I | INTRODUCTION |
Central African
Republic, republic in central Africa, bordered on the north by Chad, on
the east by Sudan, on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC,
formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo, and on the west by Cameroon. The
landlocked nation has an area of 622,436 sq km (240,324 sq mi). Bangui is the
capital and largest city.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
The Central African Republic is situated on
the northern edge of the Congo River Basin. Most of the land is a plateau that
ranges in elevation from about 610 to 790 m (about 2,000 to 2,600 ft). Two
ranges of hills in the north and northeast rise to maximum heights of about
1,400 m (about 4,600 ft). Most of the country has a savanna vegetation—a
grassland interspersed with trees. Open grassland is found in the extreme north,
and a dense rain forest covers the major part of the southwestern area. The
country is drained by several major rivers, the Bamingui and Ouham rivers in the
north, and the Ubangi, a tributary of the Congo, in the south.
A | Climate |
The climate of the Central African Republic
is hot and humid; the average annual temperature is about 26°C (about 79°F).
Tornadoes and floods are common at the onset of the rainy season, which lasts
from June to November. Annual rainfall varies from about 1,800 mm (about 70 in)
in the Ubangi River valley to about 200 mm (about 8 in) in the semiarid
north.
B | Natural Resources |
The mineral resources of this primarily
agricultural country are relatively undeveloped. Diamonds are the dominant
exploited mineral. Deposits of uranium exist, as well as iron ore, gold, lime,
zinc, copper, and tin. Commercially valuable trees include the sapele mahogany
and the obeche. Almost every animal of the African Tropics is found in the
country.
C | Environmental Issues |
About 37 percent (2005) of the Central
African Republic’s total land area is wooded, and the country is considered to
be one of the last great refuges of the African elephant. About 15.7 percent
(2007) of the country is protected, but despite government efforts to set up and
police the reserves, poaching is still a problem. Tap water cannot be drunk. The
government has signed international agreements pertaining to endangered species
and ozone layer protection.
III | POPULATION |
The main ethnic groups of the Central African
Republic are the Baya, Banda, Sara, Mandjia, Mboum, and M’Baka. About 49 percent
of the population inhabits small villages, living and working according to
traditional customs.
A | Population Characteristics |
The population of the Central African
Republic was determined by the census of 1975 to be 2,054,610; the 2008
estimated population was 4,434,873. Most of the population is concentrated in
the western half of the country, where Bangui (population, 2004, 622,771), the
capital and chief city, is located.
B | Religion and Language |
An estimated 15 percent of the total
population follows traditional religions, about 45 percent are Christians, and
16 percent are Muslims. French is the official language, but Sango, an African
language, is the most commonly spoken. Numerous other African languages are also
spoken.
C | Education |
While officially compulsory, only 66
percent of the eligible children of the Central African Republic receive primary
education. Secondary and higher education facilities are limited, with only 10
percent of secondary school-aged children enrolled. The country’s one
university, the University of Bangui (1970), has an enrollment of about 2,900
students. Only 53.9 percent of the population is literate.
IV | ECONOMY |
The Central African Republic is one of the
most underdeveloped areas in Africa. Growth of the export economy is hindered by
the difficulty of transporting goods to a seaport. Some 80 percent of the
population earns its livelihood by farming, fishing, or working in forestry. The
agricultural output is fairly evenly balanced between subsistence and export
crops. The principal sources of revenue are diamonds, coffee, tobacco, cotton,
and timber exports.
A | Agriculture and Forestry |
Only 3 percent of the total land area is
used for growing crops. Basic food crops include cassava, plantains, corn,
peanuts, sweet potatoes, and millet. In order to increase the wage-earning power
of the peasant farmer, the government has organized agricultural cooperatives,
placing primary emphasis on introducing new crops that are expected to produce a
higher income. The cultivation of tobacco, sesame, and rice is encouraged by the
government. The most important cash crop is coffee, once grown mostly on
European-owned plantations, but now produced largely on smaller African-owned
farms. In 2006 coffee production was 2,580 metric tons. Cotton, which is widely
cultivated, is also a leading cash crop and represents a significant portion of
export earnings.
Exploitation of forest reserves was slow
to develop but has increased in importance. In 2006 some 2.8 million cu m (100
million cu ft) of roundwood were produced. Timber accounted for 8 percent of
export revenues in the early 1990s.
B | Manufacturing and Mining |
Manufacturing activity in the Central
African Republic is very limited. Products include cottonseed, peanut, and
sesame oils; textiles; leather goods; tobacco products; soap; flour; bricks; and
paint. The output of electricity in 2003 was 106 million kilowatt-hours, 80.19
percent of which was generated in hydroelectric installations. Gem diamonds
account for nearly all the country’s mineral output and two-thirds of its export
revenue. Production was 250,000 carats in 2004. Uranium was discovered in the
eastern part of the country in 1966, but production is awaiting improvement in
international prices. A small amount of gold is mined, mostly by individual
prospectors.
C | Currency, Commerce, and Trade |
The unit of currency is the CFA franc,
consisting of 100 centimes (523 CFA francs equal U.S.$1; 2006 average). An
exchange rate of 1 French franc equal to 50 CFA francs remained in force from
1948 to January 1994, when the CFA franc was officially devalued by 50
percent.
