upper hand leading to the forced displacement of Muslim civilians by anti Balaka in Bangui and western Central African Republic 32 On 11 January 2014 Michael Djotodia and Nicolas Tiengaye resigned as part of a deal negotiated at a regional summit in neighboring Chad 67 Catherine Samba Panza was elected as interim president by the National Transitional Council 68 becoming the first ever female Central African president On 23 July 2014 following Congolese mediation efforts Seleka and anti balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement in Brazzaville 69 By the end of 2014 the country was de facto partitioned with the anti Balaka in the southwest and ex Seleka in the northeast 32 In March 2015 Samantha Power the U S ambassador to the United Nations said 417 of the country s 436 mosques had been destroyed and Muslim women were so scared of going out in public they were giving birth in their homes instead of going to the hospital 70 On 14 December 2015 Seleka rebel leaders declared an independent Republic of Logone 71 Touadera government 2016 present Edit Presidential elections were held in December 2015 As no candidate received more than 50 of the vote a second round of elections was held on 14 February 2016 with run offs on 31 March 2016 72 73 In the second round of voting former Prime Minister Faustin Archange Touadera was declared the winner with 63 of the vote defeating Union for Central African Renewal candidate Anicet Georges Dologuele another former Prime Minister 74 While the elections suffered from many potential voters being absent as they had taken refuge in other countries the fears of widespread violence were ultimately unfounded and the African Union regarded the elections as successful 75 Touadera was sworn in on 30 March 2016 No representatives of the Seleka rebel group or the anti balaka militias were included in the subsequently formed government 76 After the end of Touadera s first term presidential elections were held on 27 December 2020 with a possible second round planned for 14 February 2021 77 Former president Francois Bozize announced his candidacy on 25 July 2020 but was rejected by the Constitutional Court of the country which held that Bozize did not satisfy the good morality requirement for candidates because of an international warrant and United Nations sanctions against him for alleged assassinations torture and other crimes 78 As large parts of the country were at the time controlled by armed groups the election could not be conducted in many areas of the country 79 80 Some 800 of the country s polling stations 14 of the total were closed due to violence 81 Three Burundian peacekeepers were killed and an additional two were wounded during the run up to the election 82 83 President Faustin Archange Touadera was reelected in the first round of the election in December 2020 84 Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group have supported President Faustin Archange Touadera in the fight against rebels Russia s Wagner group has been accused of harassing and intimidating civilians 85 86 In December 2022 Roger Cohen wrote in the New York Times that Wagner shock troops form a Praetorian Guard for Mr Touadera who is also protected by Rwandan forces in return for an untaxed license to exploit and export the Central African Republic s resources and that one Western ambassador called the Central African Republic s status as a vassal state of the Kremlin 87 Geography EditMain article Geography of the Central African Republic Falls of Boali on the Mbali River A village in the Central African Republic The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent It is bordered by Cameroon Chad Sudan South Sudan the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo The country lies between latitudes 2 and 11 N and longitudes 14 and 28 E 88 Much of the country consists of flat or rolling plateau savanna approximately 500 metres 1 640 ft above sea level In addition to the Fertit Hills in the northeast of the Central African Republic there are scattered hills in the southwest regions In the northwest is the Yade Massif a granite plateau with an altitude of 348 metres 1 143 ft The Central African Republic contains six terrestrial ecoregions Northeastern Congolian lowland forests Northwestern Congolian lowland forests Western Congolian swamp forests East Sudanian savanna Northern Congolian forest savanna mosaic and Sahelian Acacia savanna 89 At 622 984 square kilometres 240 535 sq mi the Central African Republic is the world s 44th largest country It is comparable in size to Ukraine as Ukraine is 603 500 square kilometres 233 000 sq mi in area according to List of countries and dependencies by area 90 Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River the Mbomou River in the east merges with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River which also comprises portions of the southern border The Sangha River flows through some