CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

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
Geography of Central African Republic

Area 622,436 sq km
240,324 sq mi
Coastline 0 km
0 mi
Highest point Mont Ngaoui
1,420 m/4,659 ft






Ubangi River
Rivers provide the primary means of transportation in the Central African Republic. The Ubangi, a tributary of the Congo, forms much of the country's southern border and is navigable most of the year.






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

Dense Forest in the Central African Republic






Dense Forest in the Central African Republic
While the northern portion of the Central African Republic is treeless, thick rain forests accompany southern rivers into the savanna. These forests are densest in the country's southwest regions, where bushfires threaten the extensive timberland during the dry season.






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
People of Central African Republic

Population 4,434,873 (2008 estimate)
Population density 7.1 persons per sq km
18 persons per sq mi (2008 estimate)
Urban population distribution 44 percent (2005 estimate)
Rural population distribution 56 percent (2005 estimate)
Largest cities, with population Bangui, 622,771 (2004)
Berbérati, 76,918 (2004)
Bouar, 40,353 (2004)
Official language French
Chief religious affiliations Christian, 45 percent
Roman Catholic, 18 percent
Protestant, 14 percent
Life expectancy 44 years (2008 estimate)
Infant mortality rate 82 deaths per 1,000 live births (2008 estimate)
Literacy rate 53.9 percent (2005 estimate)







Banda Music of the Central African Republic
The Banda people of the Central African Republic use music in a myriad of social, religious, and life-cycle events. The use of wooden (and antelope horn) trumpets, known as ongos, is closely linked to traditional cult rituals and adolescent initiation rites. The ongo ensemble, comprising 18 trumpets, produces an elaborate polyphony (several parts combined simultaneously) of sound created by a closely knit series of notes played independently by each musician at a specific time.














Central African Republic: Guitar Music
Portuguese sailors may have brought European guitars into coastal regions of West and Central Africa as early as the 15th century. Direct evidence of the guitar along the west Africa coast is contained in 18th-century European reports, which also mention a number of indigenous string instruments. By the early 20th century, European guitars had migrated inland and were taken up in greater number by indigenous musicians who performed adaptations of traditional music. Later, in the 1950s, new guitar picking styles emerged in the Congo region, leading to a modern urban, guitar-centered music called soukous. This excerpt presents a kind of neo-traditional music among the Bamboma of the Central African Republic.






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.


Customs of Central African Republic
“Custom, then, is the great guide of human life,” wrote Scottish philosopher David Hume. Knowing the customs of a country is, in effect, a guide to understanding the soul of that country and its people. The following Sidebar is intended to provide a glimpse into the unique world of this nation’s customs: how people marry, how families celebrate holidays and other occasions, what people eat, how they socialize and have fun.
open sidebar
Traditional Musician, Central African Republic






Traditional Musician, Central African Republic
A musician sings an accompaniment to the sounds of his unique, handcrafted stringed instrument. Traditional ways of life among the Central African Republic's many ethnic groups are well preserved.






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







Muslim Minority, Central African Republic
Studying the Qur'an is an important part of religious training for children of the small Muslim minority in the north of the Central African Republic. Many of the country's people are animists, whose beliefs center around nature and spiritual beings.











Traditional Pygmy Music of the Central African Republic
Among the Pygmy peoples found in the Central African Republic, music is closely associated with social and religious life. There are songs for daily routines like work and hunting as well as for events in the life cycle, such as marriage, birth, and death. This example is from a song celebrating a successful hunt and the safe return of the hunters. Some distinct features of Pygmy singing and musical arrangement are heard here, for example, repetition of melodic patterns, the mixing of various vocal timbres (tone color) within a chorus, and hocketing (notes sounded by different individuals that collectively make up a complex melody).






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
Economy of Central African Republic

Gross domestic product (GDP in U.S.$) $1.49 billion (2006)
GDP per capita (U.S.$) $350.20 (2006)
Monetary unit 1 Communaut* Financière Africaine (CFA) franc, consisting of 100 centimes
Number of workers 1,952,572 (2006)
Unemployment rate Not available
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

African Leader Summit, 1967






African Leader Summit, 1967
The Summit Conference of East and Central Africa—held in Kampala, Uganda in December 1967—brought together a number of figures who were or would become extremely significant in modern African history. This photograph provides an interesting glimpse of these leaders at a somewhat unguarded moment—Julius Nyerere and Jean-Bédel Bokassa appear to be sharing a joke, which also amuses Grégoire Kayibanda, Milton Obote, and Kenneth Kaunda. Six of the ten leaders identified here would eventually be overthrown. Three would go down in infamy as ruthless, corrupt dictators. Two remained active in politics into the 21st century. This interactive illustration contains more information about these leaders.






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.








David Dacko
David Dacko became the first president of the Central African Republic when it was granted independence in 1960. Six years later, he was overthrown by his cousin Jean-Bédel Bokassa, but Dacko ousted Bokassa in 1979 with French military aid. In 1981 Dacko was deposed again by a military-led coup.






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.







Ange-Félix Patassé
Ange-Félix Patassé became president of the Central African Republic in 1993.






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.