The vast central plains rise gradually in the northeast to the Bongos Massif, extending to an elevation of 4,360 feet at Mount Toussoro, and to the Tondou Massif in the east. In the west they rise toward the high granite range of the Karre Mountains, reaching nearly 4,625 feet at Mount Ngaoui, the country’s highest point, before declining eastward into sandstone plateaus. In the north the most significant mountains are those of the Dar Challa range, which rise to 4,350 feet at Mount Ngaya near the border with Sudan. In the southeast is a plain cut by a number of rivers.

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The Dzanga-Sangha National Park is located in a region of rain forest. The country is noted for its forest elephant population and western lowland gorillas. In the north, the Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park is well-populated with wildlife,  including leopards, lions, cheetahs ncluding leopards, lions, cheetahs and rhinos. The Bamingui-Bangoran National Park is located in the northeast of CAR.

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Climatic conditions

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The climate of the Central African Republic is generally tropical, with a wet season that lasts from June to September in the northern regions of the country, and from May to October in the south. During the wet season, rainstorms are an almost daily occurrence, and early morning fog is commonplace. Maximum annual precipitation is approximately 71 inches in the upper Ubangi region. The northern areas are hot and humid from February to May, but can be subject to the hot, dry, and dusty trade wind known as the Harmattan. The southern regions have a more equatorial climate, but they are subject to desertification, while the extreme northeast regions of the country are a steppe, an eco-region characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.

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Administrations of CAR

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The Central African Republic is divided into 16 administration, two of which are economic, and one autonomous commune. The administrations are Bamingui-Bangoran, Basse-Kotto, Haute Kotto, Mbomou, Kemo, Lobaye, Mambéré-Kadéï, Nana-Mambéré, Ombella-M'Poko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pendé, and Vakaga. The economic administrations are Nana-Grébizi and Sangha-Mbaéré, while the commune is the capital city of Bangui. The

country had the lowest inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), ranking 150th out of 150 countries. The Central African Republic is also estimated to be the unhealthiest country as well as the worst country in which  to be young.

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

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 the 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.

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Military situation in CAR

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French President François Hollande called on the UN Security Council and African Union to increase their efforts to stabilize the country. On 18 February 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy 3,000 troops to the country, bolstering the 6,000 African Union soldiers and 2,000 French troops already in the country, to combat civilians being murdered in large numbers.

 

The Séléka government was said to be divided,[64] and in September 2013, Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka, but many rebels refused to disarm, becoming known as ex-Seleka, and veered further out of government control. It is argued that the focus of the initial disarmament efforts exclusively on the Seleka inadvertently handed the anti-Balaka the upper hand, leading to the forced displacement of Muslim civilians by anti-Balaka in Bangui and western CAR.

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In  January 2014, Michael Djotodia and Nicolas Tiengaye resigned as part of a deal negotiated at a regional summit in neighboring Chad. Catherine Samba-Panza was elected as interim president by the National Transitional Council, becoming the first ever female Central African president. On July 23, 2014, following Congolese mediation efforts, Séléka and anti-balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement in Brazzaville. By the end of 2014, the country was de facto partitioned with the anti-Balaka in the southwest and ex-Seleka in the northeast. In March 2015, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said 417 of the country's 436 mosques had been destroyed, and Muslim women were so frightened to go out in public they were giving birth in their homes instead of going to the hospital. On 14 December 2015, Séléka rebel leaders declared an independent Republic of Logone.

Touadéra government (2016-present)

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Presidential elections were held in December 2015. As no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round of elections was held on Feb. 14, 2016 with run-offs on March 31. In the second round of voting, former Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadéra was declared the winner with 63 percent of the vote, defeating Union for Central African Renewal candidate Anicet-Georges Dologuélé, another former Prime Minister. While the elections suffered from many potential voters being absent as they had taken refuge in other countries, the fears of widespread violence were ultimately unfounded and the African Union regarded the elections as successful. Touadéra was sworn in on March 30. No representatives of the Seleka rebel group or the "anti-balaka" militias were included in the subsequently formed government.