of the western regions of the country while the eastern border lies along the edge of the Nile River watershed 88 It has been estimated that up to 8 of the country is covered by forest with the densest parts generally located in the southern regions The forests are highly diverse and include commercially important species of Ayous Sapelli and Sipo 91 The deforestation rate is about 0 4 per annum and lumber poaching is commonplace 92 The Central African Republic had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9 28 10 ranking it seventh globally out of 172 countries 93 In 2008 Central African Republic was the world s least light pollution affected country 94 The Central African Republic is the focal point of the Bangui Magnetic Anomaly one of the largest magnetic anomalies on Earth 95 Wildlife Edit Main article Wildlife of the Central African Republic Dzanga Sangha Reserve In the southwest the Dzanga Sangha National Park is located in a rain forest area The country is noted for its population of forest elephants and western lowland gorillas In the north the Manovo Gounda St Floris National Park is well populated with wildlife including leopards lions cheetahs and rhinos and the Bamingui Bangoran National Park is located in the northeast of the Central African Republic The parks have been seriously affected by the activities of poachers particularly those from Sudan over the past two decades 96 Climate Edit Main article Climate of the Central African Republic Central African Republic map of Koppen climate classification The climate of the Central African Republic is generally tropical with a wet season that lasts from June to September in the northern regions of the country and from May to October in the south During the wet season rainstorms are an almost daily occurrence and early morning fog is commonplace Maximum annual precipitation is approximately 1 800 millimetres 71 in in the upper Ubangi region 97 The northern areas are hot and humid from February to May 98 but can be subject to the hot dry and dusty trade wind known as the Harmattan The southern regions have a more equatorial climate but they are subject to desertification while the extreme northeast regions of the country are a steppe 99 Prefectures and sub prefectures Edit Main articles Prefectures of the Central African Republic and Sub prefectures of the Central African Republic A clickable map of the fourteen prefectures of the Central African Republic The Central African Republic is divided into 16 administrative prefectures prefectures two of which are economic prefectures prefectures economiques and one an autonomous commune the prefectures are further divided into 71 sub prefectures sous prefectures 100 101 The prefectures are Bamingui Bangoran Basse Kotto Haute Kotto Haut Mbomou Kemo Lobaye Mambere Kadei Mbomou Nana Mambere Ombella M Poko Ouaka Ouham Ouham Pende and Vakaga The economic prefectures are Nana Grebizi and Sangha Mbaere while the commune is the capital city of Bangui 100 Politics and government EditThis section needs to be updated The reason given is Recent developments and Russian influence Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information December 2022 Main articles Politics of the Central African Republic Central African Republic Council of Ministers and List of political parties in the Central African Republic Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera with U S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 11 April 2019 Politics in the Central African Republic formally take place in a framework of a presidential republic In this system the President is the head of state with a Prime Minister as head of government Executive power is exercised by the government Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament 11 Changes in government have occurred in recent years by three methods violence negotiations and elections A new constitution was approved by voters in a referendum held on 5 December 2004 The government was rated Partly Free from 1991 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2013 102 Executive branch Edit The president is elected by popular vote for a six year term and the prime minister is appointed by the president The president also appoints and presides over the Council of Ministers which initiates laws and oversees government operations However as of 2018 the official government is not in control of large parts of the country which are governed by rebel groups 103 Acting president since April 2016 is Faustin Archange Touadera who followed the interim government under Catherine Samba Panza interim prime minister Andre Nzapayeke 104 Legislative branch Edit The National Assembly Assemblee Nationale has 140 members elected for a five year term using the two round or Run off system 11 Judicial branch Edit As in many other former French colonies the Central African Republic s legal system is based on French law 105 The Supreme