Central African Republic - Tips
Central African Republic
Bureau of African
Affairs
June
2007
Background Note: Central African
Republic
A man fishes in a dugout canoe on
the
Obangui river, with the city
of
Bangui in the background,
Central
African Republic. March 9, 2004.
[©
AP
Images]
Flag of Central African Republic is four equal horizontal bands of
blue
(top), white, green, and yellow
with a vertical red band in center; there is
a yellow five-pointed
star on the hoist side of the blue
band.
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
Central African
Republic
Geography
Area: 622,984 sq. km. (242,000 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than
Texas.
Cities:
Capital--Bangui (pop. 690,000). Other cities--Berberati
(56,867),
Bouar (39,676), Bambari (32,603),
Bangassou (24,450), Bossangoa (31,723),
Mbaiki
(16,901), and Carnot
(31,324).
Terrain: Rolling plain 600 meters-700 meters (1,980 ft.-2,310 ft.)
above sea
level; scattered hills in northeast and
southwest.
Climate: Tropical, ranging from humid equatorial in the south
to
Sahelo-Sudanese in the north; hot, dry winters with mild to hot, wet
summers.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Central
African(s).
Population (July 2007 est.):
4,369,038.
Annual growth rate (2007 est.):
1.505%.
Ethnic groups: More than 80; Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Sara 10%, Mandja
13%, Mboum
7%, M'baka 4%, Yakoma 4%, other
2%.
Religions: Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%, indigenous
beliefs
35%.
Languages: Sangho (official), Sangho
(national).
Education: Years compulsory--6. Enrollment--primary school
75%.
Literacy--50%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--115 deaths/1,000. Life
expectancy--avg. 43
yrs.
Work force (approx. 53% of pop.): Agriculture--75%; industry--6%;
commerce
and services--4%;
government--15%.
Government
Type:
Republic.
Independence: August 13,
1960.
Constitution: Passed by referendum December 29, 1994; adopted January
1995.
Suspended by decree in March 2003. New constitution
passed by referendum
December 5,
2004.
Branches: Executive--president, prime minister, and Council of
Ministers.
Legislative--unicameral National
Assembly. Judicial--Constitutional Court,
inferior
courts, criminal courts, Court of
Appeals.
Administrative subdivisions: 16 prefectures, commune of
Bangui.
Political parties: Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ADP), Central
African
Democratic Assembly (RDC), Civic Forum (FC), Democratic Forum
(FODEM),
Liberal Democratic Party
(PLD), Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD),
Movement for the
Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC), Patriotic
Front for Progress (FPP), People's Union for the Republic (UPR),
National
Unity Party (PUN), and Social Democratic
Party
(PSD).
Suffrage: Universal over
21.
Economy
GDP (2006): $1.542
billion.
Annual real GDP growth rate: -7.2% (2003); 0.5% (2004 est.); 3% (2006
est.).
Per capita income (2002):
$260.
Avg. inflation rate: 4.2% (2003); 3.2 (2004
est.).
Natural resources: Diamonds, uranium, timber, gold,
oil.
Agriculture (2002, 54.8% of GDP): Products--Timber, cotton, coffee,
tobacco,
foodcrops, livestock. Cultivated
land--unavailable.
Industry (2002, 21.6% of GDP): Types--Diamond mining, sawmills,
breweries,
textiles, footwear, assembly of bicycles and
motorcycles, and soap.
Services (2002): 23.6% of
GDP.
Trade (2004): Exports--$161 million; diamonds, coffee, cotton,
timber,
tobacco. Major
markets--Belgium, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Egypt,
Spain, and Cote d'Ivoire. Imports--$119 million; food, textiles,
petroleum
products, machinery, electrical equipment,
motor vehicles, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, industrial products.
Major
suppliers--France, United States, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Germany,
Japan.
Central government budget (2002): $226
million.
Defense (2002, 2.4% of budget): $5.4
million.
Fiscal year: Calendar
year.
PEOPLE
There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the Central African
Republic
(C.A.R.),
each with its own language. About 75% are Baya-Mandjia and Banda
(40% largely located in the northern and central parts of the
country), and
4% are M'Baka (southwestern corner of the
C.A.R.). Sangho, the language of a
small group along the Oubangui
River, is the national language spoken by the
majority of Central
Africans. Only a small part of the population has more
than an elementary knowledge of French, the official
language.
