This nation of more than 600,000 square kilometers is wedge-shaped, oriented southwest to northeast. There is a dent on the south side and a small southward tongue at the southwest corner. The country rests atop a plateau, which divides the waters of the Chari and the Congo river systems. The highest land, over 1,300 meters, is in the northeast: the Massif of the Bongo.
The Chari is formed from the Bamingui and the Gribingui at the Chad(2) border. A short distance downstream along the boundary, it receives the Aouk River(3), which forms much of the C.A.R.'s northern frontier. Other tributaries of the Chari cover the northwest, notably the Ouham and the headwaters of the Lagone.
Two of the Congo's feeders are found this far north: the Sangha and the Ubangi(4). The former arises in the southwest and exits in the nearby protrusion of the country.
The Ubangi is formed by the Mbomou (or Bomu) with a Zairois river. The Mbomou-Ubangi together form most of the southern boundary. Their chief right bank tributaries are the Ouara, the Chinko, the Koto and the Ouaka flowing from the north, and the Lobaye from the northwest.
Of the three million plus living here, there is no majority first language. Grouped, the Ubangi languages account for almost eight in ten. Of these, four individual tongues are spoken by at least one in 20: Banda, Gbaya, Munza and Sango(5). The last serves as the commercial lingua franca for the nation, understood by more people than French, the governmental language.
Christians are probably a majority or close to it. Of these, some say there is an even split between Roman Catholics and Protestants; others say one or the other is decisively predominant. Estimates for Islam range from one in 20 to an improbable 11 in 20; three in 20 is widely cited. Indiginous beliefs account for less than one in four; some say much fewer. Chrsitian believers are likely to include syncretic elements from these local religions.
Information about the local religions is less known because the initiation rituals are secret and converts to Christianity are ashamed to speak of prior practices. Nonetheless the names of the principal god is known: Ele for the Banda, Ngale for the Baya, Nzapa for the Songo and Nouba for the Sara(6), and mostly historic suppressions of "witches", dances, drumming and amulets testifies to the existence of these sacred elements.
No city has a million residents; Bangui, the capital, has about three fourths that. From hotels on the Ubangi river bank, hippos can be seen.
The speakers of Nilo-Saharan languages may have been here for 10,000 years; it is difficult to say.(7) Bantu languages arrived after 2000 B.C.E. Ubangi languages arrived in the last B.C.E. millenium. Gbaya may represent an old kingdom's extent. Sango evolved as a creole for talking to Ngbandi fishers and traders south of today's C.A.R. It was heavily favored by the French in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is now an official language. Fulani arrived in the 19th century, bringing Islam.
The French conquest starting in the late 19th century introduced Roman Catholic Christianity, and Portestant missionaries followed.
north, from the north center
northeast
southeast
south, from the southwest
south, from the southwest
west
north, from the northwest
(1) africaine in French.
(2) Tchad in French.
(3) Aouk Bahr, also called the Aoukale.
(4) Oubangui in French.
(5) Banda and Gbaya's dialects are sometimes considered to be separate languages. Banda speakers often speak two or three dialects.
(6) Pierre Kalck, Central African Republic (translated by Barbara Thomson, 1971, Pall Mall Press).
(7) Sara was favored by the French in the 20th century.