Central African Republic
Name
| Official name | Central African Republic — République centrafricaine; Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka (Sango) |
|---|---|
| Former names | Ubangi-Shari — Oubangui-Chari — the French colony, 1894–1958; the Central African Empire, 1976–1979 |
| Demonym | Central African |
| Meaning of the name | A description — the republic at the center of Africa; Boganda's name of 1958 for a country he hoped would anchor a wider Central African union |
| Motto | "Unité, Dignité, Travail" — unity, dignity, work |
Quick facts
| Capital | Bangui — on the Oubangui; the capital since 1906; about 1 million |
|---|---|
| Other towns | Bimbo, Berbérati, Carnot, Bambari, Bouar, Bossangoa, Bria |
| Official languages | French and Sango — Sango, the trade language of the Oubangui, official since 1991 and spoken by nearly all; one of few African languages official beside the colonial tongue |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc — ISO code XAF, F CFA; 655.957 to the euro; the Bank of Central African States |
| Time zone | West Africa Time, UTC+1, all year |
| Calling code | +236 |
| Internet domain | .cf |
| ISO 3166 codes | CF · CAF · 140 |
| Vehicle registration code | RCA |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 220 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and E |
| Independence | 13 August 1960, from France |
| National days | 1 December, National Day — the proclamation of the republic in 1958; 13 August, Independence Day; 29 March, Boganda Day |
| Constitution | 30 August 2023, adopted by the referendum of 30 July 2023 with a reported 95% — the "Seventh Republic": seven-year presidential terms without limit; replacing the constitution of 30 March 2016 |
| Population | 3,895,139 at the census of 2003 — the last held; about 5.5 million (UN and CIA World Factbook, 2025 est.) |
| Area | 622,984 km² (240,535 sq mi) — almost all land; landlocked; a little smaller than Texas |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Four horizontal bands of blue, white, green and yellow crossed at the center by a vertical red bar, with a yellow star in the upper hoist — the French tricolor and the pan-African colors on one cloth, the red for the blood of the people; Barthélemy Boganda's design, adopted 1 December 1958 and unchanged since.Flag of the Central African Republic |
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| Coat of arms | A shield of the elephant, the baobab, the star of the Order of Central African Merit, the hand and the diamond, under the sun and the motto "Zo kwe zo" — a person is a person — and the flag's colors; adopted 1963 |
| National anthem | "La Renaissance" — words by Barthélemy Boganda, music by Herbert Pepper; adopted 25 May 1960 |
| National motto | "Unité, Dignité, Travail" |
| National colors | Blue, white, green, yellow and red |
| National animal | The elephant — on the arms; the forest elephants of the Dzanga bai; heraldic, widely cited |
| National dish | Gozo — cassava paste — with sauces of greens, groundnuts or fish; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms, anthem and motto are fixed by the Constitution; the animal and dish are widely cited, none designated |
Geography
| Location | The center of Africa — landlocked on the watershed between the Congo and Chad basins, between Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the two Congos and Cameroon |
|---|---|
| Land borders | 5,920 km (3,679 mi) with six countries |
| Border with the DR Congo | 1,747 km (1,086 mi) — the Oubangui and the Mbomou rivers |
| Border with Chad | 1,556 km (967 mi) |
| Border with South Sudan | 1,055 km (656 mi) |
| Border with Cameroon | 901 km (560 mi) |
| Border with the Republic of the Congo | 487 km (303 mi) |
| Border with Sudan | 174 km (108 mi) |
| Coastline | None — landlocked |
| Highest point | Mont Ngaoui, 1,410 m (4,626 ft), on the Cameroon border |
| Lowest point | The Oubangui River, 335 m (1,099 ft) |
| Mean elevation | 635 m (2,083 ft) |
| Major rivers | The Oubangui, the Congo's great northern tributary, formed by the Mbomou and the Uele; the Sangha; the Kotto; the Chari and the Logone north to Lake Chad; the Lobaye |
| Terrain | A savanna plateau between the two basins; the Bongo Massif in the northeast; the Yade Massif in the northwest; rainforest in the southwest along the Sangha |
| Climate | Tropical — a rainy season from May to October, hotter and drier toward the north, the harmattan in winter; equatorial in the forest |
| Natural hazards | Floods of the Oubangui — Bangui flooded in 2019 and 2024; drought in the north; the harmattan |
| Natural resources | Diamonds, gold, uranium at Bakouma, timber, hydropower, lithium, oil in the north; a soil of laterite |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 8%; forest about 36% |
| National parks | Manovo-Gounda St Floris in the north; Dzanga-Sangha and its bai of forest elephants in the southwest; Bamingui-Bangoran; the Chinko reserve in the east |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 2 — Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park (1988; on the danger list since 1997); the Sangha Trinational (2012), shared with Cameroon and Congo |
