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Country Name:

• conventional long form: Central African Republic
• local long form: Republique Centrafricaine
• former: Ubangi-Shari, Central African Empire

Capital:

• name: Bangui
• geographic coordinates: 4 22 N, 18 35 E
• time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Independence:

• 13 August 1960 (from France)

Government Type:

• Republic

Executive Branch:

• chief of state: Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza (since 20 January 2014)
• head of government: Interim Prime Minister Andre Nzapayeke (since 25 January 2014)
• cabinet: Council of Ministers
• elections: interim president was elected by the National Transitional Council on 20 January 2014; she will be in office until February 2015 at the new general elections; prime minister appointed by the president

Legislative Branch:

• structure: unicameral National Assembly

Judicial Branch:

• structure: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts; Inferior Courts

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Population:

•  5,277,959 (global rank: 118)
• growth rate: 2.13% (global rank: 46)

Nationality:

• noun: Central African(s)
• adjective: Central African

Major Cities:

• Bangui (capital): 740,000

Ethnic Groups:

• Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Mandjia 13%, Sara 10%, Mboum 7%, M'Baka 4%, Yakoma 4%, other 2%

Religions:

• indigenous beliefs 35%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%

Languages:

• French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages

Life Expectancy at Birth:

• total population: 51.35 years (global rank: 218)
• male: 50.06 years
• female: 52.76 years

Infant Mortality:

• total population: 92.86 deaths/1,000 live births (global rank: 5)
• male: 100.55 deaths/1,000 live births
• female: 84.93 deaths/1,000 live births

HIV/AIDS:

• adult prevalence rate: 4.7% (2009 est.) (global rank: 14)
• people living with AIDS: 130,000 (2009 est.) (global rank: 39)

Literacy:

• definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 56.6%
• male: 69.6%
• female: 44.2%

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Overview: Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry and mining, 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 and diamonds account for most export earnings, followed by cotton. 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. In 2012 the World Bank approved $125 million in funding for transport infrastructure and regional trade, focused on the route between CAR's capital and the port of Douala in Cameroon. After a two year lag in donor support, the IMF's first review of CAR's extended credit facility for 2012-15 praised improvements in revenue collection but warned of weak management of spending.

Gross Domestic Product:

• GDP (PPP): $3.336 billion (global rank: 178)
• GDP per capita (PPP): $700 (global rank: 224)
• real growth rate: -14.5% (global rank: 221)
• composition by sector: agriculture: 56.6%, industry: 14.5%, services: 28.9%

Currency:

• currency: Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale Francs (XAF)
• exchange rate (per US Dollar): 500.7

Poverty:

• population below poverty line: NA
• unemployment rate: 8%

Agricultural Products:

• cotton, coffee, tobacco, cassava (manioc, tapioca), yams, millet, corn, bananas; timber

Industries:

• gold and diamond mining, logging, brewing, sugar refining

Exports Commodities:

• diamonds, timber, cotton, coffee

Imports Commodities:

• food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals

Location:

• Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Area:

• total:622,984 sq km (global rank: 45)
• land: 622,984 sq km
• water: 0 sq km
• comparative: slightly smaller than Texas

Climate:

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

Land Use:

• arable land: 2.89%
• permanent crops: 0.13%
• other: 96.98%

Natural Resources:

• diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil, hydropower

Current Environmental Issues:

• tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished the country's reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification; deforestation

• international disputes: periodic skirmishes over water and grazing rights among related pastoral populations along the border with southern Sudan persist
• refugees (country of origin): 10,992 (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• internally displaced persons: 551,600 (clashes between army and rebel groups since 2005; tensions between ethnic groups)
  
• human trafficking: Central African Republic (CAR) is a source and destination country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and possibly women subjected to forced prostitution; most victims appear to be CAR citizens exploited within the country, and that a smaller number are transported back and forth between the CAR and Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan; children are forced into domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, agricultural labor, mining, and street vending; armed groups operating in the CAR, including the Lord's Resistance Army, continue to recruit and use children for military activities, while village self-defense units use children as combatants, lookouts, and porters