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Central African Republic

Background: The former colony of France was Ubangi-Shari. It became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. After three tumultuous decades of misrule – mostly by military governments – a civilian government was installed in 1993.
Government type: republic
Capital: Bangui
Currency: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Geography of Central African Republic

Location: Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geographic coordinates: 7 00 N, 21 00 E
Area:
total: 622,984 sq. km
land: 622,984 sq. km
water: 0 sq. km
Land boundaries:
total: 5,203 km
border countries: Cameroon 797 km, Chad 1,197 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 467 km, Sudan 1,165 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers
Terrain: vast, flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Oubangui River 335 m
highest point: Mont Ngaoui 1,420 m
Natural resources: diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 5%
forests and woodland: 75%
other: 17% (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas; floods are common
Environment – current issues: tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished its reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification; deforestation.
Environment – international agreements:
party to:  Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography – note: landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa

People of Central African Republic

There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the C.A.R., each with its own language. About 50% are Baya-Mandjia and Banda–40% largely located in the northern and central parts of the country), and 7% are M’Baka (southwestern corner of the CAR. Sangho, the language of a small group along the Oubangui River, is the national language spoken by the majority of Central Africans. Only a small part of the population has more than an elemental knowledge of French, the official language.

More than 55% of the population of the C.A.R. lives in rural areas. The chief agricultural areas are around the Bossangoa and Bambari. Bangui, Berberati, Bangassou, and Bossangoa are the most densely populated urban centers.

Population: 3,799,897 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:  43.23% 
15-64 years:  53% 
65 years and over:  3.77%
Population growth rate: 1.85% 
Birth rate: 37.05 births/1,000 population 
Death rate: 18.53deaths/1,000 population 
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: 105.25 deaths/1,000 live births 
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:  43.8 years
male:  42.17 years
female:  45.48 years
Total fertility rate: 4.86 children born/woman 
Nationality:
noun: Central African(s)
adjective: Central African
Ethnic groups: Baya 34%, Banda 27%, Sara 10%, Mandjia 21%, Mboum 4%, M’Baka 4%, Europeans 6,500 (including 1,500 French)
Religions: indigenous beliefs 24%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%, other 11%
note: animistic beliefs and practices strongly influence the Christian majority
Languages: French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), Arabic, Hunsa, Swahili
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 60%
male: 68.5%
female: 52.4% (1995 est.)

History of Central African Republic

The C.A.R. appears to have been settled from at least the 7th century on by overlapping empires, including the Kanem-Bornou, Ouaddai, Baguirmi, and Dafour groups based in Lake Chad and the Upper Nile. Later, various sultanates claimed present-day C.A.R, using the entire Oubangui region as a slave reservoir, from which slaves were traded north across the Sahara and to West Africa for export by the Europeans. Population migration in the 18th and 19th centuries brought new migrants into the area, including the Zande, Banda, and Baya-Mandjia.

In 1875 the Egyptian sultan Rabah governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day C.A.R. Europeans, primarily the French, German, and Belgians, arrived in the area in 1885. The French consolidated their legal claim to the area through an 1887 convention with Congo Free State, which granted France possession of the right bank of the Oubangui River. Two years later, the French established an outpost at Bangui, and in 1894, Oubangui-Chari became a French territory. However, the French did not consolidate their control over the area until 1903 after having defeated the forces of the Egyptian sultan, Rabah, and established colonial administration throughout the territory. In 1906, the Oubangui-Chari territory was united with the Chad colony; in 1910, it became one of the four territories of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa (A.E.F.), along with Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon. The next 30 years were marked by smallscale revolts against French rule and the development of a plantation-style economy.

In August 1940, the territory responded, with the rest of the A.E.F., to the call from Gen. Charles de Gaulle to fight for Free France. After World War II, the French Constitution of 1946 inaugurated the first of a series of reforms that led eventually to complete independence for all French territories in western and equatorial Africa. In 1946, all A.E.F. inhabitants were granted French citizenship and allowed to establish local assemblies. The assembly in C.A.R. was led by Barthelemy Boganda, a Catholic priest who also was known for his forthright statements in the French Assembly on the need for African emancipation. In 1956 French legislation eliminated certain voting inequalities and provided for the creation of some organs of self-government in each territory. The French constitutional referendum of September 1958 dissolved the A.E.F., and on December 1 of the same year the Assembly declared the birth of the Central African Republic with Boganda as head of government. Boganda ruled until his death in a March 1959 plane crash. His cousin, David Dacko, replaced him, governing the country until 1965 and overseeing the country’s declaration of independence on August 13, 1960.

