什麼是中非共和國

法語作République Centrafricaine

舊稱Ubangi-Shari

非洲中部的共和國。面積622,436平方公里。人口約3,577,000（2001）。首都︰班吉。無法把中非人民畫分爲嚴格且固定不變的種族集團，18～19世紀他們爲了躲避奴隸販子的追捕而深入內陸。現在組成了龐雜的種族集團，班達、巴亞、恩格班迪和阿贊德人佔全部居民的3/4。語言︰法語和山果語（均爲官方語）。宗教︰泛靈論和基督教。貨幣︰非洲金融共同體法郎。中非共和國是封閉的內陸國，地處海拔610～760公尺的廣闊高原。北半部是稀樹草原，有沙裏河流經。南半部是濃密的樹林區。該國已逐漸發展混合公、民營結構的自由企業經濟，農業是其主要部門。政府形式爲共和國，一院制。國家元首是總統，政府首腦爲總理。

儘管考古發現在舊石器時代後期這裏即有人煙，然而考古遺存很少。這裏曾爲16世紀高加帝國一部分。16、17、18世紀販奴潮襲捲該區，原住民幾乎滅絕。1889年法國建立班吉市。1906年與查德組成烏班吉－沙裏－查德殖民地。1910年成爲法屬赤道非洲（即法屬剛果）的一部分。1920年與查德仳離。1946年地位改爲法國海外領地。1958年成爲法蘭西共同體內的自治共和國。1960年取得獨立。1966年博卡薩發動軍事政變推翻文人政府。博卡薩於1977年底將國名改爲中非帝國，自立爲帝，但於1979年9月被廢黜，恢復共和。1981年又發生政變，軍人掌權。1993年舉行選舉，走回文人政府體制。

Central African Republic

formerlyUbangi-ShariRepublic, central Africa. Area: 240,376 sq mi (622,374 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 3,342,000. Capital: Bangui. Almost all the inhabitants trace their origin to communities founded in the 18th-19th century when various African peoples fled into the interior to escape slave traders. They now form heterogeneous ethnic groups, with the Banda, Baya (Gbaya), Ngbandi, and Azande almost three-quarters of its inhabitants. Languages: French, sango (both official), Zande. Religions: animism, Christianity. Currency: CFA franc. A landlocked country, it consists of a plateau with an average altitude of about 2,200 ft (670 m). The northern half is characterized by savanna and is drained by tributaries of the Chari River. The southern half is densely forested. The country has a developing free-enterprise economy of mixed state and private structure; agriculture is its main component. It is a republic with one legislative body; its chief of state is the president and its head of government, the prime minister. Though seemingly inhabited for a long time, the area has yielded few archaeological remains. For several centuries before the arrival of Europeans, the territory was subjected to slave traders. The French explored and claimed central Africa and in 1889 established a post at Bangui. In 1898 they partitioned the colony among commercial concessionaires. United with Chad in 1906 to form the French colony of Ubangi-Shari-Chad, it later became part of French Equatorial Africa. It was separated from Chad in 1920 and became an overseas territory in 1946. An autonomous republic within the French Community in 1958, it achieved independence in 1960. In 1966 the military overthrew a civilian government and installed J.-B. Bokassa, who in 1976 renamed the country the Central African Empire. He was overthrown in 1979, but the military again seized power in the 1980s. Elections in 1993 led to installation of a civilian government.