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INTRODUCTION:
The former French colony of Ubangi-Shari
became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. After three
tumultuous decades of misrule - mostly by military governments - civilian rule
was established in 1993 and lasted for one decade. President Ange-Felix
PATASSE's civilian government was plagued by unrest, and in March 2003 he was
deposed in a military coup led by General Francois BOZIZE, who established a
transitional government. Though the government has the tacit support of civil
society groups and the main parties, a wide field of candidates contested the
municipal, legislative, and presidential elections held in March and May of 2005
in which General BOZIZE was affirmed as president. The government still does not
fully control the countryside, where pockets of lawlessness persist.
| Official name: | Central African Republic |
| Capital: |
name: Bangui geographic coordinates: 4 22 N, 18 35 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Government type: | republic |
| Population: |
4,369,038 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) |
| Languages: | French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages |
| Official Currency: | XAF |
| Currency code: | XAF |
| Area: |
total: 622,984 sq km land: 622,984 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Climate: | tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers |
GEOGRAPHY:
| Location: | Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Geographic coordinates: | 7 00 N, 21 00 E |
| Map references: | Africa |
| Area: |
total: 622,984 sq km land: 622,984 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than Texas |
| 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) |
| Maritime claims: | none (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: 3.1% permanent crops: 0.15% other: 96.75% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 20 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas; floods are common |
| Environment - current issues: | tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished the country's reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification; deforestation |
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer
Protection, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
| Geography - note: | landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa |
CLIMATE:
BANGUI 4 40 N, 18 51 E, 1200 feet (366 meters) above sea level.
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PEOPLE:
There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.),
each with its own language. About 75% are Baya-Mandjia and Banda (40% largely
located in the northern and central parts of the country), and 4% are M'Baka
(southwestern corner of the C.A.R.). 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 elementary
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.
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HISTORY:
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 European traders. 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 small-scale 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 1, 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 a 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 UN 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. In May 2001 rebel forces
within the C.A.R. military, led by former President and Army General Andre
Kolingba, attempted a military coup. After several days of heavy fighting,
forces loyal to the government, aided by a small number of troops from Libya and
the Congolese rebel Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), were able to
put down the coup attempt. In November 2001, there were several days of sporadic
gunfire between members of the Presidential Security Unit and soldiers defending
sacked Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Francois Bozize, who fled to Chad. In
mid-2002 there were skirmishes on the C.A.R.-Chad border.
In October 2002, former Army Chief of Staff Francois Bozize launched a coup
attempt that culminated in the March 15, 2003 overthrow of President Patasse and
the takeover of the capital. General Bozize declared himself President,
suspended the constitution, and dissolved the National Assembly. Since seizing
power, President Francois Bozize has made significant progress in restoring
order to Bangui and parts of the country, and professed a desire to promote
national reconciliation, strengthen the economy, and improve the human rights
situation. A new constitution was passed by referendum in December 2004. In
spring 2005, the country held its first elections since the March 2003 coup. The
first round of presidential and legislative elections were held in March 2005,
and in May, President Bozize defeated former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele in a
second-round runoff. On June 13, Bozize named Elie Dote, an agricultural
engineer who had worked at the African Development Bank, his new Prime Minister.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS:
The government is a republic comprised of a strong executive branch (president,
vice president, prime minister, and council of ministers), and weak legislative
and judicial branches. Government and opposition party members, as well as civil
society and the military are represented in the three branches, although the
president appoints the vice president, prime minister, members of the cabinet
(Council of Ministers), top military officials, and managers of national
parastatals.
The National Assembly is made up of 109 members elected by popular vote to serve
5-year terms. Legislative elections were held in 1998; in contested results, the
government?s Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC)
won just over 50% control of the legislative body. Legislative elections were
last held in spring 2005.
For administration purposes, the country is divided into 16 prefectures that are
further divided into over 60 subprefectures; the commune of Bangui is
administered separately. The president currently appoints heads of these
administrative units, called 'prefets' and 'sous-prefets'. There are 174
communes, each headed by a mayor and council appointed by the president.