More than 55% of the population of the C.A.R. lives in rural areas.
The chief
agricultural areas are around the Bossangoa and Bambari.
Bangui, Berberati,
Bangassou, and Bossangoa are the most
densely populated urban centers.
HISTORY
The C.A.R. appears to have been settled from at least the 7th century
on by
overlapping empires, including the Kanem-Bornou, Ouaddai,
Baguirmi, and
Dafour groups based in
Lake Chad and the Upper Nile. Later,
various
sultanates claimed present-day C.A.R, using the entire Oubangui region as
a
slave reservoir, from which slaves were traded north across
the Sahara and to
West Africa for export by European traders.
Population migration in the 18th
and 19th centuries brought new
migrants into the area, including the Zande,
Banda, and
Baya-Mandjia.
In 1875 the Egyptian sultan Rabah governed Upper-Oubangui, which
included
present-day C.A.R. Europeans, primarily
the French, German, and Belgians,
arrived in the
area in 1885. The French consolidated their legal claim to the
area
through an 1887 convention with Congo Free State, which granted France
possession of the right bank of the Oubangui River. Two years later,
the
French established an outpost at Bangui,
and in 1894, Oubangui-Chari became a
French territory. However, the
French did not consolidate their control over
the area until 1903
after having defeated the forces of the Egyptian sultan
Rabah
and established colonial administration throughout the territory. In
1906, the Oubangui-Chari territory was united with the Chad colony;
in 1910,
it became one of the four territories of the Federation of
French Equatorial
Africa (A.E.F.), along with Chad, Congo
(Brazzaville), and Gabon. The next 30
years were marked by small-scale
revolts against French rule and
the
development of a
plantation-style
economy.
In August 1940, the territory responded, with the rest of the A.E.F.,
to the
call from Gen. Charles de Gaulle to fight for Free France.
After World War
II, the French Constitution of 1946
inaugurated the first of a series of
reforms
that led eventually to complete independence for all
French
territories in western and equatorial Africa. In 1946, all A.E.F.
inhabitants
were granted French citizenship and allowed to establish
local assemblies.
The assembly in C.A.R. was led by
Barthelemy Boganda, a Catholic priest who
also was known for
his forthright statements in the French Assembly on the
need for African emancipation. In 1956 French legislation eliminated certain
voting inequalities and provided for the creation of some organs
of
self-government in each territory. The French constitutional referendum
of
September 1958 dissolved the A.E.F., and on December 1
of the same year the
Assembly declared the birth of the Central
African Republic with Boganda as
head of government. Boganda
ruled until his death in a March 1959 plane
crash. His cousin, David Dacko, replaced him, governing the country
until
1965 and overseeing the country's declaration
of independence on August 13,
1960.
On January 1, 1966, following a swift and almost bloodless coup,
Col.
Jean-Bedel Bokassa
assumed power as President of the Republic.
Bokassa
abolished the
constitution of 1959, dissolved the National Assembly,
and
issued a decree that placed all
legislative and executive powers in the hands
of the president. On
December 4, 1976, the republic became a monarchy with
the
promulgation of the imperial constitution and the proclamation of
the
president as Emperor Bokassa I. His regime was
characterized by numerous
human rights
atrocities.
Following riots in Bangui and the murder of between 50 and
200
schoolchildren, former President Dacko led a successful French-backed
coup
against Bokassa on September 20, 1979. Dacko's
efforts to promote economic
and political reforms proved
ineffectual, and on September 1, 1981, he in
turn
was overthrown in a bloodless coup by Gen. Andre Kolingba. For 4 years,
Kolingba led the country as head of the Military Committee for
National
Recovery (CRMN). In 1985 the
CRMN was dissolved, and Kolingba named a new
cabinet with increased civilian participation, signaling the start of
a
return to civilian rule. The process
of democratization quickened in 1986
with the
creation of a new political party, the Rassemblement Democratique
Centrafricain (RDC), and the drafting of a new constitution that
subsequently
was ratified in a national referendum. General Kolingba
was sworn in as
constitutional
President on November 29, 1986. The constitution established a
National Assembly made up of 52 elected deputies, elected in July 1987.
