Central African Republic

The Central African Republic, formerly known as Ubangi-Shari, 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.

The capital is Bangui.

French and Sango are the official languages.

Population, 5,788,629. Size, 623,001 km^2.

The Central African franc (XAF) is the official currency.

Christianity is the main religion. Islam is the second largest religion in the country, practiced by 9-15 percent of the population. The vast majority of Muslims are Malikite Sunni.

Major cities include Bimbo, Mbaïki, Berbérati, and Kaga-Bandoro.

Kanda is a traditional dish from the Central African Republic consisting of beef and pumpkin seeds meatballs served with a tomato sauce and white rice. Principal food crops include cassava, peanuts, sorghum, millet, maize, sesame, and plantains. Principal cash crops for export include cotton, coffee, and tobacco.

CAR has a tropical, humid equatorial climate in the south and a Sahelo-Sudanian climate in the north. The country experiences hot, dry winters and mild to hot, wet summers. Only the northernmost part of the country, near the borders to Chad and Sudan, have a hot semi-arid climate.

Polished flint and quartz tools have been found in CAR that are at least 8,000 years old. European and Arab slave traders exploited the region throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries with tens of thousands of people forcibly removed and sent to slave markets in Egypt, Turkey and the Atlantic coast, where they were transported to the Americas. The Central African Republic has experienced widespread instability since its independence with multiple coups and internal conflicts. The Central African Republic has seen significant violence since 2013 due to fierce clashes between armed groups. This has created over 600,000 refugees outside the country and displaced a further 600,000 people in the country. According to the UK Foreign Office, the Central African Republic is one of 17 countries deemed to be entirely unsafe for tourists to visit. The world’s second-largest rainforest, the Congolese Rainforest, is part-located in the Central African Republic. The Central African Republic, along with Chad and Madagascar, are the countries least affected by light pollution. The CAR is home to the ethnic group of Pygmy people, known for their short stature – typically under five feet tall. The CAR is the world’s second-poorest country when measured by GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). In 2019, the Central African Republic was ranked as the world’s hungriest – or most undernourished – country. It was the only country classified as “extremely alarming”. The CAR has the world’s lowest life expectancy of just 52.8 years.The country is exceptionally rich in biodiversity, with many rare and endemic species including gorillas, elephants, hippos, lions, cheetahs, leopards, rhinos and crocodiles. The CAR is also home to 597 identified species of butterflies.