Countries
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Disputes - international: periodic skirmishes over water and grazing rights among related pastoral populations along the border with southern Sudan persist
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 15,300 (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
IDPs: 192,000 (clashes between army and rebel groups since 2005)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Central African Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the majority of victims are children trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, street vending, and forced agricultural, mine, market and restaurant labor; to a lesser extent, children are trafficked from the Central African Republic to Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; rebels continue to abduct and exploit enslaved Sudanese, Congolese, Central African, and Ugandan children for use as cooks, porters, concubines, and combatants
tier rating: Tier 3 - Central African Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; the government, which has limited human and physical capital, did not investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, identify or provide protective services to trafficking victims, or take steps to raise public awareness about the dangers of human trafficking; the revised Central African penal code, enacted in January 2010, outlaws all forms of trafficking in persons, but awareness of this statute remains low
Military branches: Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armees Centrafricaines, FACA): Ground Forces (includes Military Air Service), General Directorate of Gendarmerie Inspection (DGIG), National Police
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for selective military service; 2-year conscript service obligation
Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 1,149,856, females age 16-49: 1,145,897
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: male: 54,843, female: 53,999
Military expenditures: 0.9% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 143
Airports: 40
country comparison to the world: 106
Roadways: 24,307 km
country comparison to the world: 105
Waterways: 2,800 km (the primary navigable river is the Ubangi, which joins the River Congo; it was the traditional route for the export of products because it connected with the Congo-Ocean railway at Brazzaville; because of the warfare on both sides of the River Congo from 1997, however, routes through Cameroon became preferred by importers and exporters)
country comparison to the world: 35
Ports and terminals: Bangui, Nola, Salo, Nzinga
Telephones - main lines in use: 12,000
country comparison to the world: 201
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.02 million
country comparison to the world: 151
Telephone system: general assessment: network consists principally of microwave radio relay and low-capacity, low-powered radiotelephone communication
domestic: limited telephone service with less than 1 fixed-line connection per 100 persons; spurred by the presence of multiple mobile-cellular service providers, cellular usage is increasing from a low base; most fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone services are concentrated in Bangui
international: country code - 236; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Broadcast media: government-owned network, Radiodiffusion Television Centrafricaine, provides domestic TV broadcasting; licenses for 2 private TV stations are pending; state-owned radio network is supplemented by a small number of privately-owned broadcast stations as well as a few community radio stations; transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are available
Internet country code: .cf
Internet hosts: 20
country comparison to the world: 220
Internet users: 22,600
country comparison to the world: 191
Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with about 60% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates more than half of GDP. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export earnings and the diamond industry, for 40%. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between the government and its opponents remains a drag on economic revitalization. Since 2009 the IMF has worked closely with the government to institute reforms that have resulted in some improvement in budget transparency, but other problems remain. The government's additional spending in the run-up to the election in 2011 worsened CAR's fiscal situation. Distribution of income is extraordinarily unequal. Grants from France and the international community can only partially meet humanitarian needs. CAR currently lacks an IMF program.
Government type: republic
Administrative divisions:14 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture), 2 economic prefectures* (prefectures economiques, singular - prefecture economique), and 1 commune**; Bamingui-Bangoran, Bangui**, Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou, Kemo, Lobaye, Mambere-Kadei, Mbomou, Nana-Grebizi*, Nana-Mambere, Ombella-Mpoko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pende, Sangha-Mbaere*, Vakaga
Legal system: civil law system based on the French model
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Ethnic groups: Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Mandjia 13%, Sara 10%, Mboum 7%, M'Baka 4%, Yakoma 4%, other 2%
Languages: French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages
Religions: indigenous beliefs 35%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%
note: animistic beliefs and practices strongly influence the Christian majority
Population: 5,057,208
country comparison to the world: 117
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Median age: 19.3 years
male: 18.9 years
female: 19.7 years
Population growth rate: 2.142%
country comparison to the world: 42
Life expectancy at birth:50.48 years
country comparison to the world: 216
male: 49.23 years
female: 51.76 years
Total fertility rate: 4.57 children born/woman
country comparison to the world: 28
Health expenditures: 4.3% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 154
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)
Education expenditures: 1.3% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 159
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 56%
male: 69.3%
female: 43.2%
Location: Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Land boundaries: 5,203 km
border countries: Cameroon 797 km, Chad 1,197 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 467 km, South Sudan 990 km, Sudan 175 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers
Terrain: vast, flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest
Natural resources: diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 3.1%, permanent crops: 0.15%, other: 96.75%
Irrigated land: 10 sq km
Total renewable water resources: 144.4 cu km
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas; floods are common
Environment - current issues: tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished the country's reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification; deforestation
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note: landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa
The former French colony of Ubangi-Shari became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. After three tumultuous decades of misrule - mostly by military governments - civilian rule was established in 1993 and lasted for one decade. President Ange-Felix PATASSE's civilian government was plagued by unrest, and in March 2003 he was deposed in a military coup led by General Francois BOZIZE, who established a transitional government. Though the government has the tacit support of civil society groups and the main parties, a wide field of candidates contested the municipal, legislative, and presidential elections held in March and May of 2005 in which General BOZIZE was affirmed as president. BOZIZE was reelected in the 2011 elections, which were widely viewed as having gross inaccuracies and discrepancies. The government still does not fully control the countryside, where pockets of lawlessness persist. Militant group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continues to affect stability in the Central African Republic as well.
Central African Republic
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