Central African Republic

[17] Approximately 10,000 years ago, desertification forced hunter-gatherer societies south into the Sahel regions of northern Central Africa, where some groups settled.

[19] Initial farming of white yam progressed into millet and sorghum, and before 3000 BCE[20] the domestication of African oil palm improved the groups' nutrition and allowed for expansion of the local populations.

[citation needed] The Bouar Megaliths in the western region of the country indicate an advanced level of habitation dating back to the very late Neolithic Era (c. 3500–2700 BCE).

Their captives were enslaved and shipped to the Mediterranean coast, Europe, Arabia, the Western Hemisphere, or to the slave ports and factories along the West and North Africa or South along the Ubangui and Congo rivers.

Modeled on King Leopold's Congo Free State, concessions were doled out to private companies that endeavored to strip the region's assets as quickly and cheaply as possible before depositing a percentage of their profits into the French treasury.

The concessionary companies forced local people to harvest rubber, coffee, and other commodities without pay and held their families hostage until they met their quotas.

[34] During the 1920s and 1930s the French introduced a policy of mandatory cotton cultivation,[34] a network of roads were built, attempts were made to combat sleeping sickness, and Protestant missions were established to spread Christianity.

[46] Dacko threw out his political rivals, including Abel Goumba, former Prime Minister and leader of Mouvement d'évolution démocratique de l'Afrique centrale (MEDAC), whom he forced into exile in France.

[47] On 31 December 1965, Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état by Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly.

After using the excuse of alleged irregularities to suspend the results of the elections as a pretext for holding on to power, President Kolingba came under intense pressure from GIBAFOR to establish a "Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la République" (Provisional National Political Council, CNPPR) and to set up a "Mixed Electoral Commission", which included representatives from all political parties.

In 1996–1997, reflecting steadily decreasing public confidence in the government's erratic behavior, three mutinies against Patassé's administration were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and heightened ethnic tension.

The Bangui Agreements, signed in January 1997, provided for the deployment of an inter-African military mission, to the Central African Republic and re-entry of ex-mutineers into the government on 7 April 1997.

The army chief of staff, Abel Abrou, and General François N'Djadder Bedaya were killed, but Patassé regained the upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and Libyan soldiers.

[52] In the aftermath of the failed coup, militias loyal to Patassé sought revenge against rebels in many neighborhoods of Bangui and incited unrest including the murder of many political opponents.

[56] Though the initial public details of the agreement pertained to logistics and intelligence, by December the French assistance included airstrikes by Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters against rebel positions.

Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye requested a UN peacekeeping force from the UN Security Council and on 31 May former President Bozizé was indicted for crimes against humanity and incitement to genocide.

[62] By the end of the year, there were international warnings of a "genocide"[63][64] and fighting was largely reprisal attacks on civilians by Seleka's predominantly Muslim fighters and Christian militias called "anti-balaka".

[33] In March 2015, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said 417 of the country's 436 mosques had been destroyed, and Muslim women were so scared of going out in public they were giving birth in their homes instead of going to the hospital.

[97] The climate of the Central African Republic is generally tropical, with a wet season that lasts from June to September in the northern regions of the country, and from May to October in the south.

[109] The prefectures are Bamingui-Bangoran, Bangui, Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou, Kémo, Lobaye, Lim-Pendé, Mambéré, Mambéré-Kadéï, Mbomou, Nana-Mambéré, Ombella-M'Poko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Fafa, Ouham-Pendé, and Vakaga.

[114] Three priority areas were identified: first, the reform of the security sector; second, the promotion of good governance and the rule of law; and third, the revitalization of communities affected by conflicts.

On 12 June 2008, the Central African Republic requested assistance from the UN Peacebuilding Commission,[115] which was set up in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict avoid devolving back into war or chaos.

[116] In response to concerns of a potential genocide, a peacekeeping force – the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) – was authorized in December 2013.

[119] The U.S. State Department alleged that major human rights abuses such as extrajudicial executions by security forces, torture, beatings, and rape of suspects and prisoners occurred with impunity.

[127] The currency of the Central African Republic is the CFA franc, which is accepted across the former countries of French West Africa and trades at a fixed rate to the euro.

As of June 2014 it had regularly scheduled direct flights to Brazzaville, Casablanca, Cotonou, Douala, Kinshasa, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, N'Djamena, Paris, Pointe-Noire, and Yaoundé.

The largest ethnic groups are the Baggara Arabs, Baka, Banda, Bayaka, Fula, Gbaya, Kara, Kresh, Mbaka, Mandja, Ngbandi, Sara, Vidiri, Wodaabe, Yakoma, Yulu, and Zande, with others including Europeans of mostly French descent.

[153] According to Overseas Development Institute research, during the crisis ongoing since 2012, religious leaders have mediated between communities and armed groups; they also provided refuge for people seeking shelter.

As a member of the World Health Organization, the Central African Republic receives vaccination assistance, such as a 2014 intervention for the prevention of a measles epidemic.