60 Fun Facts About Central African Republic

What is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic?

Founded as a French outpost in 1889, it sits on the country's southern border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Under what name was the country a French colony from 1903 until 1958?

The name combined the two great rivers of the territory; the first prime minister replaced it because he dreamed of a wider Central African union.

Which colonial federation, run from Brazzaville, did the territory belong to from 1920?

Concession companies forced locals to gather rubber and coffee, and thousands died building the Congo-Ocean Railway.

In what year did the Central African Republic gain full independence from France?

Independence Day is 13 August; the country had been an autonomous republic since December 1958.

Which defrocked priest, the country's founding father, was its first prime minister and designed its flag?

He died months before independence in an air disaster that was never fully explained.

The founding father died in March 1959 in what kind of incident?

A full report was never published and the possibility of assassination remains open.

Who became the country's first president in 1960 and returned to power after the emperor's fall in 1979?

He was the founding father's cousin and was toppled twice, in the 1966 New Year's Eve coup and again in 1981.

Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa seized power in a coup named after which night?

He struck on 31 December 1965, suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly.

In 1976 Bokassa renamed the country what?

It lasted less than three years before French paratroopers restored the republic in September 1979.

Bokassa's 1977 coronation was modelled almost exactly on the crowning of which earlier emperor?

He even timed it for December, echoing the 1804 ceremony at Notre-Dame; the bill topped US$20 million.

Bokassa's coronation throne, weighing two tons, was shaped like which creature?

It was gilded bronze; a Paris jeweller made the crown and a French artist staged the whole event.

Which French president was brought down partly by revelations that Bokassa had given him gems?

The satirical paper Le Canard enchaîné broke the story in 1979 and he lost his 1981 re-election bid.

Bokassa's 1979 downfall followed the killing of about 100 schoolchildren who had protested against what?

Within months France staged Operation Caban to remove him and Operation Barracuda to reinstall his predecessor.

Which charge against Bokassa at his 1987 trial was set aside as a misdemeanour covered by an amnesty?

He was convicted of murdering schoolchildren, sentenced to death, then freed in 1993 and died in 1996.

After his overthrow Bokassa first fled to which West African country, spending four years in Abidjan?

He later moved to his Château d'Hardricourt near Paris before returning home to face trial in 1986.

Which general took power in a bloodless 1981 coup and ruled until losing the 1993 election?

Members of his Yakoma ethnic group filled lucrative posts, fuelling a north-south rivalry that dogged later governments.

Which rebel general toppled Ange-Félix Patassé in March 2003 while he was out of the country?

Congolese and Libyan troops failed to save him; the new ruler was himself ousted a decade later.

Which mostly Muslim rebel coalition seized the capital in 2013 and installed Michel Djotodia?

Its name means 'alliance' in the national language; its leader was the country's first Muslim head of state.

The mainly Christian militias that rose against the 2013 rebel government were called what?

By late 2014 the country was effectively split, with these fighters in the southwest and ex-rebels in the northeast.

Who became the country's first female head of state as transitional president in 2014?

A former insurance broker, she had been mayor of the capital during its devastation the previous year.

Which mathematics professor became president in 2016 and ended term limits in 2023?

He holds two doctorates in mathematics and won a third term in December 2025.

Which Russian private military company backed the president from 2018 for mining rights?

It trained local troops at Berengo, the former emperor's palace, and one Western ambassador called the country a 'vassal state' of the Kremlin.

In 2022 the Central African Republic became only the second country to make what legal tender?

El Salvador had gone first in 2021; the CFA franc remains the everyday currency.

Which creole, based on the Ngbandi language, is the country's national language alongside French?

Almost all 5.5 million citizens speak it, making the CAR one of the few African states with an indigenous official language.

How many horizontal stripes cross the flag's vertical red band?

The stripes stand for France and Africa, joined by red for the blood that unites them.

Which two colours on the flag were chosen to stand for France?

Green and yellow represent Africa; the yellow star in the corner is the star of independence.

'La Renaissance' shares its composer, Herbert Pepper, with which other country's anthem?

The founding father wrote the words; the tune was kept throughout the imperial years.

Which currency, pegged to the euro, does the Central African Republic share with five neighbours?

Gems are the biggest export, yet up to half of them are thought to leave the country illegally.

Which gemstone is the country's most important export, worth 40-55% of export revenue?

Uranium, gold and cobalt also lie underground, yet the country has the world's lowest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity.

