Central African Republic

Etymology

The name is derived from the country's geographical location in Central 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 two major rivers, the Ubangi and the Chari. Barthélemy Boganda, the first prime minister, favored the name "Central African Republic" over Ubangi-Shari, reportedly because he envisioned a larger union of countries in Central Africa.

History

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. Farming began as part of the Neolithic Revolution. Initial farming of white yam progressed into millet and sorghum, and before 3000 BCE the domestication of African oil palm improved the groups' nutrition and allowed for expansion of the local populations. 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.

The Bouar Megaliths in the western region indicate an advanced level of habitation dating to the late Neolithic (c. 3500–2700 BCE). Ironwork developed in the region around 1000 BCE. The Ubangian people settled along the Ubangi River, while some Bantu people migrated from the southwest of Cameroon.

Bananas arrived in the region during the first millennium BCE 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.

16th–19th century

In the 16th and 17th centuries, slave traders began to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan and Nile 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 Ubangui and Congo rivers. During the 18th century Bandia-Nzakara Azande peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi. In the mid 19th century, the Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi to reach the coast. In 1875, the Sudanese sultan Rabih az-Zubayr governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day Central African Republic.

French colonial period

The European invasion of Central African territory began in the late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa. 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.

In 1920, French Equatorial Africa was established, and Ubangi-Shari was administered from Brazzaville. During the 1920s and 1930s the French introduced a policy of mandatory cotton cultivation, a network of roads were built, attempts were made to combat sleeping sickness, and Protestant missions were established to spread Christianity. New forms of forced labour were 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. 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 labour.

French colonization in Oubangui-Chari is considered to be the most brutal of the French Empire.

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. 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.

Since independence (1960–present)

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

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 on 13 August 1960, a date celebrated by the country's Independence Day holiday. Dacko threw out his political rivals, including Abel Goumba, former prime minister and leader of Mouvement d'évolution démocratique de l'Afrique centrale, 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.

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 on 4 December 1976. A year later, Bokassa crowned himself in an expensive ceremony.

In April 1979, 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. 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 was again overthrown in a 1981 coup by General André 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, 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.

Geography

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. It lies between latitudes 2° and 11°N, and longitudes 14° and 28°E.

At 622,984 square kilometres (240,535 sq mi), the Central African Republic is the world's 44th-largest country. Much of the country consists of a flat or rolling plateau savanna approximately 500 metres (1,640 ft) above sea level. In addition to the Fertit Hills in the northeast, there are scattered hills in the southwest. 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.

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 watershed.

Around 36% of the country is covered by forest, with the densest forest in the south. The forests are highly diverse and include commercially important species of Ayous, Sapelli, and Sipo. The deforestation rate is about 0.4% per annum, and lumber poaching is commonplace. 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.

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

The focal point of the Bangui magnetic anomaly, one of the largest magnetic anomalies on Earth, is located in the capital.

Climate

The climate is generally tropical, with a wet season that lasts from June to September in the north, 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.

The northern areas are hot and humid from February to May, 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 are steppe.

Biodiversity

In the southwest, the Dzanga-Sangha National Park is located in a rainforest 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 and Bamingui-Bangoran National Park contain leopards, lions, cheetahs and rhinos. The parks have been seriously affected by the activities of poachers, particularly those from Sudan, over the past two decades.

Forest cover is around 36% of the land area, equivalent to 22,303,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 23,203,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 22,301,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 2,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest, 9% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). In 2015, 91% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 9% private ownership. In 2021, the rate of deforestation increased by 71%.

Government and politics

Politics of 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.

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. V-Dem Democracy Indices described Central African Republic as autocratizing in 2024.

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. Acting president since April 2016 is Faustin-Archange Touadéra who followed the interim government under Catherine Samba-Panza and interim Prime Minister André Nzapayeké.

The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 140 members, elected for a five-year term using the two-round (or run-off) system. As in many other former French colonies, the Central African Republic's legal system is based on French law. The Supreme Court, or Cour Suprême, is made up of judges appointed by the president. There is also a Constitutional Court, and its judges are also appointed by the president. Freedom of speech is addressed in the constitution, but there have been incidents of government intimidation of the media. 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".

