THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 622,984 sq km (242,000 sq mi)
Population: 3.8 million (2001 est.)
Capital City: Bangui (population:
690,000)
People: More than 80 different ethnic
groups. Baya (34%), Banda (28%), Sara
(10%), Mandja (9%), Mboum (9%),
M'baka (7%)
Language(s): French (official); Sangho
(national)
Religion(s): Protestant (25%), Roman
Catholic (25%), Muslim (15%),
indigenous beliefs (35%)
Currency: CFA Franc (fixed to Euro)
Major political parties: Concertation des
Partis Politiques dÆOpposition (CPPO),
Convention des Patriotes
Centrafricains (CPC), Mouvement pour
la liberation du peuple centrafricain
(MLPC), Rassemblement democratique
centrafricain (RDC), Mouvement pour
la democratie et le developpement
(MDD), Front patriotique pour le
progres (FPP), Parti social democrate
(PSD)
GEOGRAPHY
Central African Republic is landlocked.
It is mainly savannah in the north and
equatorial forest in the south. Chad
borders the north of the country, with
Sudan to the east, Democratic Republic
of Congo and Republic of Congo to the
south, and Cameroon to the west. The
main river, the Oubangui forms part of
the border with the Democratic
Republic of Congo, and then flows
south between the Republic of Congo
and the DRC to the Congo Basin.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Longer Historical Perspective
The CAR appears to have been settled
from at least the 7th century onwards
by overlapping empires, including the
Kanem-Bornou, Baguirmi, and Darfur
groups based in Lake Chad and the
Upper Nile. Later, various North
African sultanates claimed present day
CAR to feed the slave trade, both north
across the Sahara, and across to West
Africa for export by the Europeans.
In 1885 the French, Germans, and
Belgians began arriving in the area. The
French consolidated their control in
1903 when they defeated the forces of
the Sultan of Egypt and established a
colonial administration. In 1910 the
Oubangui-Chari territory (largely
present day CAR) became one of the
four territories of the Federation of
French Equatorial Africa (AEF) along
with Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and
Gabon. French presence centred on
the extraction of raw materials,
principally rubber, and trading
companies were allowed to operate as
de facto government authorities. Many
were brutal in their treatment of local
populations.
The AEF fought for Charles de Gaulle's
Free France during World War II, and
in 1946 AEF inhabitants were granted
citizenship of the French "Union"
encompassing all French colonies and
semi-autonomous local assemblies
were created. BarthTlemy Boganda, a
Catholic priest led the CAR assembly
and, with the dissolution of the AEF in
1958, became head of government.
Upon his death in 1959 his nephew,
David Dacko, replaced him.
The CAR gained full independence from
France in 1960 with Dacko as the
country's first President. The French
settler community and some local
politicians favoured continuing
attachment to the French Communaute.
Dacko turned the country into a one
party state with MESAN (Mouvement
d'Evolution Sociale de l'Afrique Noire)
as the sole political party. Presidential
elections were held in 1964 in which
Dacko was the only candidate. With the
country facing bankruptcy and a
threatened nation-wide strike, Dacko
was ousted in 1966 in a swift and
virtually bloodless coup led by Colonel
Jean Bedel Bokassa, the Army Chief of
Staff.
Bokassa had virtually absolute power:
he declared himself President for life
in 1972, and in 1977 crowned himself
Emperor of the Central African
Empire. Open opposition to his rule
began in 1979 and several opposition
groups were formed in exile, including
the Mouvement pour la Liberation du
Peuple Centrafricain (MLPC), led by
PatassT. In December 1979, following
riots in Bangui and the murder of
between 50 and 200 schoolchildren,
Dacko deposed Bokassa in a coup
supported by French troops flown in
from Gabon. He re-established the
Republic.
President Dacko held elections in
March 1981, which he narrowly won.
However, opposition pressure grew
and he cancelled legislative elections
due later in the year. He was unable to
suppress subsequent outbreaks of
violence and popular demonstrations by
various opposition parties. Deprived of
French support following the change of
government in Paris, President Dacko
resigned, handing over power to the
Army Chief of Staff General AndrT
Kolingba. A coup attempt led by Ange
Felix PatassT in March 1982 failed. He
sought refuge in the French embassy
and, at their insistence, was
guaranteed safe passage into exile in
Togo.
In 1986 Kolingba held a referendum that
extended his mandate for a further 6
years and approved a draft constitution
which allowed for greater presidential
powers. However, from late 1990
public unrest and disillusion with the
regime increased, largely as a result of
economic reforms and cutbacks. The
government was plagued by sporadic
strikes initiated by the trade union
movement, into which opposition
politicians now channelled their
energies. Kolingba bowed to the
demands of the opposition and
international donor community to start
a democratic transition. Multi-party
presidential elections were held in
October 1992. Kolingba came last but
had the results annulled by the
Supreme Court, with the support of
other candidates, because of
widespread irregularities.
After several postponements,
presidential elections were
re-scheduled for October 1993.
Ange-Felix PatassT beat Dacko and
Kolingba thus ending twelve years of
military rule. Following a referendum
in late 1994, PatassT introduced a new
constitution and began work on
decentralisation. Despite this attempt at
reform, 1996 and 1997 saw three army
mutinies against PatassT's government,
provoked by salary arrears, labour
unrest and ethnic tensions within the
army. The French quelled the
demonstrations and kept troops in the
country to ensure stability. Regional
leaders mediated between the
mutineers and the government, leading
to the Bangui accords being signed by
all parties in January 1997. Shortly
after the declaration was signed Michel
Gbezera-Bria was appointed Prime
Minister and a new government was
named. In June 1997 there was fighting
between the mutineers and
Inter-African peacekeeping force
(MISAB). Mediators brokered another
cease-fire and Bangui returned to
relative calm.
