Central African Republic

Central African Republic

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name République Centrafricaine/Central African Republic Area 622,436 sq km/240,322 sq mi Capital Bangui Language French (official), Sangho (national), Arabic, Hunsa, Swahili Religion Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, animist 24%, Muslim 15% Time difference GMT +1 Major holidays 1 January, 29 March, 1 May, 1 June, 13, 15 August, 1 September, 1 November, 1, 25 December; variable: Ascension Thursday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Berbérati, Bouar, Bambari, Bossangoa, Carnot, Kaga Bandoro Physical features landlocked flat plateau, with rivers flowing north and south, and hills in northeast and southwest; dry in north, rainforest in southwest; mostly wooded; Kotto and Mbari river falls; the Ubangi River rises 6 m/20 ft at Bangui during the wet season (June–November) Airports one international airport and 37 small airports for internal services; total passengers carried: 46,000 (2001 est) Railways none Roads total road network: 23,810 km/14,803 mi, of which 2.7% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 0.1 per 1,000 people (1996 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state François Bozizé from 2003 Head of government Élie Doté from 2005 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 14 prefectures, two economic prefectures, and one commune (Bangui) Political parties Central African People's Liberation Party (MPLC), left of centre; Central African Democratic Rally (RDC), nationalist, right of centre Death penalty retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes but can be considered abolitionist in practice; date of last known execution 1981 Armed forces 2,600; plus paramilitary forces of 1,000 (2006 est) Conscription selective national service for two-year period Defence spend (% GDP) 1.2 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 1.6 (1999) Health spend (% GDP) 1.5 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency franc CFA GDP (US$) 1.4 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 3.2 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 1.4 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 1,140 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 3.3% (2006 est) Unemployment 8%; c. 23% of urban labour force (2002 est) Labour force 70% agriculture, 6% industry, 24% services (2003) Foreign debt (US$) 1.1 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Belgium, France, Cameroon, Spain, Pakistan Resources gem diamonds and industrial diamonds, gold, uranium, iron ore, manganese, copper Industries food processing, beverages, tobacco, furniture, textiles, paper, soap Exports timber, diamonds, coffee, cotton. Principal market: Belgium 33.3% (2005) Imports mineral fuels, machinery, road vehicles and parts, basic manufactures, food and chemical products. Principal source: France 16.8% (2005) Arable land 3.1% (2006 est) Agricultural products cassava, coffee, yams, maize, bananas, groundnuts; forestry


POPULATION

Population 4,092,800 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.4% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 7 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 44 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 43%, 15–59 51%, 60+ 6% (2005 est) Ethnic groups over 80 ethnic groups, but 66% of the population falls into one of five: the Baya (34%), the Banda (27%), the Mandjia (21%), the Sava (10%), the Mbimu (4%) and the Mbaka (4%). There are clearly defined ethnic zones; the forest region, inhabited by Bantu groups, the Mbaka, Lissongo, Mbimu, and Babinga; the river banks, populated by the Sango, Yakoma, Baniri, and Buraka; and the savannah region, where the Banda, Sande, Sara, Ndle, and Bizao live. Europeans number fewer than 7,000, the majority being French Life expectancy 39 (men); 40 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 193 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 10 Literacy rate 65% (men); 34% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 0.4 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 1 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 10.7 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 24,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 93 (urban); 61 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 0.3 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 1.5 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 83 (1997) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 6 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 0.3 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 0.2 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

10th century Immigration by peoples from Sudan to the east and Cameroon to the west. 16th century Part of the Gaoga Empire. 16th–18th centuries Population reduced greatly by slave raids both by coastal traders and Arab empires in Sudan and Chad. 19th century The Zande nation of the Bandia peoples became powerful in the east. Bantu speakers immigrated from Zaire and the Baya from northern Cameroon. 1889–1903 The French established control over the area, quelling insurrections; a French colony known as Ubangi-Shari was formed and partitioned among commercial concessionaries. 1920–30 Series of rebellions against forced labour on coffee and cotton plantations savagely repressed by the French. 1946 Given territorial assembly and representation in French parliament. 1958 Achieved self-government within French Equatorial Africa. 1960 Achieved independence as Central African Republic; David Dacko, nephew of the late Boganda, elected president. 1962 Became one-party state. 1965 Dacko ousted in military coup led by Col Jean-Bedel Bokassa. 1972 Bokassa, a violent and eccentric autocrat, declared himself president for life. 1977 Bokassa proclaimed himself emperor. 1979 Bokassa deposed by Dacko in French-backed coup. 1981 Dacko deposed in coup led by Gen André Kolingba; military government established. 1984 Amnesty for all political party leaders announced. 1988 Bokassa, who had returned from exile, found guilty of murder and embezzlement; received death sentence, later commuted to life imprisonment. 1991 Opposition parties legalized. 1992 Multiparty elections cancelled by Kolingba. 1993 Kolingba released thousands of prisoners, including Bokassa; Ange-Félix Patasse of leftist African People's Labour Party (MLPC) elected president, ending 12 years of military dictatorship. 1996 Army revolt over pay; Patasse forced temporarily into hiding. 1999 Patasse re-elected president. 2003 President Patasse deposed in coup led by former army chief François Bozize. 2004 New constitution approved in referendum. 2005 Bozize won presidential elections; his Convergence movement became largest parliamentary grouping; Elie Dote, a technocrat, appointed prime minister. Flooding in capital, Bangui, left thousands homeless. 2006 French military forces supported government offensive against rebel positions in northeast of country.


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