Due
to mounting political pressure, in 1991 President Kolingba
announced the
creation of a national
commission to rewrite the constitution to provide for
a multi-party
system. Multi-party presidential elections were conducted in
1992 but were later cancelled due to serious logistical and
other
irregularities. Ange Felix Patasse won a second-round victory in
rescheduled
elections held in October 1993, and was re-elected for
another 6-year term in
September
1999.
Salary arrears, labor unrest, and unequal treatment of military
officers from
different ethnic groups led to three mutinies against
the Patasse government
in 1996 and 1997. The French succeeded in
quelling the disturbances, and an
African peacekeeping force
(MISAB) occupied Bangui until 1998 when they were
relieved by a UN
peacekeeping mission (MINURCA). Economic difficulties caused
by the
looting and destruction during the 1996 and 1997 mutinies,
energy
crises, and government mismanagement
continued to trouble
Patasse's
government through 2000. In March 2000 the last of the MINURCA
forces
departed Bangui. In
May 2001 rebel forces within the C.A.R. military, led by
former
President and Army General Andre Kolingba, attempted a military coup.
After several days of heavy fighting, forces loyal to the government,
aided
by a small number of troops from Libya and the Congolese
rebel Movement for
the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), were able
to put down the coup attempt. In
November 2001, there were several
days of sporadic gunfire between members of
the Presidential Security
Unit and soldiers defending sacked Chief of Staff
of the Armed
Forces Francois Bozize, who fled to Chad. In mid-2002 there were
skirmishes on the C.A.R.-Chad
border.
In October 2002, former Army Chief of Staff Francois Bozize launched
a coup
attempt that culminated in the March 15, 2003 overthrow
of President Patasse
and the takeover of the capital. General Bozize
declared himself President,
suspended the constitution, and
dissolved the National Assembly. Since
seizing power, President Francois Bozize has made significant
progress in
restoring order to Bangui and parts of
the country, and professed a desire to
promote national
reconciliation, strengthen the economy, and improve the
human rights situation. A new constitution was passed by referendum
in
December 2004. In spring 2005,
the country held its first elections since the
March 2003 coup. The
first round of presidential and legislative elections
were held in March 2005, and in May, President Bozize defeated former
Prime
Minister Martin Ziguele in a second-round runoff. On June
13, Bozize named
Elie Dote, an agricultural engineer who
had worked at the African Development
Bank, his new Prime
Minister.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
The government is a republic comprised of a strong executive
branch
(president, vice president, prime minister, and council of ministers),
and
weak legislative and judicial branches. Government
and opposition party
members, as well
as civil society and the military are represented in the
three branches, although the president appoints the vice president,
prime
minister, members of the cabinet (Council of
Ministers), top military
officials, and managers of national
parastatals.
The National Assembly is made up of 109 members elected by popular
vote to
serve 5-year terms. Legislative elections were
held in 1998; in contested
results, the
government's Movement for the Liberation of the Central African
People (MLPC) won just over 50% control of the legislative body. Legislative
elections were last held in spring
2005.
For administration purposes, the country is divided into 16
prefectures that
are further divided into over 60 subprefectures; the
commune of Bangui is
administered separately. The
president currently appoints heads of these
administrative units, called "prefets" and "sous-prefets". There are
174
communes, each headed by a mayor and
council appointed by the president.
Suffrage
is universal over the age of
21.
The judicial sector encompasses the Constitutional Court, Court of
Cassation,
Court of Appeals, criminal and civil courts, Labor Court,
and Juvenile Court,
although several of these courts have insufficient
resources and trained
personnel to operate on
a regular basis. The Criminal Court of Bangui sits
once
or twice a year, usually for 1 or 2 months each session. Judges
are
appointed by the president; executive
influence often impedes transparent
handling of
judicial affairs. Military courts exist but are currently only
used to try military personnel for crimes committed in the course of
duty.
There are a limited number of formal courts
currently functioning outside
Bangui; traditional
arbitration and negotiation play a major role
in
administering
domestic, property, and probate
law.
The Central African Republic has a vibrant civil society, with
numerous
professional, labor, and local
development associations actively carrying out
campaigns and gaining
greater local and international
credibility.
The C.A.R. Government's human rights record remains flawed. There
are
continued reports of
arbitrary detainment, torture and, to a lesser degree,
extra
judicial killings. Journalists have occasionally been threatened, and
prison conditions remain
harsh.
Principal Government
Officials
President of the Republic, Head of State--Francois
Bozize
Prime Minister--Elie
Dote
State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and
Francophony--Mr.