Court or Cour Supreme is made up of judges appointed by the president There is also a Constitutional Court and its judges are also appointed by the president 11 Foreign relations EditSee also Central African Armed Forces and Foreign relations of the Central African RepublicThe Central African Republic relies heavily on Russian mercenaries for the protection of its diamond mines 106 President Faustin Archange Touadera with Russian President Vladimir Putin 23 May 2018 Foreign aid and UN Involvement Edit The Central African Republic is heavily dependent upon foreign aid and numerous NGOs provide services that the government does not provide 107 In 2019 over US 100 million in foreign aid was spent in the country mostly on humanitarian assistance 108 In 2006 due to ongoing violence over 50 000 people in the country s northwest were at risk of starvation 109 but this was averted due to assistance from the United Nations 110 On 8 January 2008 the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon declared that the Central African Republic was eligible to receive assistance from the Peacebuilding Fund 111 Three priority areas were identified first the reform of the security sector second the promotion of good governance and the rule of law and third the revitalization of communities affected by conflicts On 12 June 2008 the Central African Republic requested assistance from the UN Peacebuilding Commission 112 which was set up in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict avoid devolving back into war or chaos 113 In response to concerns of a potential genocide a peacekeeping force the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic MISCA was authorized in December 2013 This African Union force of 6 000 personnel was accompanied by the French Operation Sangaris 114 In 2017 Central African Republic signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 115 Human rights Edit Main articles Human rights in the Central African Republic LGBT rights in the Central African Republic Child marriage in the Central African Republic and Polygamy in the Central African Republic The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that human rights in the Central African Republic were poor and expressed concerns over numerous government abuses 116 The U S State Department alleged that major human rights abuses such as extrajudicial executions by security forces torture beatings and rape of suspects and prisoners occurred with impunity It also alleged harsh and life threatening conditions in prisons and detention centers arbitrary arrest prolonged pretrial detention and denial of a fair trial restrictions on freedom of movement official corruption and restrictions on workers rights 116 The Aka Pygmies living in the Dzanga Sangha Special Reserve The State Department report also cites widespread mob violence the prevalence of female genital mutilation discrimination against women and Pygmies human trafficking forced labor and child labor 117 Freedom of movement is limited in the northern part of the country because of actions by state security forces armed bandits and other nonstate armed entities and due to fighting between government and anti government forces many persons have been internally displaced 118 Violence against children and women in relation to accusations of witchcraft has also been cited as a serious problem in the country 119 120 121 Witchcraft is a criminal offense under the penal code 119 Freedom of speech is addressed in the country s constitution but there have been incidents of government intimidation of the media 116 A report by the International Research amp Exchanges Board s media sustainability index noted that the country minimally met objectives with segments of the legal system and government opposed to a free media system 116 Approximately 68 of girls are married before they turn 18 122 and the United Nations Human Development Index ranked the country 188 out of 188 countries surveyed 123 The Bureau of International Labor Affairs has also mentioned it in its last edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor Demographics Edit Fula women in Paoua Main article Demographics of the Central African Republic The population of the Central African Republic has almost quadrupled since independence In 1960 the population was 1 232 000 as of a 2021 UN estimate it is approximately 5 457 154 124 125 The United Nations estimates that approximately 4 of the population aged between 15 and 49 is HIV positive 126 Only 3 of the country has antiretroviral therapy available compared to a 17 coverage in the neighboring countries of Chad and the Republic of the Congo 127 The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups each having its own language The largest ethnic groups are the Baggara Arabs Baka Banda Bayaka Fula Gbaya Kara Kresh Mbaka Mandja Ngbandi Sara Vidiri Wodaabe Yakoma Yulu Zande with others including Europeans of mostly French descent 