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After the end of Touadéra's first term, presidential elections were held on Dec. 27, 2020. Former president François Bozizé announced his candidacy on 25 July 2020 but was rejected by the Constitutional Court of the country, which held that Bozizé did not satisfy the “good morality” requirement for candidates because of an international warrant and United Nations sanctions against him for alleged assassinations, torture and other crimes. As large parts of the country were at the time controlled by armed groups, the election could not be conducted in many areas of the country. Some 800 of the country's polling stations, 14 percent of the total, were closed due to violence. President Faustin Archange Touadéra was reelected in the first round of the election in December 2020.

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Politics and government

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Politics in the Central African Republic formally take place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic. In this system, the president is the head of state, with a prime minister as head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Changes in government have occurred in recent years by three methods: violence, negotiations, and elections. A new constitution was approved by voters in a referendum held on December 5, 2004. The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term, and the prime minister is appointed by the president. The president also appoints and presides over the Council of Ministers, which initiates laws and oversees government operations. The National Assembly has 140 members, elected for a five-year term using the two-round (or Run-off) system.

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As in many other former French colonies, the Central African Republic's legal system is based on French law. The Supreme Court is made up of judges appointed by the president. There is also a Constitutional Court, and its judges are also appointed by the president.

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Foreign relations

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The Central African Republic relies heavily on Russian mercenaries for the protection of its diamond mines, and is heavily dependent on foreign aid. In 2019, more than $100 million in US aid was spent in the country, mostly on humanitarian assistance. In 2006, due to ongoing violence, over 50,000 people in the country's northwest were at risk of starvation but this was averted due to assistance from the United Nations. The UN in January 2008, declared that the Central African Republic was eligible to receive assistance from the Peace Building Fund. Three priority areas were identified: reform of the security sector, promotion of good governance and the rule of law; and revitalization of communities affected by conflicts.

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In response to concerns of a potential genocide, a peacekeeping force – the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) was authorized in December 2013. This African Union force of 6,000 personnel was accompanied by the French Operation Sangaris.

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Human rights

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The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that human rights in CAR were poor and expressed concerns over numerous government abuses. The U.S. State Department alleged that major human rights abuses such as extrajudicial executions by security forces, torture, beatings and rape of suspects and prisoners occurred with impunity. It also alleged harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention centers, arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention and denial of a fair trial, restrictions on freedom of movement, official corruption, and restrictions on workers' rights.

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The State Department report also cites widespread mob violence, the prevalence of female genital mutilation, discrimination against women and Pygmies, human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor. Freedom of movement is limited in the northern part of the country "because of actions by state security forces, armed bandits, and other non-state armed entities", and due to fighting between government and anti-government forces, many persons have been internally displaced.

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Freedom of speech is addressed in the country's constitution, but there have been incidents of government intimidation of the media. A report by the International Research & Exchanges Board's media sustainability index noted that "the country minimally met objectives, with segments of the legal system and government opposed to a free media system."

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Demographics

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The population of the Central African Republic has almost quadrupled since independence. In 1960 the population was approximately 2 million; as of a 2018 the UN estimated the populated to be approximately 4.6 million. The largest city and capital of the Central African Republic is Bangui, with a population of 622,771 people. The nation
is divided into more than 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language. The largest ethnic groups are the Baggara Arabs, Baka, Banda, Bayaka, Fula, Gbaya, Kara, Kresh, Mbaka, Mandja, Ngbandi, Sara, Vidiri, Wodaabe, Yakoma, Yulu, Zande, with others including Europeans of mostly French descent.

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Religion

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According to the Pew Research Center, in 2010, Christians constituted 89.8 percent of the population, while Muslims comprised 8.9 percent. The Catholic Church claims over 1.5 million adherents, approximately one-third of the population.] Indigenous beliefs or animism is also practiced. Many Christian missionary groups operate in the country, including Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, and Grace Brethren. While these missionaries are predominantly from the US, France, Italy, and Spain, many are from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other African countries. According to Overseas Development Institute research, during the crisis ongoing since 2012, religious leaders mediated between communities and armed groups and provided refuge for people seeking shelter.

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Languages

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The Central African Republic's two official languages are French and Sangho, the latter a creole lingo developed as an inter-ethnic tongue based on the local Ngbandi language. CAR is one of the few African countries to have an African language as their official language.