Jean-Paul
NGOUPANDE
Minister of Finance and Budget--Mr. Théodore
DABANGA
Ambassador to the United States--Emmanuel
Touaboy
Ambassador to the United Nations--Fernand
Poukre-Kono
The Central African Republic maintains an embassy in the United
States at
1618-22nd Street, NW, Washington, DC
(tel: 202-483-7800/01,
fax:
202-332-9893).
ECONOMY
The Central African Republic is classified as one of the world's
least
developed countries, with a
2002 annual per capita income of $260. Sparsely
populated and
landlocked, the nation is overwhelmingly agrarian, with the
vast bulk of the population engaged in subsistence farming and 55% of
the
country's gross domestic product (GDP) arising
from agriculture. Principal
crops include cotton, food
crops (cassava, yams, bananas, maize), coffee, and
tobacco. In 2002,
timber accounted for about 30% of export earnings. The
country also has rich but largely unexploited natural resources in
the form
of diamonds, gold, uranium, and other minerals. There
may be oil deposits
along the country's northern
border with Chad. Diamonds are the only of these
mineral resources
currently being developed; in 2002, diamond exports made up
close to
50% of the C.A.R.'s export earnings. Industry contributes only about
20% of the country's GDP, with artesian diamond mining, breweries,
and
sawmills making up the bulk
of the sector. Services currently account for
about
25% of GDP, largely because of the oversized government bureaucracy
and
high transportation costs arising from the country's landlocked
position.
Hydroelectric plants based in Boali provide much of the country's
limited
electrical supply. Fuel supplies must be
barged in via the Ubangui River or
trucked overland through
Cameroon, resulting in frequent shortages
of
gasoline, diesel, and
jet fuel. The C.A.R.'s transportation and communication
network is
limited. The country has only 650 kilometers of paved
road,
limited international and
no domestic air service (except charters), and does
not possess a
railroad. Commercial traffic on the Ubangui River is impossible
from
December to May or June, and conflict in the region has
sometimes
prevented shipments
from moving between Kinshasa and Bangui. The telephone
system functions, albeit imperfectly. Four radio stations currently
operate
in the C.A.R., as well as one television station.
Numerous newspapers and
pamphlets are published on
a regular basis, and at least one company has
begun providing Internet
service.
In the more than 40 years since independence, the C.A.R. has made
slow
progress toward economic
development. Economic mismanagement,
poor
infrastructure, a limited tax base, scarce private investment, and
adverse
external conditions have led to deficits in both
its budget and external
trade. Its debt
burden is considerable, and the country has seen a decline in
per
capita gross national product (GNP) over the last 30 years.
Structural
adjustment programs with the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and interest-free credits to support
investments in the agriculture,
livestock, and transportation sectors have had limited impact. The
World Bank
and IMF are now encouraging the government to concentrate
exclusively on
implementing much-needed
economic reforms to jumpstart the economy
and
defining its fundamental
priorities with the aim of alleviating poverty. As a
result, many of
the state-owned business entities have been privatized and
limited efforts have been made to standardize and simplify labor
and
investment codes
and to address problems of corruption. The C.A.R. Government
has
adopted the Central African Economic and Monetary Community
(CEMAC)
Charter of Investment, and is
in the process of adopting a new labor code.
DEFENSE
Under military restructuring plans formulated 1999-2000, the
civilian
Minister of
Defense controlled and directed all armed forces, including the
Presidential Security Unit (UPS), which had previously been seen as a
militia
supporting the president. In April 2001, the C.A.R. armed
forces numbered
about 3,000, including army, navy,
air force, gendarmerie, national police,
Presidential Security
Unit, and local police personnel. An estimated 1,200
members of the army and gendarmerie fled to the Democratic Republic of
the
Congo following the failed coup attempt of May
2001.
Following the 2003 coup, Central African Economic and Monetary
Community
(CEMAC-Communauté Économique et
Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale) and C.A.R.
armed forces
assumed responsibility for securing the capital city.
CEMAC
forces currently total approximately
400 soldiers, which are supported by an
additional 200 French
soldiers. The C.A.R. armed forces number approximately
2,000. Working
with the French, the C.A.R. military is attempting to provide
professional training and decentralize its troops in an effort to combat
road
bandits, thievery, and poaching throughout the C.A.R.
territory.
