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Central African Republic

For the geographical region, see Central Africa.
"CAR" redirects here. For the region in the Philippines, see Cordillera Administrative Region. For the motor vehicle, see Car. For other uses, see Car (disambiguation).

Central African Republic
  • Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka (Sango)
  • République centrafricaine (French)
Motto: 
  • "Zo Kwe Zo" (Sango)
  • "All people are people"
  • "Unité, Dignité, Travail" (French)
  • "Unity, Dignity, Work"
Anthem: 
Capital
and largest city
Bangui
4°22′N 18°35′E / 4.367°N 18.583°E / 4.367; 18.583
Official languagesFrench · Sango (co-official)[1]
Recognised national languages
Ethnic groups
Religion
(2020)[2]
Demonym(s)Central African
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic
• President
Faustin-Archange Touadéra
Félix Moloua
Simplice Sarandji
LegislatureNational Assembly
Independence
• Republic established
1 December 1958
• from France
13 August 1960
• Central African Empire established
4 December 1976
4 December 1977
21 September 1979
Area
• Total
622,984 km2 (240,535 sq mi) (44th)
Population
• 2024 estimate
5,650,957[3] (119th)
• Density
7.1/km2 (18.4/sq mi) (221st)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $5.678 billion[4] (170th)
• Per capita
Increase $1,109[4] (190th)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $2.760 billion[4] (182nd)
• Per capita
Increase $539[4] (191st)
Gini (2021)Positive decrease 43[5]
medium inequality
HDI (2022)Steady 0.387[6]
low (191st)
Currency
Time zoneUTC+1 (WAT)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Drives onright[7]
Calling code+236
ISO 3166 codeCF
Internet TLD.cf

The Central African Republic (CAR),[a] formerly known as Ubangi-Shari,[b] is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, the Republic of the Congo to the southwest, and Cameroon to the west. Bangui is the country's capital and largest city, bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Central African Republic covers a land area of about 620,000 square kilometres (240,000 sq mi). As of 2024, it has a population of 5,357,744, and is in the scene of a civil war, which has been ongoing since 2012.[9] As a former French colony, French is the official language, with Sango, a Ngbandi based-creole language as the national and co-official language.[10]

The Central African Republic mainly consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas, but the country also includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. Two-thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin (which flows into the Congo), while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari, which flows into Lake Chad.

What is today the Central African Republic has been inhabited since at least 8,000 BCE. The country's borders were established by France, which ruled the country as a colony starting in the late 19th century. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders, including an abortive attempt at a monarchy under the regime of Jean-Bedel Bokassa.[11]

By the 1990s, calls for democracy led to the first multi-party democratic elections in 1993. Ange-Félix Patassé became president, but was later removed by General François Bozizé in a 2003 coup. The Central African Republic Bush War began in 2004 and, despite a peace treaty in 2007 and another in 2011, civil war resumed in 2012. The civil war perpetuated the country's poor human rights record: it was characterized by widespread and increasing abuses by various participating armed groups, such as arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of movement.

Despite its significant mineral deposits and other resources, such as uranium reserves, crude oil, gold, diamonds, cobalt, lumber, and hydropower,[12] as well as significant quantities of arable land, the Central African Republic is among the ten poorest countries in the world, with the lowest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity in the world as of 2017.[13] As of 2022, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), the country had the third-lowest level of human development, ranking 191 out of 193 countries. The country had the second lowest inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), ranking 164th out of 165 countries.[14] The Central African Republic is also estimated to be the unhealthiest country[15] as well as the worst country in which to be young.[16]

The Central African Republic is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Non-Aligned Movement.

  1. ^ Samarin, William J. (2000). "The Status of Sango in Fact and Fiction: On the One-Hundredth Anniversary of its Conception". In McWhorter, John H. (ed.). Language Change and Language Contact in Pidgins and Creoles. Creole language library. Vol. 21. John Benjamins. pp. 301–34. ISBN 9789027252432.
  2. ^ "National Profiles". www.thearda.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Central African Republic". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (CF)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  5. ^ https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
  6. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  7. ^ Which side of the road do they drive on? Archived 14 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Brian Lucas. August 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  8. ^ "Central African Republic – CAR – Country Profile – Nations Online Project". www.nationsonline.org. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  9. ^ Mudge, Lewis (11 December 2018), "Central African Republic: Events of 2018", World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Central African Republic, archived from the original on 30 May 2019, retrieved 13 June 2024
  10. ^ Samarin, William J. (2000). "The Status of Sango in Fact and Fiction: On the One-Hundredth Anniversary of its Conception". In McWhorter, John H. (ed.). Language Change and Language Contact in Pidgins and Creoles. Creole language library. Vol. 21. John Benjamins. pp. 301–34. ISBN 9789027252432.
  11. ^ 'Cannibal' dictator Bokassa given posthumous pardon Archived 1 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian. 3 December 2010
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference CIA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ World Economic Outlook Database, January 2018 Archived 3 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, International Monetary Fund Archived 14 February 2006 at Archive-It. Database updated on 12 April 2017. Accessed on 21 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Human Development Index and its components" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  15. ^ "These are the world's unhealthiest countries – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 25 September 2016. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  16. ^ Foundation, Thomson Reuters. "Central African Republic worst country in the world for young people – study". Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)


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