Which root crop is the staple food of most Central Africans, with 200,000-300,000 tonnes grown a year?

Food crops earn farmers far more than cotton, the main export crop; the tsetse fly limits cattle raising.

Two-thirds of the country drains into which river, the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo?

It forms much of the southern border and carries river boats between the capital and Brazzaville.

The northern third of the country drains via the Chari River into which body of water?

The Chari is about 1,400 km long and is that lake's main source of water.

How many countries border the landlocked Central African Republic?

They are Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the DR Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon.

Mont Ngaoui, the country's highest point on the border with Cameroon, rises to roughly what height?

Most of the country is a rolling savanna plateau about 500 m above sea level.

Which southwestern reserve is famous for forest elephants and lowland gorillas gathering at bais?

It forms part of the Sangha Trinational, a World Heritage forest shared with Cameroon and Congo since 2012.

Which national park near the Chad border became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988?

Poachers from Sudan have devastated its wildlife over the past two decades.

Which conservation non-profit has run the 17,600 km2 Chinko wilderness since 2014?

It was the group's eighth park, managed under a fifty-year public-private deal with the government.

Which nomadic pygmy people of the southwestern rainforest had their oral traditions named a UNESCO masterpiece in 2003?

Unlike the Mbuti, they speak their own language as well as those of neighbouring Bantu peoples.

Which two ethnic groups together make up just over half the population?

The country counts more than 80 ethnic groups, each with its own language.

In 2008 the Central African Republic was rated the world's least affected country by what?

With electricity reaching about 15% of people, its night skies are among the darkest anywhere.

The capital sits at the focal point of one of the largest what on Earth?

The feature is a 700 by 1,000 km ellipse, and the magnetic equator passes through its centre.

Ancient standing stones dating to about 3500-2700 BCE are found near which western town?

Ironworking followed in the region around 1000 BCE.

The 1928 Kongo-Wara uprising against French forced labour is also known as the war of what?

Perhaps the largest anti-colonial revolt in interwar Africa, it was hidden from the French public.

Which Free French general set up headquarters in the capital after Gaullists seized the colony in 1940?

The colony's founding father was elected to the French National Assembly six years later.

Which Sudanese sultan and slave-trader governed the region from 1875?

The Bandia-Nzakara peoples had earlier founded the Bangassou Kingdom on the same river.

The national football team is nicknamed what?

Their first trophy was the 2009 CEMAC Cup, and in 2010 they shocked Algeria 2-0 in a Cup of Nations qualifier.

In which sport did the country become the first sub-Saharan side at a World Cup, in 1974?

It won the 1974 final at home and beat Egypt in 1987.

How many Olympic medals has the Central African Republic won since first competing in 1968?

It has attended every Summer Games since 1984 but has never sent a Winter Olympian.

Since 1997 the country has hosted almost a dozen international missions, earning what mocking title?

MINUSCA, the current UN force, took over from a 6,000-strong African Union mission in 2014.

Which US organisation pulled all its volunteers out in 1996 and has never returned?

Three army mutinies that year triggered the evacuation to neighbouring Cameroon.

Boali Falls, a popular day trip 100 km from the capital, are how wide?

They drop about 50 m on the Mbali River next to a hydroelectric works.

The founding father coined the phrase 'zo kwe zo' in the national language, meaning what?

It framed his politics as a matter of fundamental rights and became the national motto.

Under the 2016 constitution, the president was elected for a term of how many years?

The 140-member National Assembly served five-year terms under a two-round system.

Insects such as cicadas, crickets and termites are eaten as a source of what in Central African cuisine?

Caterpillars and koko leaves are sold in forest markets, and makara fried bread is a roadside staple.

The Central African Republic ranks as roughly the world's what-largest country by area?

It covers about 622,984 square kilometres.

Roughly how many ethnic groups make up the country's population of about 5.4 million?

The Gbaya and Banda are the largest groups.

How many administrative prefectures is the Central African Republic divided into?

They sit within seven regions and are split into 85 sub-prefectures.

Ubangians were sent as forced labour to build which colonial rail line?

Deaths among all workers on the line up to 1934 were estimated at over 17,000.

In 2015 US envoy Samantha Power said how many of the country's 436 mosques had been destroyed?

By late 2014 the country was de facto split between anti-balaka in the southwest and ex-Seleka in the northeast.

Where did the country rank out of 193 on the 2023 Human Development Index?

It also had the second-lowest inequality-adjusted HDI, 164th of 165.