11 Largest cities or towns in Central African Republic According to the 2003 Census 128 Rank Name Prefecture Pop Rank Name Prefecture Pop Bangui 1 Bangui Bangui 622 771 11 Kaga Bandoro Nana Grebizi 24 6612 Bimbo Ombella M Poko 124 176 12 Sibut Kemo 22 4193 Berberati Mambere Kadei 76 918 13 Mbaiki Lobaye 22 1664 Carnot Mambere Kadei 45 421 14 Bozoum Ouham Pende 20 6655 Bambari Ouaka 41 356 15 Paoua Ouham Pende 17 3706 Bouar Nana Mambere 40 353 16 Batangafo Ouham 16 4207 Bossangoa Ouham 36 478 17 Kabo Ouham 16 2798 Bria Haute Kotto 35 204 18 Bocaranga Ouham Pende 15 7449 Bangassou Mbomou 31 553 19 Ippy Ouaka 15 19610 Nola Sangha Mbaere 29 181 20 Alindao Basse Kotto 14 401 Religion Edit Main article Religion in the Central African Republic Worshippers at the Bangui Cathedral Christianity is the main religion in the Central African Republic According to the 2003 national census 80 3 of the population was Christian 51 4 Protestant and 28 9 Roman Catholic 10 was Muslim and 4 5 percent other religious groups with 5 5 percent having no religious beliefs 129 More recent work from the Pew Research Center estimated that as of 2010 Christians constituted 89 8 of the population 60 7 Protestant and 28 5 Catholic while Muslims made up 8 9 130 131 The Catholic Church claims over 1 5 million adherents approximately one third of the population 132 Indigenous belief animism is also practiced and many indigenous beliefs are incorporated into Christian and Islamic practice 133 A UN director described religious tensions between Muslims and Christians as being high 134 There are many missionary groups operating in the country including Lutherans Baptists Catholics Grace Brethren and Jehovah s Witnesses While these missionaries are predominantly from the United States France Italy and Spain many are also from Nigeria the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries Large numbers of missionaries left the country when fighting broke out between rebel and government forces in 2002 3 but many of them have now returned to continue their work 135 According to Overseas Development Institute research during the crisis ongoing since 2012 religious leaders have mediated between communities and armed groups they also provided refuge for people seeking shelter 114 Languages Edit Main article Languages of the Central African Republic The Central African Republic s two official languages are French and Sango also spelled Sangho 136 a creole developed as an inter ethnic lingua franca based on the local Ngbandi language The Central African Republic is one of the few African countries to have granted official status to an African language Healthcare Edit Main article Health in the Central African Republic Mothers and babies aged between 0 and 5 years are lining up in a Health Post at Begoua a district of Bangui waiting for the two drops of the oral polio vaccine The largest hospitals in the country are located in the Bangui district As a member of the World Health Organization the Central African Republic receives vaccination assistance such as a 2014 intervention for the prevention of a measles epidemic 137 In 2007 female life expectancy at birth was 48 2 years and male life expectancy at birth was 45 1 years 138 Women s health is poor in the Central African Republic As of 2010 update the country had the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the world 139 The total fertility rate in 2014 was estimated at 4 46 children born woman 11 Approximately 25 of women had undergone female genital mutilation 140 Many births in the country are guided by traditional birth attendants who often have little or no formal training 141 Malaria is endemic in the Central African Republic and one of the leading causes of death 142 According to 2009 estimates the HIV AIDS prevalence rate is about 4 7 of the adult population ages 15 49 143 This is in general agreement with the 2016 United Nations estimate of approximately 4 144 Government expenditure on health was US 20 PPP per person in 2006 138 and 10 9 of total government expenditure in 2006 138 There was only around 1 physician for every 20 000 persons in 2009 145 Education Edit Classroom in Sam Ouandja Main article Education in the Central African Republic Public education in the Central African Republic is free and is compulsory from ages 6 to 14 146 However approximately half of the adult population of the country is illiterate 147 The two institutions of higher education in the Central African Republic are the University of Bangui a public university located in Bangui which includes a medical school and Euclid University an international university 148 149 Economy Edit A proportional representation of Central African Republic exports 2019 GDP per capita development in the Central African Republic Bangui shopping district Main article Economy of the Central African Republic The per capita income of the Republic is often listed as being approximately 400 a year