You cannot miss it in the map, because it’s right there in the middle, just as its name states.
The Central African Republic (French: République centrafricaine; Sango: Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka) is a Central African country that started as a French colony until it gained its independence in 1958, which kicked off a series of power struggles, and the country ended up falling in the hands of Col. Jean-Bédel Bokassa, a certified nutcase. Bokassa quickly turned the repression machine on high speed, decided to transform the republic into an empire (the Central African Empire), where he crowned himself in a ridiculously expensive ceremony (which cost roughly 1/3 of the national GDP for that year, for an example of how extravagantly wasteful it was he had a giant eagle shaped gold plated throne commissioned for the ceremony), and generally made a spectacle of himself internationally until he was eventually deposed and tried.
Sadly, the nation hasn’t improved much since then, having political instability, high HIV/AIDS rate (about 11%) and being one of the poorest nations in the world. In a 2003 coup, democratically elected but notoriously corrupt president Ange-Félix Patassé was overthrown by General François Bozizé. A bush war between Bozizé's forces and various insurgent groups began in 2004. The Muslim groups joined forces in 2012, forming a new insurgent group called Séléka and attempting to overthow Bozizé. Despite succeeding in its goal, the group split up due to dispute over the spoils of victory. Faction led by one Michel Djotodia took control over the nation's capital city of Bangui and excluded the others from power. Some splinter factions of Séléka began attacking and plundering Christian communities; in return, the Christians formed a group called Anti-Balaka ("Anti-Machete"). At this point, the conflict became religious. In response to that, in December 2015 several factions of the ex-Séléka declared an independent, Muslim-dominated "Republic of Logone" in central regions of the country. As for Djotodia, he had to be evacuated from Bangui by armed peacekeepers. As if the situation is not complicated enough, also present are: remnants of the Bozizé regime, French Foreign Legion, African peacekeepers, Russian Private Military Contractors, as well as foreign extremist groups from neighbouring countries (most notably Chad and Sudan). The result is, more or less, a Death World.
Most of the country is a jungle, which has the potential of attracting hundreds of tourists (were it not for the war). Diamonds are its main export, but the poor economic development prevents its full potential.
If you want an idea of Bokassa’s regime, you can watch Echoes from a Somber Empire, made by Werner Herzog.
If you want to see how the last years of Bozizé's rule looked like, you can watch The Ambassador, made by Mads Brügger.
If you want to see a documentary about the recent religious war, you can watch The Devil Tried to Divide Us, made by VICE News.
A minor bit of Memetic Mutation on Pointless has the CAR being used as the default example of 'an obscure country' whenever one is needed for a question.
The Central African flag
The Central African national anthem
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Government
- Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
- President: Faustin-Archange Touadéra
- Prime Minister: Félix Moloua
Miscellaneous
- Capital and largest city: Bangui
- Population: 4,666,368
- Area: 622,984 km² (240,535 sq mi) (44th)
- Currency: Central African CFA franc (FCFA) (XAF), Bitcoin (₿) (BTC) note
- ISO-3166-1 Code: CF
- Country calling code: 236
- Highest point: Mont Ngaoui (1420 m/4,659 ft) (145th)
- Lowest point: Ubangi River (335 m/1,099 ft) (68th)