| Administrative divisions | 20 prefectures and the autonomous commune of Bangui since the reform of 2020, grouped in seven regions; 16 prefectures before |
People
| Population | 3,895,139 (census of 2003); about 5.5 million (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 9 per km² (23 per sq mi) |
| Population growth | About 2% a year |
| Median age | About 20 years |
| Life expectancy | About 56 years — among the lowest in the world |
| Fertility rate | About 5.5 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 44% |
| Adult literacy | About 37% |
| Ethnic groups | Gbaya about 29%, Banda about 23%, Mandjia about 13%, Sara about 10%, Mboum, M'Baka, Yakoma, Fulani; the Aka pygmies of the forest |
| Languages | Sango by nearly all; French by about a quarter; Gbaya, Banda and some 70 others |
| Religion | Christian about 89% — Protestant about 51%, Catholic about 29%; Muslim about 9%, mostly in the north and northeast; traditional beliefs |
| Displacement | Some 700,000 internally displaced and 700,000 refugees abroad, in Cameroon, Chad, the DR Congo and Sudan; about half the population in need of humanitarian aid |
| Human Development Index | 0.414 (2023 data, 2025 report) — low; 191st of 193 |
| Poverty | About two-thirds of the population in extreme poverty, on less than US$2.15 a day (World Bank) |
| Sport | Football — the Wild Beasts, Les Fauves; basketball — the national team at the world championship of 1974 and the African champions of 1974 and 1987 |
Government
| Form of government | Presidential republic under the Constitution of 2023 — the president elected for seven years, without term limits |
|---|---|
| President | Faustin-Archange Touadéra (United Hearts Movement), since 30 March 2016 — a mathematician, rector of the University of Bangui and prime minister 2008–2013; elected in the runoff of 2016 with 62.7%, re-elected 2020 with 53.2% and 2025 |
| The 2025 election | Held 28 December 2025 with the legislative and local elections: Touadéra in the first round with 77.9% by the Constitutional Council's final count — 76.15% provisional — Anicet-Georges Dologuélé 14.7%, Henri-Marie Dondra 3.2%; turnout 52.4%; the main opposition coalition, the BRDC, boycotted, and the two leading challengers alleged fraud |
| The third term | Sworn in on 30 March 2026 for seven years, to 2033 — eligible again in 2032 under the constitution of 2023, adopted by referendum on 30 July 2023 with a reported 95% on a turnout of 57% |
| Prime Minister | Félix Moloua (United Hearts Movement), since 7 February 2022 — a mathematician and former planning minister; reappointed 15 May 2026, the first head of government of the Seventh Republic |
| Parliament | The National Assembly — 140 members elected for five years; a Senate created by the constitution of 2023, to be seated |
| Legal system | Civil law on the French model; the Constitutional Court; the Special Criminal Court since 2018 for the crimes of the war |
| The war | Since 2012 — the Séléka coalition took Bangui on 24 March 2013 and the anti-balaka militias rose against it; a transition of 2014–16; the Khartoum peace agreement with fourteen armed groups on 6 February 2019; the offensive of the Coalition of Patriots for Change in December 2020, beaten back with Russian and Rwandan help; new peace accords with groups in 2025; large parts of the territory still outside state control |
| Foreign forces | MINUSCA, the UN mission of about 14,500 since September 2014; Russian forces — the Wagner Group from 2018, the Africa Corps since 2024 — and Rwandan troops beside the army; French forces withdrew in 2022 |
| Prefectures | 20, each under a prefect, and the commune of Bangui |
| United Nations | Member since 20 September 1960 |
| Regional memberships | The African Union; CEMAC, the Central African monetary community; the Economic Community of Central African States; the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$3 billion (2025, IMF) |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$500 (2025) — among the three lowest in the world |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$1,200 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 2–3% a year (2024–25) |
| Economy by sector | Agriculture about 40%, services about 40%, industry about 20% — subsistence farming employing most |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (XAF), fixed to the euro |
| Diamonds and gold | The leading exports, dug by hand in the west and east — the diamonds under the Kimberley Process, much of the trade smuggled; gold concessions to Russian companies |
| Timber | The forests of the southwest — the largest legal export by value in many years |
| Agriculture | Cassava, groundnuts, maize, millet, sorghum for food; cotton and coffee for export, both fallen with the war |
| Bitcoin | Legal tender from April 2022 — the second country in the world — until the law was repealed in March 2023 |
| Aid | Foreign aid and the UN mission the largest sources of money in the economy |
| Income classification | Low income (World Bank); a least developed country |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | Bangui M'Poko International Airport |
|---|---|
| Airline | None national in operation; regional carriers |