one of the lowest in the world but this figure is based mostly on reported sales of exports and largely ignores the unregistered sale of foods locally produced alcoholic beverages diamonds ivory bushmeat and traditional medicine 150 The currency of the Central African Republic is the CFA franc which is accepted across the former countries of French West Africa and trades at a fixed rate to the euro Diamonds constitute the country s most important export accounting for 40 55 of export revenues but it is estimated that between 30 and 50 of those produced each year leave the country clandestinely 150 On 27 April 2022 151 Bitcoin BTC was adopted as an additional legal tender Lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill that made bitcoin legal tender alongside the CFA franc and legalized the use of cryptocurrencies President Faustin Archange Touadera signed the measure into law said his chief of staff Obed Namsio Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation and sale of food crops such as cassava peanuts maize sorghum millet sesame and plantain The annual real GDP growth rate is just above 3 The importance of food crops over exported cash crops is indicated by the fact that the total production of cassava the staple food of most Central Africans ranges between 200 000 and 300 000 tonnes a year while the production of cotton the principal exported cash crop ranges from 25 000 to 45 000 tonnes a year Food crops are not exported in large quantities but still constitute the principal cash crops of the country because Central Africans derive far more income from the periodic sale of surplus food crops than from exported cash crops such as cotton or coffee 150 Much of the country is self sufficient in food crops however livestock development is hindered by the presence of the tsetse fly 152 The Republic s primary import partner is France 17 1 Other imports come from the United States 12 3 India 11 5 and China 8 2 Its largest export partner is France 31 2 followed by Burundi 16 2 China 12 5 Cameroon 9 6 and Austria 7 8 11 The Central African Republic is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa OHADA In the 2009 World Bank Group s report Doing Business it was ranked 183rd of 183 as regards ease of doing business a composite index which takes into account regulations that enhance business activity and those that restrict it 153 Infrastructure Edit Transportation Edit See also Transportation in the Central African Republic Trucks in Bangui Bangui is the transport hub of the Central African Republic As of 1999 eight roads connected the city to other main towns in the country Cameroon Chad and South Sudan of these only the toll roads are paved During the rainy season from July to October some roads are impassable 154 155 River ferries sail from the river port at Bangui to Brazzaville and Zongo The river can be navigated most of the year between Bangui and Brazzaville From Brazzaville goods are transported by rail to Pointe Noire Congo s Atlantic port 156 The river port handles the overwhelming majority of the country s international trade and has a cargo handling capacity of 350 000 tons it has 350 metres 1 150 ft length of wharfs and 24 000 square metres 260 000 sq ft of warehousing space 154 Bangui M Poko International Airport is Central African Republic s only international airport As of June 2014 it had regularly scheduled direct flights to Brazzaville Casablanca Cotonou Douala Kinshasa Lome Luanda Malabo N Djamena Paris Pointe Noire and Yaounde citation needed Since at least 2002 there have been plans to connect Bangui by rail to the Transcameroon Railway 157 Energy Edit The Central African Republic primarily uses hydroelectricity as there are few other low cost resources for generating electricity 158 Communications Edit See also Communications in the Central African Republic Presently the Central African Republic has active television services radio stations internet service providers and mobile phone carriers Socatel is the leading provider for both internet and mobile phone access throughout the country The primary governmental regulating bodies of telecommunications are the Ministere des Postes and Telecommunications et des Nouvelles Technologies In addition the Central African Republic receives international support on telecommunication related operations from ITU Telecommunication Development Sector ITU D within the International Telecommunication Union to improve infrastructure 159 Culture EditSee also List of African writers by country Central African Republic and Music of the Central African Republic A Central African woman Sports Edit See also Central African Republic at the Olympics Football is the country s most popular sport The national football team is governed by the Central African Football Federation and stages matches at the Barthelemy Boganda Stadium 160 Basketball also is popular 161 162 and its national team won the African