republic, central Africa, bordered on the N by Chad, on the E by Sudan, on the S by Congo (Zaire) and the Congo Republic, and on the W by Cameroon. The area of the country is 622,984 sq km (240,535 sq mi).

LAND AND RESOURCES

The landlocked republic is situated on the N edge of the Congo Basin. Most of the land is a plateau with elevations from about 610 to 790 m (about 2000 to 2600 ft). Two ranges of hills in the N and NE rise to maximum heights of about 1400 m (about 4600 ft). Savanna, a grassland interspersed with trees, covers most of the country; open grassland is in the extreme N; and a rain forest, in most of the SW area. The country is drained by the Chari (Shari) R. in the N and the Ubangi (a tributary of the Congo R.) in the S.

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 1780 mm (about 70 in) in the Ubangi R. valley to about 760 mm (about 30 in) in the semiarid NE and E.

Natural Resources.

Diamonds and gold are the country's dominant exploited minerals. Deposits of uranium exist, as well as iron ore, 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.

POPULATION

The four main ethnic groups of the Central African Republic are the Mandjia-Baya, the Banda, the Mbaka, and the Azande. More than half the population inhabits small villages, living and working according to traditional customs.

Population Characteristics.

The country's population (1988 census) was 2,688,426; in 1998 it was estimated at 3,376,000, with an average density of about 5.4 persons per sq km (about 14 per sq mi), and largely concentrated in the W. The capital and chief city is Bangui (pop., 1995 est., 553,000).

Language and Religion.

French is the official language. Numerous African languages are spoken; Sango, a trade language, is also common. Christians make up about 50% of the total population and Muslims about 15%. The remainder of the population follows traditional religions.

Education.

About two-thirds of the eligible children of the Central African Republic receive primary education. Secondary and higher education facilities are limited. Only about 40% of the population is literate. In the early 1990s about 308,400 pupils annually attended primary schools, and about 47,000 students were enrolled in secondary and teacher-training institutions. The country's one university, the University of Bangui (1969), has an enrollment of about 3800 students.

ECONOMY

With an annual gross national product estimated at only $410 per capita in the early 1990s, the Central African Republic is one of the least developed countries in Africa. In the early 1990s the average life expectancy from birth was about 45 years for women and 42 for men; the infant mortality rate was a very high 142 per 1000 live births. Export is hindered by the lack of direct access to a seaport. About 80% of the labor force is in farming. The agricultural output is fairly evenly balanced between subsistence and export crops. The main sources of revenue are diamonds, coffee, cotton, tobacco, timber, and gold exports. The annual national budget in the early 1990s showed revenues at $175 million and expenditures at $312 million.

Agriculture and Forestry.

About 3% of the total land area is suitable for basic crops, such as 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 and encouraged introduction of commercially important crops, such as tobacco and sesame. Coffee, a cash crop once grown mostly on European-owned plantations, is now produced largely on smaller African-owned farms. The annual coffee crop in the early 1990s totaled about 14,000 metric tons. Cotton, also important as a cash crop, is widely grown.

Exploitation of forest reserves was slow to develop but has increased in importance; by the early 1990s the annual output of roundwood exceeded 3.4 million cu m (about 120 million cu ft). Timber accounts for about 13% of export revenues.

Mining, Manufacturing, and Energy.

Diamonds account for most of the country's mineral output and about half of its exports. Annual production was about 405,000 carats in the early 1990s. The gold output exceeded 240 kg annually. Uranium was discovered in the E part of the country in 1966. Manufacturing activity is very limited. Products include cottonseed, peanut, and sesame oils; textiles; leather goods; tobacco products; soap; flour; bricks; and paint. The annual output of electricity is about 96 million kwh, approximately 80% of which is generated in hydroelectric installations.

Currency, Commerce, and Trade.

The unit of currency is the CFA franc, consisting of 100 centimes. In January 1994 France devalued this currency by half; it had remained at the value of 1 French franc to 50 CFA francs since 1948 (535.3 CFA francs equal U.S.$1; 1995).

