Note: The menu shows the 36 African countries where Africare has worked, not the other African countries.

 

Central African Republic (Map courtesy of The World Factbook)

Central African Republic

REGION: Central Africa
CAPITAL CITY: Bangui
POPULATION: 3,986,000
LAND AREA: The size of Texas

The Central Africa Republic (CAR) is among the poorest, least developed countries in the world. It possesses considerable agricultural, water and mineral resources; but decades of internal conflict have prevented the nation from realizing its true economic potential. Currently, internal unrest is principally in the north, displacing large numbers of Central Africans — many of whom have crossed the border as refugees into Chad. Subsistence agriculture and forestry remain the backbones of the CAR's economy, occupying more than 70 percent of the population. The CAR has been considered one of the last great wildlife refuges, with virgin rainforests and some of the highest densities of lowland gorillas and forest elephants in Africa; however, as in other wildlife-rich countries around the world, illegal poaching and deforestation have taken a terrible toll.

 

Country Stats

Life expectancy: 43.7 years (USA: 77.9)

Under-5 child mortality: 193/1,000 live births (USA: 7/1,000)

HIV prevalence, ages 15-49: [4.5 - 17.2]% (USA: [0.4 - 1.0]%)

Physicians per 100,000 people: 8 (USA: 256)

People undernourished: 44% (USA: 0%)

People with access to safe drinking water: 75% (USA: 100%)

Adult literacy: 48.6% (USA: 99%)

Annual income, one way to look at it (GDP per capita, PPP US$): $1,224 (USA: $41,890)

Annual income, another way to look at it (GDP per capita): $339 (USA: $41,890)

People living on less than $1 a day: 66.6% (USA: 0%)

(HIV prevalence statistics, UNAIDS. All other statistics, 2007/2008 Human Development Report, UNDP.)

 

(Updated, Dec. 18, 2007)