Championship twice and was the first Sub Saharan African team to qualify for the Basketball World Cup in 1974 See also Edit Central African Republic portalOutline of the Central African Republic Central African Republic Chad border Sudan to the northeast South Sudan to the southeast the DR Congo to the south the Republic of the Congo to the southwest and Cameroon to the west List of Central African Republic related topicsReferences EditCitations Edit National Profiles www thearda com Central African Republic The World Factbook 2023 ed Central Intelligence Agency Retrieved 24 September 2022 a b c d World Economic Outlook Database October 2022 IMF org International Monetary Fund October 2022 Retrieved 11 October 2022 Gini Index World Bank Archived from the original on 9 February 2015 Retrieved 2 March 2011 Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier Human Development and the Anthropocene PDF United Nations Development Programme 15 December 2020 pp 343 346 ISBN 978 92 1 126442 5 Archived PDF from the original on 9 October 2022 Retrieved 16 December 2020 Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as legal currency 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Republic Statistics UNICEF Archived from the original on 23 June 2010 Retrieved 27 June 2010 Accueil Universite de Bangui www univ bangui org 18 August 2022 Retrieved 26 December 2022 University EUCLID EUCLID Euclid University Official Site www euclid int a b c Central African Republic Systematic Country Diagnostic Priorities for Ending Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity The World Bank Washington D C 1 96 19 June 2019 via documents worldbank org Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as legal currency news yahoo com Retrieved 28 April 2022 Gouteux J P Blanc F Pounekrozou E Cuisance D Mainguet M D Amico F Le Gall F 1994 Tsetse and livestock in Central African Republic retreat of Glossina morsitans submorsitans Diptera Glossinidae Bulletin de la Societe de Pathologie Exotique 87 1 52 56 ISSN 0037 9085 PMID 8003908 Doing Business 2010 Central African Republic Doing Business International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The World Bank 2009 doi 10 1596 978 0 8213 7961 5 ISBN 978 0 8213 7961 5 a b Eur pp 200 202 Graham Booth G R McDuell John Sears 1999 World of Science 2 Oxford University Press p 57 ISBN 978 0 19 914698 7 Archived from the original on 5 September 2015 Retrieved 20 June 2015 Central African Republic Finance and trade Encyclopaedia Britannica Archived from the original on 14 April 2013 Retrieved 31 March 2013 Eur p 185 Hydropower in Central Africa Hydro News Africa ANDRITZ HYDRO www andritz com Retrieved 27 February 2020 Regional Regulatory Associations in Africa www itu int Retrieved 27 February 2020 Central African Republic TheSportsDB com www thesportsdb com Retrieved 4 December 2019 Country Profile Central African Republic Sports and Activities Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Indo African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Retrieved 24 September 2015 Central African Republic Things to Do Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine iExplore Retrieved 24 September 2015 Bibliography Edit Eur 31 October 2002 Africa South of the Sahara 2003 Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 1 85743 131 5 Kalck Pierre 2004 Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic McKenna Amy 2011 The History of Central and Eastern Africa The Rosen Publishing Group ISBN 978 1615303229 Balogh Besenyo Miletics Vogel La Republique CentrafricaineFurther reading EditDoeden Matt Central African Republic in Pictures Twentyfirst Century Books 2009 Petringa Maria Brazza A Life for Africa 2006 ISBN 978 1 4259 1198 0 Titley Brian Dark Age The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa 2002 Woodfrok Jacqueline Culture and Customs of the Central African Republic Greenwood Press 2006 External links EditCentral African Republic at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Resources from Wikiversity Travel information from Wikivoyage Overviews Edit Country Profile from BBC News Central African Republic The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency Central African Republic from UCB Libraries GovPubs Central African Republic at Curlie Wikimedia Atlas of the Central African Republic Key Development Forecasts for the Central African Republic from International FuturesNews Edit Central African Republic news headline links from AllAfrica comOther Edit Central African Republic at Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team HDPT Johann Hari in Birao Central African Republic Inside France s Secret War from The Independent 5 October 2007 Coordinates 7 N 21 E 7 N 21 E 7 21 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Central African Republic amp oldid 1147865370, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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