On January 1, 1966, following a swift and almost bloodless coup, Col. Jean-Bedel Bokassa assumed power as president of the Republic. Bokassa abolished the constitution of 1959, dissolved the National Assembly, and issued a decree that placed all legislative and executive powers in the hands of the president. On December 4, 1976, the republic became a monarchy with the promulgation of the imperial constitution and the proclamation of the president as Emperor Bokassa I. His regime was characterized by numerous human rights atrocities.

Following riots in Bangui and the murder of between 50 and 200 schoolchildren, former President Dacko led a successful French-backed coup against Bokassa on September 20, 1979. Dacko’s efforts to promote economic and political reforms proved ineffectual, and on September 20, 1981, he in turn was overthrown in a bloodless coup by Gen. Andre Kolingba. For 4 years, Kolingba led the country as head of the Military Committee for National Recovery (CRMN). In 1985 the CRMN was dissolved, and Kolingba named a new cabinet with increased civilian participation, signaling the start of a return to civilian rule. The process of democratization quickened in 1986 with the creation of a new political party, the Rassemblement Democratique Centrafricain (RDC), and the drafting of a new constitution that subsequently was ratified in a national referendum. General Kolingba was sworn in as constitutional President on November 29, 1986. The constitution established a National Assembly made up of 52 elected deputies, elected in July 1987. Due to mounting political pressure, in 1991 President Kolingba announced the creation of National Commission to rewrite the constitution to provide for a multi-party system. Multi-party presidential elections were conducted in 1992 but were later cancelled due to serious logistical and other irregularities. Ange Felix Patasse won a second-round victory in rescheduled elections held in October 1993, and was re-elected for another 6-year term in September 1999.

Salary arrears, labor unrest, and unequal treatment of military officers from different ethnic groups led to three mutinies against the Patasse government in 1996 and 1997. The French succeeded in quelling the disturbances, and an African peacekeeping force (MISAB) occupied Bangui until 1998 when they were relieved by a United Nations peacekeeping mission (MINURCA). Economic difficulties caused by the looting and destruction during the 1996 and 1997 mutinies, energy crises, and government mismanagement continued to trouble Patasse’s government through 2000. In March 2000 the last of the MINURCA forces departed Bangui.

Central African Republic Economy

Economy – overview: Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with more than 70% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates half of GDP. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export earnings and the diamond industry for nearly 54%. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR’s landlocked position, a poor transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. The 50% devaluation of the currencies of 14 Francophone African nations on 12 January 1994 had mixed effects on the CAR’s economy. Diamond, timber, coffee, and cotton exports increased, leading an estimated rise of GDP of 7% in 1994 and nearly 5% in 1995. Military rebellions and social unrest in 1996 were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and a drop in GDP of 2%. The IMF approved an Extended Structure Adjustment Facility in 1998 and the World Bank extended further credits in 1999 and approved a $10 million loan in early 2001. The government has set targets of 3.5% GDP growth in 2001 and 2002. As of January 2001, many civil servants were owed as much as 30 months pay, leading them to go on strike and further damaging the economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity – $6.1 billion (2000 est.)
GDP – real growth rate: 5% (1999 est.), 3.5% (2000 est.)
GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $1,700 (2000 est.)
GDP – composition by sector:
agriculture:  53%
industry:  20%
services:  27% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 47.7% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.6% (1999 est.), 3% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6% (1993)
Budget:
revenues: $638 million
expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $888 million (1994 est.)
Industries: diamond mining, sawmills, breweries, textiles, footwear, assembly of bicycles and motorcycles
Electricity – production: 102 million kWh (1999)
Electricity – production by source:
fossil fuel:  20.59%
hydro:  79.41%
nuclear:  0%
other:  0% (1999)
Agriculture – products: cotton, coffee, tobacco, manioc (tapioca), yams, millet, corn, bananas; timber
Exports: $195 million (f.o.b., 1999), $166 million (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports – commodities: diamonds, timber, cotton, coffee, tobacco
Exports – partners: Benelux 64%, Cote d’Ivoire, Spain, China, Egypt, France (1999)
Imports: $170 million (f.o.b., 1999), $154 million (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports – commodities: food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, industrial products
Imports – partners: France 35%, Cameroon 13%, Benelux, Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Japan (1999)
Debt – external: $790 million (1999 est.)
Economic aid – recipient: $172.2 million (1995); note – traditional budget subsidies from France
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note – responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States

Map of Central African Republic