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Economy

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The per capita income of the Republic is often listed as approximately $400 per year, one of the lowest in the world. But this figure is based mostly on reported sales of exports and largely ignores the unregistered sale of food, locally produced alcoholic beverages, diamonds, ivory, bush meat, and traditional medicine. The currency of the Central African Republic is the CFA franc, which is accepted across the former countries of French West Africa and trades at a fixed rate to the euro. Diamonds are the nation's most important export, accounting for 40-55 percent of export revenues.

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Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation and sale of crops such as cassava, peanuts, corn, sorghum, millet, sesame, and plantain. The annual GDP growth rate is just above 3 percent. The importance of food crops over exported cash crops is underscored by the annual production of cassava, the staple food of most Central Africans, ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 tons per year. Cotton, the principal cash crop, accounts for 25,000 to 45,000 tons annually.

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Food crops are not exported in large quantities, but still constitute major cash crops of CAR because Central Africans derive far more income from the periodic sale of surplus food crops than from exported cash crops such as cotton or coffee. Much of the country is self-sufficient in food crops, but livestock development is hindered by the presence of the tsetse fly.

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CAR’s primary import partner is France at 31.2 percent. Other import partners are Burundi (16.2 percent), China (12.5 percent), the US (12.3 percent), India (11.5 percent), Cameroon (9.6 percent), and Austria (7.8 percent).

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Transportation and infrastructure

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Bangui is the transport hub of the Central African Republic. As of 1999, eight roads connected the city to other main towns in the country, Cameroon, Chad, and Sudan. Of these only the toll roads are paved. During the rainy season from July to October, some roads are impassable. 

 

River ferries sail from the river port at Bangui to Brazzaville and Zongo. The river can be navigated most of the year between Bangui and Brazzaville. From Brazzaville, goods are transported by rail to Pointe-Noire, Congo's Atlantic port. The river port handles the overwhelming majority of the country's international trade and has a cargo handling capacity of 350,000 tons. It has 1,150 feet length of wharfs and 260,000 square feet of warehousing space. Bangui

M'Poko International Airport is Central African Republic's only international airport. As of June 2014 it had regularly scheduled flights to Brazzaville, Casablanca, Cotonou, Douala, Kinshasa, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, N'Djamena, Paris, Pointe-Noire, and Yaoundé.

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Energy

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The Central African Republic primarily uses hydroelectricity estimated at 2,000 MW (MMEH, 2013). Existing power stations include the Boali I (8.75 MW), Boali II (10 MW) and Boali III (10 MW). Other large hydropower installations are the 300 MW Palambo project, north of Bangui. as there are few other resources for energy and power. Energy Access in the Central African Republic is extremely limited for both electricity and non-solid fuels. Only 14 percent of the population has access to electricity, mainly in the capital Bangui, while access is almost absent in rural areas.

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Communications

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Presently, the Central African Republic has active television services, radio stations, internet service providers, and mobile phone carriers; Socatel is the leading provider for both internet and mobile phone access throughout the country. The primary government regulating bodies of telecommunications are the Ministère des Postes and Télécommunications et des Nouvelles Technologies. In addition, the Central African Republic receives international support on telecommunication related operations from the International Telecommunication Union to improve infrastructure.

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Education

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Public education in the Central African Republic is free and is compulsory from ages 6 to 14. However, approximately half of the adult population of the country is illiterate. Higher education centers on two institutions of higher education in the Central African Republic --- the University of Bangui, a public university located in Bangui, which includes a medical school; and Euclid University, an international university.

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Healthcare

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The largest hospitals in the country are located in the Bangui district. As a member of the World Health Organization, the Central African Republic receives vaccination assistance, such as a 2014 intervention for the prevention of a measles epidemic. In 2007, female life expectancy at birth was 48.2 years and male life expectancy at birth was 45.1 years. Women's health is poor in the Central African Republic. As of 2010, the country had the 4th highest maternal mortality rate in the world. The total fertility rate in 2014 was estimated at 4.46 children born/woman.

 

Culture

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Basketball is the country's most popular sport and a good way to connect with its people. The national team won the African Championship twice and was the first Sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the Basketball World Cup in 1974. The country also has a national football team, which is governed by the Central African Football Federation, and stages matches at the Barthélemy Boganda Stadium.

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