The country’s principal exports are
diamonds, timber, cotton, and coffee. France and Belgium are by far the leading
trade partners, and some commerce is also carried on with the nearby nations of
Cameroon, the Congo, and Gabon, with which the Central African Republic is
joined in the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa. In 2003 exports
earned $66 million while imports cost $100 million.
D | Transportation and Communication |
The country has no railroads. The Ubangi
River and the Chari and Logone river systems are important arteries of
transportation. Exports are shipped on the Ubangi and Congo rivers to
Brazzaville, Congo, and then by rail to the seaport of Pointe-Noire. The country
has 23,810 km (14,795 mi) of roads, only a small portion of which are paved. An
international airport is located at Bangui.
Several periodicals and 3 daily newspaper
are published in Bangui. The national radio and television broadcasting service
is government owned and provides programs in French and Sango. In 1997 there
were 83 radio receivers, 6 television sets, and 3 telephone mainlines in use for
every 1,000 inhabitants.
V | GOVERNMENT |
Prior to a military coup in 2003, the Central
African Republic was governed under a 1994 constitution that provided for a
multiparty democracy. Under this constitution, executive authority was vested in
a president and the Council of Ministers, which was headed by the president. The
president was popularly elected to a six-year term and could serve a maximum of
two consecutive terms. Legislative authority was held by a 109-member National
Assembly; members of the assembly were popularly elected to five-year terms. The
Central African Democratic Rally is the country’s leading political party. The
leaders of the 2003 coup suspended the constitution, dissolved the National
Assembly, and formed a transitional government. A civilian government was
restored in 2005 when presidential elections were held.
VI | HISTORY |
Most of the ethnic groups inhabiting the
present-day Central African Republic entered the region in the 19th century to
escape Fulani armies or to avoid slave traders operating in the Congo River
Basin and modern Sudan. In the 1880s the French annexed the area, and in 1894 it
was organized as the territory of Ubangi-Chari. In 1910 the dependency became
part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa. Economic development was
dominated by European concessionaires. This system led to abuses of the black
Africans, who staged several violent protests, notably between 1928 and
1930.
From 1946 to 1958 the territory had its own
elected legislature and was represented in the French National Assembly. In 1958
the dependency gained autonomy as the Central African Republic; it became fully
independent on August 13, 1960, with David Dacko as president. In 1966, charging
Dacko’s government with corruption, his cousin, army chief Colonel Jean-Bédel
Bokassa, seized power. He abrogated the constitution and established an
authoritarian regime. In late 1976 a new constitution was issued, reorganizing
the nation as the Central African Empire. Bokassa became Emperor Bokassa I; he
was crowned in a lavish ceremony in December 1977.
Bokassa’s regime began to fall apart in
January 1979, when an order that schoolchildren wear expensive uniforms made in
his own factory prompted widespread protest demonstrations. The army was called
in, and many children were put in prison, where they were massacred by the
imperial guard. A committee of African judges later concluded that Bokassa had
personally participated in the killings. In September 1979 he was overthrown in
a French-backed coup led by former president Dacko, who then resumed power.
Bokassa went into exile, and Dacko was
confirmed in office by the electorate in March 1981. He was deposed six months
later in a coup led by the army commander, General André Kolingba. Bokassa
returned to the country in October 1986 and was tried and convicted for ordering
the murders of political opponents while he was in power. In November Kolingba
was confirmed by popular referendum for a six-year term as head of state.
Multiparty presidential and legislative
elections, held in October 1992, were annulled by the republic’s supreme court,
which cited widespread irregularities. Elections were held again in September
1993, and Ange-Félix Patassé was elected president. One of the last acts of his
predecessor, General Kolingba, was to grant amnesty and an immediate release
from prison to Bokassa.
During the mid-1990s Patassé’s presidency
was plagued by unrest within the military. In late May 1996 approximately 200
Central African Republic soldiers mutinied in Bangui, demanding back pay for
themselves and other government employees and the resignation of President
Patassé. French troops stationed in the country put down the mutiny, but not
before Bangui was heavily looted and at least 50 people were killed.
Soldiers rose up again in November, and then
again in 1997, battling French forces in retaliation for the killings of several
mutineers by the French or the police. In July 1997 the mutineers agreed to a
truce, receiving amnesty and reintegration into the army in return. Soon
thereafter France began withdrawing its military forces from the Central African
Republic. By April 1998 France had shut down its military base in Bouar and had
removed virtually all of its troops from the country.
Patassé was reelected in the 1999
presidential election, which the opposition claimed was rigged. In 2001 and 2002
the government weathered several army rebellions and attempted coups. Patassé
survived these challenges to his authority with military assistance from Libya
and rebel forces from the neighboring DRC. In March 2003, while he attended a
conference in Niger, Patassé’s government was overthrown by former army chief
François Bozizé. Bozizé appointed himself president and assembled a transitional
government.
A democratic government was restored in 2005
when presidential elections were held. In the first round of voting in March,
none of the candidates won a majority, necessitating a runoff between the two
leading candidates, Bozizé and Martin Ziguele, who was prime minister under
Patassé. In the May runoff Bozizé was elected president with about 64 percent of
the vote.
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