CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

French Rpublique Centrafricaine landlocked country located in the centre of Africa. It has an area of 240,324 square miles (622,436 square km), roughly the size of France, and is bordered by Chad to the north, The Sudan to the north and east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]; formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo (Congo [Brazzaville]) to the south, and Cameroon to the west. The capital, Bangui, is situated on the southern boundary, formed by the Ubangi (Oubangui) River, a tributary of the Congo River. Additional reading Geography Thomas O'Toole, The Central African Republic: The Continent's Hidden Heart (1986), is the best single source on all aspects of the country. Grard Grellet, Monique Mainguet, and Pierre Soumille, La Rpublique Centrafricaine (1982), is the best single source on the geography of the Central African Republic. Pierre Vennetier and Yves Boulvert (eds.), Atlas de la Rpublique Centrafricaine (1984), is also useful. The Central African Republic's cultural and environmental past and present has been explored by Michelle Kisliuk, Seize the Dance!: BaAka Musical Life and the Ethnography of Performance (1998). Serge Bahuchet, Les Pygmes Aka et la fort centrafricaine (1985); and Louis Sarno, Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjell Pygmies (1993), are works concerning Aka (Pygmies) in the southwestern rainforests. Tamara Giles-Vernick, We Wander Like Birds: Migration, Indigeneity, and the Fabrication of Frontiers in the Sangha River Basin of Equatorial Africa, Environmental History, 4(2):168197 (April 1999), has explored other forest-dwellers' understanding of environmental history and migration. History Three standard historical references are Pierre Kalck, Central African Republic: A Failure in De-colonisation (1971, originally published in French, 1971), Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic, 2nd ed., trans. from French (1992), and Histoire de la Rpublique Centrafricaine: des origines prhistoriques nos jours (1974). William J. Samarin, The Black Man's Burden: African Colonial Labor on the Congo and Ubangi Rivers, 18801900 (1989), addresses the history of labour mobilization during the early years of colonial rule. Of some interest is the ideologically slanted work of Yarisse Zoctizoum, Histoire de la Centrafrique: violence du dveloppement, domination, et ingalits, 2 vol. (198384), covering the period 18791979. For those interested in the earliest centralized polities in the area, Dennis Cordell, Dar al-Kuti and the Last Years of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade (1985), is a critically important, well-written analysis of the slave-raiding empire in the northernmost part of the country; Pierre Vidal, La Civilisation mgalithique de Bouar: prospection et fouilles, 19621966 (1969), is a valuable work as well. Marc Michel, La Mission Marchand, 18951899 (1972), is a sound discussion of early colonial intrusions; and Tamara Giles-Vernick, Na lege ti guiriri: Mapping out the Past and Present in the M'Bres Region, Central African Republic, Ethnohistory, 43(2):245275 (Spring 1996), explores Central African interpretations of the early years of colonial rule. Jacqueline M.C. Thomas, Les Ngbaka de la Lobaye: le dpeuplement rural chez une population forestire de la Rpublique Centrafricaine (1963), is an important history of the Ngbaka people under colonial rule. Raphal Nzabakomada-Yakoma, L'Afrique centrale insurge: la guerre du Kongo-Wara, 19281930 (1986), should be read in conjunction with Thomas O'Toole, The 19281931 Gbaya Insurrection in Ubangui-Shari: Messianic Movement or Village Self-Defense?, Canadian Journal of African Studies, 18(2):329344 (1984); and Philip Burnham and Thomas Christensen, Karnu's Message and the War of the Hoe Handle': Interpreting a Central African Resistance Movement, Africa, 53(4):322 (1983).The Central African Republic's contemporary history, particularly under Jean-Bdel Bokassa, has preoccupied a number of scholars, including Didier Bigo, Pouvoir et obissance en Centrafrique (1988); Samuel Decalo, Psychoses of Power: African Personal Dictatorships, 2nd ed. (1998); and Brian Titley, Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa (1997). Tamara Lynn Giles-Vernick Administration and social conditions Government The 1995 constitution replaced one promulgated in 1986. The president, who is head of state and commander of the armed forces, is elected for a six-year term by popular vote. The president appoints a prime minister and a 25-member council of ministers. The legislature consists of a 109-member National Assembly; its members are elected by universal suffrage for five-year terms. An economic and regional council and a state council advise the assembly. The