Portal:Central African Republic

The Central African Republic Portal

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Flag of the Central African Republic Coat of arms of the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic (CAR) 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, consisting of about 80 ethnic groups, and is in the scene of a civil war, which has been ongoing since 2012. Having been a French colony under the name Ubangi-Shari, French is the official language, with Sango, a Ngbandi-based creole language, as the national and co-official language.

The Central African Republic mainly consists of Sudano-Guinean savanna, 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 8000 BCE. The country's borders were established by France, which began annexing portions to the French Congo in the late 19th century and in 1903 established the separate colony of Ubangi-Shari, part of French Equatorial Africa. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders, including under Jean-Bedel Bokassa who changed the country's name to the Central African Empire and ruled as a monarch from 1976 to 1979. 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.

Despite its significant mineral deposits and other resources, such as uranium reserves, crude oil, gold, diamonds, cobalt, lumber, and hydropower, 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. As of 2023, 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. The Central African Republic is also estimated to be the unhealthiest country as well as the worst country to be in for young people. 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. (Full article...)

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The Central African Empire (French: Empire centrafricain) was established on 4 December 1976 when the then-President of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, declared himself Emperor of Central Africa. The empire would fall less than three years later when French and Central African forces overthrew Bokassa and re-established the Central African Republic on 21 September 1979. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Central African Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Dzanga-Sangha Reserve (from Central African Republic)
Image 2Charles de Gaulle in Bangui, 1940 (from History of the Central African Republic)
Image 3Bangui shopping district (from Central African Republic)
Image 4A food aid convoy in the Central African Republic in 2007 (from Cuisine of the Central African Republic)
Image 5Faustin Touadera succeeded interim head Catherine Samba-Panza to become president following the 2015–16 elections (from History of the Central African Republic)
Image 6Worshippers at the Bangui Cathedral. Christianity is the main religion in the Central African Republic. (from Central African Republic)
Image 7A Central African woman (from Central African Republic)
Image 8Refugees of the fighting in the Central African Republic, January 2014 (from Central African Republic)
Image 9First Central African President David Dacko in 1962 (from History of the Central African Republic)
Image 10Location of the Central African Republic (from Cuisine of the Central African Republic)
Image 11Rebel in northern Central African Republic in 2007. (from History of the Central African Republic)
Image 12Aka hunter-gatherers living in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve (from Central African Republic)
Image 13Jean-Bédel Bokassa, self-crowned Emperor of Central Africa (from Central African Republic)
Image 14Trucks in Bangui (from Central African Republic)
Image 15Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra with US President Joe Biden, and Dr. Jill Biden, 14 December 2022 (from Central African Republic)
Image 16Fula women in Paoua (from Central African Republic)
Image 17Classroom in Sam Ouandja (from Central African Republic)
Image 18Köppen climate classification map of the Central African Republic (from Central African Republic)
Image 19Current military situation in Central African Republic (from Central African Republic)
Image 20A French cuisine boulangerie in Bangui (from Cuisine of the Central African Republic)
Image 21President Faustin-Archange Touadéra with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 23 May 2018 (from Central African Republic)
Image 22Fufu (pictured right) is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding the mixture with a mortar and pestle. Peanut soup is pictured at left (from Cuisine of the Central African Republic)
Image 23Palm wine (from Cuisine of the Central African Republic)
Image 24Falls of Boali on the Mbali River (from Central African Republic)
Image 25A village in the Central African Republic (from Central African Republic)
Image 26The Sultan of Bangassou and his wives, 1906 (from Central African Republic)
Image 27A soldier with France's 11th Marine Artillery Regiment during military exercises in the Central African Republic in 1992 (from History of the Central African Republic)
Image 28The Bouar Megaliths, pictured here on a 1967 Central African stamp, date back to the very late Neolithic Era (c. 3500–2700 BCE). (from Central African Republic)
Image 29Rebel militia in the northern countryside, 2007 (from Central African Republic)
Image 30Mothers and babies aged between 0 and 5 years are lining up in a Health Post at Begoua, a district of Bangui, waiting for the two drops of the oral polio vaccine. (from Central African Republic)
Image 31GDP per capita (2022 USD) (from Central African Republic)
Image 32Charles de Gaulle in Bangui, 1940 (from Central African Republic)
Image 33Séléka advances in C.A.R. (December 2012–March 2013) (from History of the Central African Republic)

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The Central African Republic sent three competitors to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Béranger Bosse and Mireille Derebona represented the nation in track events, while Bruno Bongongo participated on the Central African Republic's behalf in boxing. Of those athletes, none progressed past the first rounds of their events. The appearance of the Central African delegation at the Beijing Olympics marked its eighth appearance since the nation's debut at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and its seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics. At the ceremonies, Derebona was the nation's flag bearer. (Full article...)

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Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état Barthélemy Boganda Central African Republic women's national football team Alexandre Banza Bangui

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WikiProject Central African Republic

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Cities

Largest Central African Republic cities
Rank	City / town	Préfecture	Population (2003 census)
1	Bangui	—	622,771
2	Bimbo	Ombella-M'Poko	124,176
3	Berbérati	Mambéré-Kadéï	76,918
4	Carnot *	Mambéré-Kadéï	45,421
5	Bambari	Ouaka	41,356
6	Bouar	Nana-Mambéré	40,353
7	Bossangoa	Ouham	36,478
8	Bria	Haute-Kotto	35,204
9	Bangassou	Mbomou	31,553
10	Nola	Sangha-Mbaéré	29,181
11	Kaga-Bandoro	Nana-Grébizi	24,661
12	Sibut	Kémo	22,419
13	Mbaïki	Lobaye	22,166
14	Bozoum	Ouham-Pendé	20,655