Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a perennially weak state that sits at the crossroads of ethnic and linguistic groups in the center of the African continent. Among the last areas of Sub-Saharan Africa to be drawn into the world economy, its introduction into trade networks around the early 1700s fostered significant competition among its population. The local population sought to benefit from the lucrative Atlantic, trans-Saharan, and Indian Ocean trade in enslaved people and ivory. Slave raids aided by the local populations fostered animosity between ethnic groups that remains today.
- Capital
- Bangui
- Government
- presidential republic
- Population
- 5,750,570
- Area
- 622,984 sq km
- Location
- Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Climate
- tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers
- Natural resources
- diamonds; uranium; timber; gold; oil; hydropower
- Languages
- French (official); Sangho (lingua franca and national language); tribal languages
- Religions
- Roman Catholic 34.6%; Protestant 15.7%; other Christian 22.9%; Muslim 13.8%…
- Independence
- 13 August 1960 (from France)
- Administrative divisions
- 14 prefectures (préfectures, singular - préfecture), 2 economic prefectures* (préfectures économiques, singular - préfec…
- Currency
- Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale francs (XAF)
- Export partners
- UAE 54%; China 14%; France 6%; Turkey 5%…
- Import partners
- China 16%; Cameroon 14%; France 8%; Belgium 6%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain