• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Central African Republic - People

There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.), each with its own language. Sango, the language of a small group along the Oubangui River, is the national language spoken by the majority of Central Africans. Only a small part of the population has more than an elementary knowledge of French, the official language.

Approximately 60% of the population of the C.A.R. lives in rural areas. The chief agricultural areas are around Bossangoa, Bouar, and Bambari. Bangui, Berberati, Bangassou, and Bossangoa are the most densely populated urban centers.

The C.A.R., with a population of about 3 million, has a low population density. Most people live in the western part of the country; parts of the east near Sudan are virtually uninhabited. There are more than 80 ethnic groups including the Gbaya, Banda, Mandja, and Aka (pygmies), but most people can understand Sango, the national language. Two ethnic groups account for more than half the population: the Gbaga, 34 percent and the Banda, 27 percent. The Mboro, descendants of the Fulbe (or Fulani), are migratory herders and do not consider themselves Central Africans.

While each of these ethnic groups has its own language, but in addition, most speak the Sangho dialect, named for a small, riverine group along the Oubangui River. Sangho has become the lingua franca or the national language of the CAR, although French, which is spoken by a small minority of the people, remains the official language. Only a small part of the population has more than an elementary knowledge of French. The Sangho language has only a few hundred basic symbols; most of the language consists of metaphorical, picturesque idioms which translation into European languages requires time consuming elaboration of each question and often re-questioning after an answer had been given. Because of the basic animistic life-chance orientations, there was little future tense used in Sangho vocabulary.

People are identified by their tribal membership; ethnic groups have strong internal bonds and often have identifying characteristics (tattoos, scars, etc.). Central Africans may be hostile toward Chadian refugees or toward the Mboro cattle-herding nomads in the north. There is also a perceived tension between Christians and Muslims, and the two groups have separate markets in some towns.

There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the Central African Republic, each with its own language, including the Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Sara 10%, Mandjia 13%, Mboum 7%, M'baka 4%, Yakoma 4%, other 2%. There are five major ethnic groups in the Republic. Two of the main groups, the Baya-Mandjia and the Banda, occupying the western and central regions respectively, account for two-thirds of the population. A smaller group called the Sara inhabit the northern regions by the Chad border while a larger population of fishing people, known as the Oubangians, occupy the banks of the Oubangui and Mbomou Rivers to the south. A fifth group, the M'Baka, are located in the Bangui area and also further southwest. Historically, these societies relied for protection on small, kin-based levies of warriors.

The M'Baka, variously estimated to make some four to seven percent of the population, supplied the first three CAR presidents. Small, isolated clusters of pygmies also live in the forested regions of the southwest. Once Andre Kolingba became president in 1981, he initiated an tribally-based recruitment policy for his administration. The M'Baka a small trive located in the Bangui area and also further southwest, variously estimated making up some four to seven percent of the population, supplied the first three CAR presidents. Kolingba was a member of the Yakoma people, who made up approximately 4% to 5% of the population. Under Kolingba, members of Yakoma give all the key positions in the administration, and came to be the majority of the military.

Violence by unidentified persons, bandits, and other armed groups against the Mbororo, primarily nomadic pastoralists, was a problem. Their cattle wealth made them attractive targets, and they continued to suffer disproportionately from civil disorder in the North. Additionally, since many citizens viewed them as inherently foreign due to their transnational migratory patterns, the Mbororo faced occasional discrimination with regard to government services and protections. In recent years the Mbororo began arming themselves against attacks from farmers who objected to the presence of the Mbororo’s grazing cattle. Several of the resulting altercations resulted in deaths.

Discrimination against the Ba’aka, who constituted 1 to 2 percent of the population, remained a problem. The Ba’aka continued to have little influence in decisions affecting their lands, culture, traditions, and the exploitation of natural resources. Forest-dwelling Ba’aka, in particular, experienced social and economic discrimination and exploitation, which the government did little to prevent. The Ba’aka, including children, often were coerced into agricultural, domestic, and other types of labor. They were considered slaves by members of other local ethnic groups, and even when they were remunerated for labor, their wages were far below those prescribed by the labor code and lower than wages paid to members of other groups.

As in most African countries, many young people are moving to the city to find work. This urbanization problem is the source of petty crime and dissatisfaction among youths, particularly in Bangui. About 40 percent of the population is urban; about 45 percent of the population is under 15 years of age.

Approximately 60% of the population of the C.A.R. lives in rural areas. The chief agricultural areas are around Bossangoa, Bouar, and Bambari. Bangui, Berberati, Bangassou, and Bossangoa are the most densely populated urban centers. The capital of the CAR is Bangui, numbering 250,000 inhabitants in 1972, and over 750,000 by 2013. The city is mushrooming with new migrants every day and has grown enormously, numbering only 83,000 persons in 1960. The only "true" city of the Republic, its population spreads along the banks of the Oubangui river. It is a river port and the hub of the nation's economy, possessing the Republic's major airport, its main road system, the main manufacturing center and administrative center. Galloping urbanization of semi-educated people often means pauperization like the nineteenth-century cities of Europe and America.

Families in Central African society tend to be large. The more children, the richer the family is perceived to be. The extended family often lives with the nuclear family and is highly valued in the C.A.R.

Society is patriarchal. Men may have more than one wife; each lives apart from the others. Women are accorded a lesser social status than men, and mothers and daughters do most of the domestic work. The elderly are revered and children are expected to care for their aging parents. Strangers routinely send children on errands; children are expected to obey all elders.

Literacy among Central Africans is 57 percent for the total population, divided unevenly between males and females: males 67 percent and females 44 percent. The government controls the education system, and existing facilities are often inadequate. There are several professional training schools and one university, the Universite de Bangui. The educational system was severely disrupted in the early 1990s because the government did not pay the teachers. Books are scarce. School hours are generally Monday through Saturday, 0730 to 1230 and 1300 to 1500; Wednesday and Saturday afternoons are school is not in session.

Central Africans visit in friends' homes and at coffee shops. Some make and consume alcoholic beverages; wealthier people may go to bars. Sports are popular in the C.A.R., particularly soccer, though basketball is played where facilities permit. Some Catholic missions sponsor recreation centers with board games as well as ping-pong, musical activities, and sports. Many Central Africans enjoy music and dancing; some sing and play traditional drums.