In April 1998 French forces based in
CAR withdrew and MISAB was replaced
by MINURCA, a UN peacekeeping force
of 1350 troops. MINURCA withdrew
when its mandate finally expired on 15
February 2000. The current UN
presence in Bangui (BONUCA) is a UN
Peace-building Support Office under
the charge of General Lamine CissT. It
aims to support the government of
CAR in its efforts to consolidate peace
and the rule of law; strengthen
democratic institutions; facilitate the
mobilisation of international political
support and resources for national
reconstruction and economic recovery;
and follow up on security reforms.
Recent History
On 15 March 2003, forces loyal to
General Francois Bozize, the former
chief of Defence Staff, attacked
Bangui and seized power. Patasse was
out of the country at the time, and
subsequently fled to Cameroon and
later Togo. Bozize proclaimed himself
President and appointed a new
government. The international
community condemned the military
coup, but Bozize has promised to hold
elections within 2 years.
The successful military coup followed
at least two years of military instability
in Central African Republic. President
Ange-Felix PatassT won a second
term in the presidential elections of
1999, with just over 50% of the vote.
However, late 2000 saw an increase in
strikes in Bangui as civil servants
protested at non-payment of salaries.
A rally organised by 15 opposition
groups accused PatassT of
mismanagement and corruption led to
riots.
2001 saw two further attempted
coups, in May by supporters of
Kolingba and in November by those of
General Bozize. On both occasions,
PatassT's troops, with the help of
Libyan and other forces, regained
control of the city. A spate of revenge
killings followed and many of Bangui's
residents fled the city. Several
thousand members of the Yakoma
ethnic group fled the country to escape
reprisals, nearly a thousand soldiers.
After the attempted coup in May,
Bozize had been sacked and a warrant
issued for his arrest. Following his
failed coup in November he fled to
Chad.
Fighting again erupted in Bangui on 25
October 2002, between Bozize's rebels
and troops loyal to President PatassT.
After several days of fighting, and with
the intervention of Jean-Pierre
BembaÆs MLC troops from the
neighbouring Democratic Republic of
Congo, the rebel troops were forced
to retreat to the north of the country,
from where they launched their
successful assault in March. Libyan and
MLC troops have left the CAR, while
the peacekeeping force from the
Central African Economic and
Monetary Community (CEMAC)
deployed to Bangui in December 2002
is still present, reinforced by Chadian
forces.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US$ 977.6m (2001)
GDP per head: US$ 248.8
Inflation: 3.0%
Major Industries: Agriculture,
diamonds, timber
Major trading partners: Benelux,
France, Cameroon, Spain, China
Exchange rate: Euro 1 = CFA 655.957
(fixed)
Trade Partners UK Country Profile:
Central African Republic
The CAR is one of the world's least
developed countries and depends
largely upon agriculture. The majority
of the population is engaged in
subsistence farming and the main
crops are cotton, coffee, tobacco and
food crops such as bananas, cassava,
maize, and yams. Timber and uncut
diamonds are major sources of export
revenue. The country is also rich in
other natural resources such as gold,
and uranium but these are largely
unexploited, as are unconfirmed
quantities of oil in the northern part of
the country. Exports are largely reliant
on the road route through Cameroon
to the Gulf of Guinea, and the Oubangui
River, both of which have often been
affected by conflict in the country.
CAR's economy has experienced severe
difficulties in recent years because of
swings in the price of its raw material
exports (notably cotton), poor
economic policies and administration,
increased indebtedness, and the
disruption caused by the repeated
mutinies and coups from the 1990s. A
number of strikes and non-payment of
government salaries have further
disrupted business activity and
hindered domestic demand. Until
confidence in the stability of the
country increases, the situation will
remain precarious.
Arrears on debt service obligations
continue to mount as government
revenues fall short, control over
budgetary expenditure remains weak
and there are delays in implementing
structural reforms. The World Bank
resumed its operations in CAR in
December 1999 with the approval of a
fiscal consolidation credit and a
development credit. However in
mid-August 2001 it suspended its
disbursements for non-payment of
amounts due. The IMF also suspended
its Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility (PRGF) programme in the
latter half of 2001 as a result of the
coup. This combined with a
deteriorating export sector to limit
CAR's ability to meet Programme
targets. In October 2001 CAR embarked
on a six month (unfunded) Staff
Monitored Programme (SMP). CAR's
difficulties in clearing arrears (mainly
due to the African Development Bank)
delayed the presentation of the PRGF
to the IMF Board until November 2002.
This was again delayed following the
October attempted coup. The
Government hopes to qualify for debt
relief by reaching Enhanced Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Decision point in 2003, but is reliant on
first resuming a full PRGF. Without
donor support and debt relief to clear
external debt and civil service arrears
the economic and political situation in
CAR will remain extremely fragile.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CAR's relations with neighbours
Central African Republic is a member
of the Central African Economic and
Monetary Community (CEMAC), along
with Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial
Guinea, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville.
The presence of large numbers of
refugees in the Equateur Province of
the Democratic Republic of Congo
make for an uneasy relationship
between the two countries. Under
Patasse, CARÆs relations with Chad
were tense, with both governments
accusing each other of supporting
respective rebel movements, although
this relationship has greatly improved
under Bozize, with Chadian troops
protecting the new regime.
CAR's Relations with the International
Community
The CAR has traditionally had a close
relationship with France, the former
colonial power, with aid and trade
complemented by the deployment of
French peacekeeping troops following
the coups in the 1990s.
Libya has shown increasing interest in
the CAR and has provided troops in
support of PatassT during the coup
attempt in May and the recent unrest.
Flags Of The World: Central African Republic
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