Suffrage is universal over the age of 21.
The judicial sector encompasses the Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation,
Court of Appeals, criminal and civil courts, Labor Court, and Juvenile Court,
although several of these courts have insufficient resources and trained
personnel to operate on a regular basis. The Criminal Court of Bangui sits once
or twice a year, usually for 1 or 2 months each session. Judges are appointed by
the president; executive influence often impedes transparent handling of
judicial affairs. Military courts exist but are currently only used to try
military personnel for crimes committed in the course of duty. There are a
limited number of formal courts currently functioning outside Bangui;
traditional arbitration and negotiation play a major role in administering
domestic, property, and probate law.
The Central African Republic has a vibrant civil society, with numerous
professional, labor, and local development associations actively carrying out
campaigns and gaining greater local and international credibility.
The C.A.R. Government's human rights record remains flawed. There are continued
reports of arbitrary detainment, torture and, to a lesser degree, extra judicial
killings. Journalists have occasionally been threatened, and prison conditions
remain harsh.
Principal Government Officials
President of the Republic, Head of State--Francois Bozize
Prime Minister--Elie Dote
State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Francophony--Mr.
Jean-Paul NGOUPANDE
Minister of Finance and Budget--Mr. Théodore DABANGA
Ambassador to the United Nations--Fernand Poukre-Kono
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ECONOMY:
The Central African Republic is classified as one of the world's least developed
countries, with a 2002 annual per capita income of $260. Sparsely populated and
landlocked, the nation is overwhelmingly agrarian, with the vast bulk of the
population engaged in subsistence farming and 55% of the country's gross
domestic product (GDP) arising from agriculture. Principal crops include cotton,
food crops (cassava, yams, bananas, maize), coffee, and tobacco. In 2002, timber
accounted for about 30% of export earnings. The country also has rich but
largely unexploited natural resources in the form of diamonds, gold, uranium,
and other minerals. There may be oil deposits along the country's northern
border with Chad. Diamonds are the only of these mineral resources currently
being developed; in 2002, diamond exports made up close to 50% of the C.A.R.'s
export earnings. Industry contributes only about 20% of the country's GDP, with
artesian diamond mining, breweries, and sawmills making up the bulk of the
sector. Services currently account for about 25% of GDP, largely because of the
oversized government bureaucracy and high transportation costs arising from the
country's landlocked position.
Hydroelectric plants based in Boali provide much of the country?s limited
electrical supply. Fuel supplies must be barged in via the Ubangui River or
trucked overland through Cameroon, resulting in frequent shortages of gasoline,
diesel, and jet fuel. The C.A.R.'s transportation and communication network is
limited. The country has only 650 kilometers of paved road, limited
international and no domestic air service (except charters), and does not
possess a railroad. Commercial traffic on the Ubangui River is impossible from
December to May or June, and conflict in the region has sometimes prevented
shipments from moving between Kinshasa and Bangui. The telephone system
functions, albeit imperfectly. Four radio stations currently operate in the
C.A.R., as well as one television station. Numerous newspapers and pamphlets are
published on a regular basis, and at least one company has begun providing
Internet service.
In the more than 40 years since independence, the C.A.R. has made slow progress
toward economic development. Economic mismanagement, poor infrastructure, a
limited tax base, scarce private investment, and adverse external conditions
have led to deficits in both its budget and external trade. Its debt burden is
considerable, and the country has seen a decline in per capita gross national
product (GNP) over the last 30 years. Structural adjustment programs with the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and interest-free credits to
support investments in the agriculture, livestock, and transportation sectors
have had limited impact. The World Bank and IMF are now encouraging the
government to concentrate exclusively on implementing much-needed economic
reforms to jumpstart the economy and defining its fundamental priorities with
the aim of alleviating poverty. As a result, many of the state-owned business
entities have been privatized and limited efforts have been made to standardize
and simplify labor and investment codes and to address problems of corruption.
The C.A.R. Government has adopted the Central African Economic and Monetary
Community (CEMAC) Charter of Investment, and is in the process of adopting a new
labor code.
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Military:
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