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
The Central African Republic is an active member in several Central
African
organizations, including the Economic and Monetary
Union (CEMAC), the
Economic
Community of Central African States (CEEAC) Central African Peace
and Security Council (COPAX--still under formation), and the Central
Bank of
Central African States (BEAC). Standardization of tax,
customs, and security
arrangements between the Central African states
is a major foreign policy
objective of the C.A.R.
Government. The C.A.R. is a participant in
the
Community of Sahel-Saharan
States (CEN-SAD), and the Organization of African
Unity (OAU--now the
African Union). Libya and, to a lesser degree, Sudan have
shown
increased interest in cooperation with the C.A.R. over the last year.
Outside of Africa, the C.A.R. maintains fairly close ties to France,
albeit
considerably reduced from previous years. In the late
1990s, France withdrew
forces stationed in the C.A.R.; drops in its
external assistance budget have
reduced French military and social
development aid to the country. Other
multilateral organizations--including the World Bank, International Monetary
Fund, UN agencies, European Union, and the African Development
Bank--and
bilateral donors--including
Germany, Japan, the European Union, China, and
the United
States--are significant development partners for the
C.A.R.
Seventeen countries have resident diplomatic or consular
representatives in
Bangui, and the C.A.R. maintains
approximately the same number of missions
abroad. Since
early 1989 the government recognizes both Israel and
the
Palestinian state. The C.A.R.
also maintains diplomatic relations with China.
The C.A.R. generally
joins other African and developing country states in
consensus positions on major policy
issues.
U.S.-C.A.R.
RELATIONS
The U.S. and C.A.R. enjoy generally good relations, although concerns
over
the pace of political and economic liberalization
and human rights have
affected the
degree of support provided by the U.S. to the country. The U.S.
Embassy in Bangui was briefly closed as a result of the 1996-97 mutinies. It
reopened in 1998 with limited staff, but U.S. Agency for
International
Development (USAID)
and Peace Corps missions previously operating in Bangui
did not
return. The American Embassy in Bangui again temporarily suspended
operations on November 2, 2002 in response to security concerns
raised by the
October 2002 launch of Francois Bozize's 2003 military
coup.
The Embassy reopened in January 2005; however, there currently is
limited
U.S. diplomatic/consular representation in
the C.A.R. As a result, the
ability of the Embassy to provide services to American citizens
remains
extremely limited. The
Department of State approved the lifting of Section
508
aid restrictions triggered by the coup; U.S. assistance to the
Central
African Republic had been prohibited except in
the areas of humanitarian aid
and support for
democratization.
The U.S. Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against
travel
to the Central African Republic. Americans in the C.A.R.
are urged to
exercise
caution and maintain security awareness at all times. U.S. citizens
who travel to or remain in the Central African Republic and need
emergency
assistance should contact the U.S. Embassy in
Yaounde, Cameroon at telephone
(237) 223-4014, (237) 223-0512, fax
(237) 223-0753, and 223-0581 (Consular).
Americans may also contact
the American Embassy in N'djamena, Chad
at
telephone (235)
51-70-09, 51-92-33 or 51-90-52 and fax (235) 51-56-54. As
noted above, since the United States has a limited diplomatic
presence in the
Central African Republic, the ability to provide
services to U.S. citizens in
the C.A.R. is extremely
limited.
Principal U.S.
Officials
Charge d'Affaires, U.S. Embassy Bangui--James
Panos
The U.S. Embassy in Bangui is located on Blvd David Dacko, Bangui
(tel:
236-61-02-00, fax: 61-44-94, B.P.
924,
Bangui).
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans
traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public
Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all
countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political
disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about
terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that
pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings
are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad
should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet
web site at
http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution,
Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs
Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a
safe
trip abroad, are also available at
http://www.travel.state.gov.
For
additional information on international
travel, see
http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens who traveling or
residing
abroad to register via the State Department's travel
registration website or
at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
abroad. Registration will make your
presence and whereabouts known in
case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will
enable you to receive up-to-date information on security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained
by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular
toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of
State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service
representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00
a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP
(877-394-8747) and a web site at
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the
most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements,
and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A
booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government
Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://
www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global
access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background
Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of
Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website
http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market
information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free
export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides
authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from
the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities,
and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.
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Background
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Central African Republic