Administrative divisions

The Central African Republic is divided into 7 administrative regions, the regions are further divided into 20 administrative prefectures (préfectures) and 85 sub-prefectures (sous-préfectures).

Foreign relations

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

In 2006, due to ongoing violence, over 50,000 people in the country's northwest were at risk of starvation, but this was averted due to assistance from the United Nations. 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. 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, which was set up in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict avoid devolving back into war or chaos.

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.

In 2017, the Central African Republic signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

In August 2025, Russia demanded that the Central African Republic pay its Africa Corps for armed protection rather than use the private mercenaries Wagner Group.

Human rights

The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State notes that human rights in the Central African Republic were poor and expressed concerns over numerous government abuses. 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 prison 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.

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. Freedom of movement is limited in the northern part of the country "because of actions by state security forces, armed bandits, and other non-state armed entities", and due to fighting between government and anti-government forces, many people have been internally displaced. Violence against children and women in relation to accusations of witchcraft has also been cited as a serious problem in the country. Witchcraft is a criminal offense under the penal code.

Approximately 68% of girls are married before they turn 18, and the United Nations's Human Development Index ranked the country 188th out of 188 countries surveyed. 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.

Economy

The per capita income of the Republic is often listed as being approximately $400 per 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. The annual growth rate of real GDP is slightly above 3%. The 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%). The currency 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 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. Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation and sale of food crops such as cassava, peanuts, maize, sorghum, millet, sesame, and plantain. 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 per year, while the production of cotton, the principal exported cash crop, ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 tonnes per 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. Much of the country is self-sufficient in food crops; however, livestock development is hindered by the presence of the tsetse fly.

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 out 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.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Two trans-African automobile routes pass through the Central African Republic: the Tripoli-Cape Town Highway and the Lagos-Mombasa Highway. Bangui is the transport hub. 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.

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. 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.

Bangui M'Poko International Airport is the only international airport. Since at least 2002, there have been plans to connect Bangui by rail to the Transcameroon Railway.

Energy

The Central African Republic primarily uses hydroelectricity as there are few other low-cost resources for generating electricity. Access to electricity is very limited with 15.6% of the population having electrification, 34.6% in urban areas and 1.5% in rural areas.

Communications

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.

Demographics

The population 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. The nation comprises 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, and Zande, with others including Europeans of mostly French descent. The most common ethnic groups are Gbaya (Baya) (28.8%) and Banda (22.9%), comprising together slightly over half of the country's population in 2003.

Languages

Official languages are French and Sango, a creole developed as an inter-ethnic lingua franca based on the local Ngbandi language.

Religion

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 was other religious groups, with 5.5 percent having no religious beliefs. In 2010 the Pew Research Center estimated that Christians constituted 89.8% of the population (60.7% Protestant and 28.5% Catholic) while Muslims made up 8.9%. The Catholic Church claims over 1.5 million adherents, approximately one-third of the population. Indigenous belief (animism) is also practiced, and many indigenous beliefs are incorporated into Christian and Islamic practice. A UN director described religious tensions between Muslims and Christians as being high.

Many missionary groups are 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, but many of them have returned to continue their work. 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.

Education

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

Health

The largest hospitals are 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. In 2007, female life expectancy at birth was 48.2 years, and male life expectancy at birth was 45.1 years. As of 2010, the country had the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the world. The total fertility rate in 2014 was estimated at 4.46 children born/woman. Approximately 25% of women had undergone female genital mutilation. Many births in the country are guided by traditional birth attendants, who often have little or no formal training.

Malaria is endemic and one of the leading causes of death. According to 2009 estimates, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is about 4.7% of the adult population (ages 15–49); 3% has antiretroviral therapy available, compared to 17% coverage in the neighboring countries of Chad and the Republic of the Congo. Government expenditure on health was US$20 (PPP) per person in 2006 and 10.9% of total government expenditure in 2006. There was only around 1 physician for every 20,000 people in 2009.

With a score of 31.5 in the 2024 Global Hunger Index, the Central African Republic ranks 119th out of the 127 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2024 GHI scores.

Culture

Sports

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. Basketball is also popular 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.