Central African Republic

• tropical;
• hot, dry winters;
• mild to hot, wet summers

mean elevation:

635 m

elevation extremes:

335 m lowest point: Oubangui River; 1410 highest point: Mont Ngaoui

• water pollution;
• tap water is not potable;
• poaching and mismanagement have diminished the country's reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges;
• desertification;
• deforestation;
• soil erosion

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

noun:

Central African(s)

adjective:

Central African

0-14 years:

39.89% (male 1,151,724 /female 1,140,083)

15-24 years:

19.91% (male 574,969 /female 568,942)

25-54 years:

32.64% (male 938,365 /female 936,948)

55-64 years:

4.17% (male 112,310 /female 127,045)

65 years and over:

3.39% (male 75,401 /female 119,275) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

90 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

83.1 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

7 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

14.4 (2015 est.)

at birth:

1.02 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

1 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

0.84 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

degree of risk:

very high (2016)

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever (2016)

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and dengue fever (2016)

water contact diseases:

schistosomiasis (2016)

animal contact diseases:

rabies (2016)

respiratory diseases:

meningococcal meningitis (2016)

conventional long form:

Central African Republic

conventional short form:

none

local long form:

Republique Centrafricaine

local short form:

none

former:

Ubangi-Shari, Central African Empire

abbreviation:

CAR

etymology:

• self-descriptive name specifying the country's location on the continent;
• "Africa" is derived from the Roman designation of the area corresponding to present-day Tunisia "Africa terra," which meant "Land of the Afri" (the tribe resident in that area), but which eventually came to mean the entire continent

name:

Bangui

geographic coordinates:

4 22 N, 18 35 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 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

history:

several previous; latest (interim constitution) approved by the Transitional Council 30 August 2015, adopted by referendum 13-14 December 2015, ratified 27 March 2016 (2017)

amendments:

• proposals require support of the government, two-thirds of the National Council of Transition, and assent by the "Mediator of the Central African" crisis;
• passage requires at least three-fourths majority vote by the National Council membership;
• non-amendable constitutional provisions include those on the secular and republican form of government, fundamental rights and freedoms, amendment procedures, or changes to the authorities of various high-level executive, parliamentary, and judicial officials (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

least one parent must be a citizen of the Central African Republic

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

35 years

highest courts:

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges, at least 3 of whom are women)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges appointed by the president;
• Constitutional Court judge appointments - 2 by the president, 1 by the speaker of the National Assembly, 2 elected by their peers, 2 are advocates elected by their peers, and 2 are law professors elected by their peers;
• judges serve 7-year non-renewable terms

subordinate courts:

high courts; magistrates' courts

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (140 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote with a second round if needed; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

last held 30 December 2015 (results annulled), 14 February 2016 - first round and 31 March 2016 - second round (next to be held in 2021)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - UNDP 16, URCA 11, RDC 8, MLPC 10, KNK 7, other 28, independent 60;
• composition - men 129, women 11, percent of women 7.9%

• Action Party for Development or PAD [El Hadj Laurent NGON-BABA]
• Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP [Clement BELIBANGA]
• Central African Democratic Rally or RDC [Desire Nzanga KOLINGBA]
• Movement for Democracy and Development or MDD [Louis PAPENIAH]
• Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People or MLPC [Martin ZIGUELE]
• National Convergence (also known as Kwa Na Kwa) or KNK [Francois BOZIZE]
• National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Amine MICHEL]
• New Alliance for Progress or NAP [Jean-Jacques DEMAFOUTH]
• Social Democratic Party or PSD [Enoch LAKOUE]
• Union for Central African Renewal or URCA [Anicet-Georges DOLOGUELE]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Martial NDOUBOU (since 17 September 2018)

chancery:

2704 Ontario Road NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 483-7800

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-9893

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David P. BROWNSTEIN (since September 2017)

embassy:

Avenue David Dacko, Bangui

mailing address:

P.O. Box 924, Bangui

telephone:

[236] 21 61 0200

FAX:

[236] 21 61 4494

• four equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, green, and yellow with a vertical red band in center;
• a yellow five-pointed star to the hoist side of the blue band;
• banner combines the Pan-African and French flag colors;
• red symbolizes the blood spilled in the struggle for independence, blue represents the sky and freedom, white peace and dignity, green hope and faith, and yellow tolerance;
• the star represents aspiration towards a vibrant future

name:

"Le Renaissance" (The Renaissance)

lyrics/music:

Barthelemy BOGANDA/Herbert PEPPER

note: adopted 1960; Barthelemy BOGANDA wrote the anthem's lyrics and was the first prime minister of the autonomous French territory

lowest 10%:

33% (2003)

highest 10%:

33% (2003)

general assessment:

• network consists principally of microwave radio relay and at low-capacity;
• ongoing conflict has obstructed telecommunication and media development, although there are ISP and mobile phone carriers, radio is the most-popular communications medium (2017)

domestic:

• very limited telephone service with less than 1 fixed-line connection per 100 persons;
• with the presence of multiple providers mobile-cellular service has reached 22 per 100 mobile-cellular subscribers;
• cellular usage is increasing from a low base;
• most fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone services are concentrated in Bangui (2017)

international:

country code - 236; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2015)

• government-owned network, Radiodiffusion Television Centrafricaine, provides limited domestic TV broadcasting;
• 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 (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

2 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 2 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

46,364 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)

total:

20,278 km (2010)

paved:

1,385 km (2010)

unpaved:

18,893 km (2010)

current situation:

• Central African Republic (CAR) is a source, transit, and destination country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, women subjected to forced prostitution, and adults subjected to forced labor;
• most victims appear to be CAR citizens exploited within the country, with a smaller number transported back and forth between the CAR and nearby countries;
• armed groups operating in the CAR, including those aligned with the former SELEKA Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, continue to recruit and re-recruit children for military activities and labor;
• children are also subject to domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor in agriculture, mines, shops, and street vending;
• women and girls are subject to domestic servitude, sexual slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced marriage

tier rating:

• Tier 3 – the Central African Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• the government conducted a limited number of investigations and prosecutions of cases of suspected human trafficking in 2014 but did not identify, provide protection to, or refer to care providers any trafficking victims;
• the government did not directly provide reintegration programs for demobilized child soldiers, leaving victims vulnerable to further exploitation or retrafficking by armed groups, including those affiliated with the government;
• in 2014, an NGO and the government began drafting a national action plan against trafficking but no efforts were reported to establish a policy against child soldiering or to raise awareness about existing laws prohibiting the use of children in the armed forces (2015)