| River port | Bangui on the Oubangui — barges to Brazzaville and the Congo–Ocean railway to Pointe-Noire, the historic route to the sea; navigable only in high water |
| Railways | None |
| Roads | About 20,000 km (12,400 mi), a few hundred paved; the road to Douala through Cameroon, about 1,500 km, carries most trade |
| Electricity | Among the lowest access rates in the world — about 15%; the Boali hydropower stations on the Mbali |
History in dates
| c. 1000 BC | The Bouar megaliths |
|---|---|
| 16th–19th century | The Zande and Nzakara states; the Bandia sultanates of Bangassou and Rafai; slave raids from the north |
| 1889 | Bangui founded by the French |
| 1894 | The colony of Ubangi-Shari; part of French Equatorial Africa from 1910 |
| 1928–1931 | The Kongo-Wara rebellion against forced labor |
| 1946 | Barthélemy Boganda elected to the French National Assembly |
| 1958 | The Central African Republic proclaimed, 1 December — Boganda prime minister |
| 1959 | Boganda killed in a plane crash, 29 March |
| 1960 | Independence, 13 August — David Dacko president |
| 1966 | Jean-Bédel Bokassa's coup, 1 January |
| 1976–1977 | The Central African Empire proclaimed, 4 December 1976; the coronation, 4 December 1977 |
| 1979 | Bokassa overthrown with French help, 20 September |
| 1993 | Ange-Félix Patassé elected — the first democratic transfer |
| 2003 | François Bozizé's coup, 15 March |
| 2013 | The Séléka take Bangui, 24 March; the war |
| 2016 | Touadéra elected; in office 30 March |
| 2019 | The Khartoum peace agreement, 6 February |
| 2023 | The constitutional referendum, 30 July |
| 2025–2026 | Touadéra re-elected, 28 December; the third term, 30 March |
Records & firsts
| The heart of Africa | The republic at the continent's center |
|---|---|
| Among the poorest | GDP per head about US$500; the HDI 191st of 193 |
| The second country to adopt bitcoin | 2022, for eleven months |
| An emperor's coronation | Bokassa, 4 December 1977, on an eagle throne — a third of the year's budget |
| Two tricolors on one flag | France's and Africa's, since 1958 |
| The Dzanga bai | Where the forest elephants gather in the open by the dozen |
| A language of its own | Sango, official beside French — spoken by nearly all |
| The Bouar megaliths | Standing stones some 3,000 years old |
| Among the emptiest | About nine people per square kilometer |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of the Central African Republic?
The Central African Republic — République centrafricaine in French, Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka in Sango — the name Barthélemy Boganda gave the former colony of Ubangi-Shari on 1 December 1958; from December 1976 to September 1979 it was the Central African Empire of Jean-Bédel Bokassa. The country is often called by its initials, CAR, or Centrafrique.
What is the capital of the Central African Republic?
Bangui, on the north bank of the Oubangui River across from the Democratic Republic of the Congo — founded by the French in 1889, the capital since 1906, with about a million people, a fifth of the country. Bimbo, its suburb, Berbérati, Carnot and Bambari are the next towns; none has much more than 100,000 people.
How big is the Central African Republic, and how many people live there?
About 622,984 km² (240,535 sq mi) — a little smaller than Texas — landlocked at the center of the continent, with six neighbors. The last census, in 2003, counted 3.9 million people; the UN and the CIA World Factbook estimate about 5.5 million for 2025 — about nine per square kilometer, among the emptiest countries in Africa. Roughly half the population needs humanitarian aid, and some 700,000 are displaced within the country.
What are the highest and lowest points of the Central African Republic?
Mont Ngaoui, 1,410 m (4,626 ft), on the Cameroon border in the northwest, and the Oubangui River at 335 m (1,099 ft), where it leaves the country. Most of the land is a plateau of savanna about 600 m high, between the Chad basin to the north and the Congo basin to the south, with rainforest in the southwest where the Sangha flows.
What currency does the Central African Republic use?
The Central African CFA franc (ISO code XAF), shared with Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and fixed at 655.957 to the euro. In April 2022 the country made bitcoin legal tender, the second in the world after El Salvador, and repealed the law in March 2023. Clocks keep West Africa Time, UTC+1, all year.
Who governs the Central African Republic?
President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, a mathematician and former university rector in office since 30 March 2016, sworn in on 30 March 2026 for a third term — of seven years now, after the constitution of 2023 removed the two-term limit and lengthened the term — following the election of 28 December 2025, which he won in the first round with 77.9 percent of the vote against Anicet-Georges Dologuélé, with the main opposition coalition boycotting and the two leading challengers alleging fraud. Félix Moloua has been prime minister since 7 February 2022, reappointed in May 2026. The state controls only part of the territory, and its security rests on the UN mission MINUSCA, Rwandan troops and Russia's Africa Corps, formerly the Wagner Group.
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