The country's principal exports are diamonds, cotton, timber, coffee, tobacco, and gold. France and Belgium (with Luxembourg) are the leading trade partners. Commerce is also carried on with Cameroon, the Congo Republic, and Gabon, with which the Central African Republic is joined in the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa. In the early 1990s annual exports earned $123.5 million while imports cost $165.1 million.

Transportation and Communications.

The country has no railroads. The Ubangi R. and the Chari R. systems are important arteries of transportation. Exports are shipped on the Ubangi and Congo rivers to Brazzaville, in the Congo Republic, and then by rail to the seaport of Point-Noire. The country has about 23,740 km (about 14,750 mi) of roads, about 2% of which are paved. An international airport is located at Bangui.

One daily newspaper and several other periodicals are published in Bangui. The national radio and television broadcasting service is government owned and has programs in French and Sango. In the early 1990s about 550,000 radios, 7500 televisions, and 5700 telephones were in use.

GOVERNMENT

In 1979 the Central African Empire (1976) was overthrown, and a republic was established. A constitution approved in February 1981 was suspended after a coup in September, and the ruling Military Committee for National Recovery was installed. A new constitution, approved by referendum in 1986, vests executive authority in the president and in the Council of Ministers, which is headed by the prime minister. The president is popularly elected to a 6-year term. Legislative authority is held by the National Assembly, the 109 members of which are directly elected to 5-year terms. The Central African Democratic Rally was the sole political party from 1987 to 1991, when a constitutional amendment established a multiparty system; subsequently, the Central African People's Liberation Movement became the dominant political group. A constitutional amendment in 1994 expanded the powers of the president.

Health and Welfare.

In the late 1990s the average life expectancy at birth in the Central African Republic was 49 years for women and 45 years for men, and the infant mortality rate was 103 per 1000 live births. According to UN estimates, more than 10 percent of the adult population had Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or the virus that causes it.

International Organizations.

The Central African Republic is a member of the United Nations (UN), the African Union, and the World Trade Organization, and is an African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) state of the European Union.

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.

Colonial Period and Independence.

In the 1880s the French annexed the area, and in 1894 it was organized as the territory of Ubangi-Shari. In 1910 the dependency became part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa. Economic development was dominated by private European concessionaires. This system led to abuses of the black Africans, who staged several violent protests, notably in 1928–30.

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 Aug. 13, 1960, with David Dacko as president. In 1966, charging Dacko's government with corruption, his cousin, army chief Col. 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 was crowned as Emperor Bokassa I in December 1977.

Fall of Bokassa.

Bokassa's regime began to fall apart in January 1979, when an order that schoolchildren wear expensive uniforms made in his own factory prompted protest demonstrations. The army was called in, and many children were put in prison, where they were massacred by the imperial guard. In September Bokassa was overthrown in a French-backed coup led by former president Dacko, who became head of the newly established republic. Bokassa went into exile, and Dacko was confirmed in office by the electorate in March 1981. He was deposed six months later in a military coup led by Gen. André Kolingba (1936–    ). Bokassa returned to the country in 1986 and was tried and convicted for the murder of opponents while he was in power. In November Kolingba was confirmed by popular referendum for a 6-year term as head of state. Multiparty presidential and legislative elections in 1992 were annulled by the republic's supreme court, which cited widespread irregularities. In September 1993 Kolingba freed all of the country's convicts, including Bokassa.

New general elections in 1993 resulted in a victory for the Central African People's Liberation Movement, with Ange-Félix Patassé (1937–    ) becoming president. Between April 1996 and January 1997, French government troops intervened repeatedly to suppress army mutinies and restore order in Bangui. Patassé's party and its allies narrowly retained power in the legislative elections of November and December 1998, and Patassé won reelection to a second 6-year term in September 1999.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, sections 1009. Geography of Africa, 1012. Selected African countries.