Central African Republic is a country in Africa, known for its tropical forests and diamond resources. It has a population of 5.5 million, making it the 121st largest country in the world. Its capital is Bangui. Central African Republic has a developing economy with agricultural and mining sectors.
* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 2.1 minutes
1 death
Every 10.3 minutes
1 emigrant
Every 36.0 minutes
1 person
Every 2.9 minutes
There are no accurate figures on the population of the CAR, and its population is based on an estimate from the United Nations.
The United Nations estimates that the CAR has more than 80 ethnic groups, each of which have their own language. The largest ethnic groups in the country are the Baya, Banda, Mandjia, Sara, M’Baka, Mboum, Yakoma, and the Fula. The Baya, or Gbaya, account for 34% of the CAR’s population. There are also some Europeans in the country, most of which are of French descent.
According to the 2003 census, 80% of the population is Christian (51% Protestant and 29% Roman Catholic) while 15% is Muslim. Animism is also practiced by a significant percentage of the population. The CIA World Factbook, however, reports 50% of the population is Christian (split evenly between Roman Catholics and Protestants) while 35% practice indigenous beliefs.
The CAR is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the 10 poorest in Africa and it ranks 179th out of 187 on the Human Development Index. About 11% of the population between 15 and 49 is HIV positive, yet only 3% of the country has access to antiretroviral therapy.
The constitution in the Central African Republic allows its citizens to have religious freedom, however, it bans religious fundamentalism which is what often leads to extremists. Although it is not the official religion, Christian holidays are observed as national holidays and the majority of people in the country practice some form of the religion. 85% of people in the Central African Republic are Christian, 58% of which are Protestant and 29% are Catholic. 5% of people practice Islam, and the remaining 10% claim no faith.
As one of the least developed countries in the world, the economy is the Central African Republic isn’t very strong. Most of its citizens engage in subsistence farming just to take care of their families, and agriculture makes up slightly over half of the country’s GDP. Common crops grown include peanuts, millet, maize, cassava, sesame, and sorghum. Most of what gets exported elsewhere are cotton, coffee, and tobacco. The timber and diamond industries account for much of the country’s profits, but the money does not reach the majority of its citizens.
France annexed the land that is now the Central African Republic and turned it into a democracy in the late 1800s. The indigenous people of the area fought back against the French from 1920-1930 and by 1946 the territory was given representation in the French government.
By 1958 the people of the Central African Republic had begun self-governing and they became a fully independent one-party state by the year 1960. In its infancy as a new country, leadership changed hands several times until democratic elections began in 2005. Later that same year, flooding in the capital city of Bangui left 20,000 people homeless.