country is divided into 14 prfectures, 2 prfectures-economiques, and 1 commune. A constitutional court consists of judges appointed by the president for nine-year terms; it assists the Supreme Court and the High Court of Justice. There are also courts of appeal, criminal courts, several lower tribunals, and a military tribunal. The judicial system is loosely based on that of France, with some vestigial traditional courts still operating on the local (subprefecture) level. Education Education is compulsory for all children from age 6 to 14. School instruction is primarily in French, but the Central African government has sought to promote Sango literacy and encourages its use in schools. About three-fifths of the population is literate. The University of Bangui, founded by Jean-Bedl Bokassa in 1969, has operated since October 1970. In addition, there are such colleges as the National School of Arts and the Central School of Agriculture, as well as a number of religious and technical schools. The best students, and especially those with the best political connections, continue to go to France for their education. Cultural life Daily life In most Central African families, women continue to play a crucial role in the gathering, production, conservation, distribution, and preparation of food. Hunting, trapping, and fishingmale occupationsremain important for the subsistence of many Central Africans, although women in some regions fish during the dry season. The production of such commercial crops as coffee, cotton, and tobacco tends to be chiefly a male activity, but women are the principal food producers for household consumption. Churches are important in both rural and urban life, constituting major centres of not just religious activity but also social interaction. In addition to Sunday services, religious schools and various fellowship groups for women, men, adolescents, and children are common. Church members frequently gather after worship services for a ndoye (Sango: gift), a celebration with singing and dancing to honour a notable church member. Members bring food, soap, and kerosene to the honoree, who, in turn, serves coffee, tea, and a light snack. Football (soccer) is the most popular recreational pastime for young Central Africans. Even the smallest village usually has a football field, and villages, churches, and schools often sponsor teams for both boys and girls. Basketball and rugby are also widely played, especially in Bangui. The arts Until the 19th century, artisans in the region produced many fine handmade items. The slave trade and the early years of colonization disrupted the expansion of crafts, however, and most of them disappeared. Today, woven mats and baskets, simple wooden utensils, carved stools, a rare mask, pottery, and musical instruments, including the balafon (much like a xylophone but constructed with animal horns, skins, and wood) are all that remain of older handiwork. More recently, handicraft workers have begun producing unique designs and pictures made from butterfly wings glued to paper and some ebony and other tropical hardwood carvings. The Boganda Museum in Bangui contains exhibits of traditional musical instruments, implements of warfare, village architecture, hunting tools, pottery, and religious objects. Contemporary artists, however, are drawing from these older practices to produce carvings of animals and people, and many are available in larger towns, as well as at Bangui's artisans' market. The Central African Republic is also home to remarkable displays of song and dance. The Aka of the southwestern forests have received international attention for their music and dance, and several troupes have traveled to France to perform. In Bangui and some regional towns, Central African musicians have formed such dance bands as Musiki, Zokela, Makembe, Cool Stars, Cannon Stars, and Super Stars. Like their counterparts in Congo (Brazzaville) and Congo (Kinshasa), these musicians play electrified Congolese music, which fuses African rhythms and languages with the rumba, cha-cha, and merengue. Central African bands have developed their own unique variants of Congolese music. Zokela, named after a band from the 1980s, has become a dynamic musical form associated with the Lobaye region; it melds elements of village ceremonies with contemporary urban sounds. This musical form has influenced many Bangui bands. Few works of literature from Central Africa have been published, but collectors still gather traditional oral legends and folk stories from older villagers. These histories and tales, some dating to the 19th century, remain a rich reserve of historical and cultural identity. The storytellers grip their listeners with lively call-and-response songs and chants in their narratives, bringing together both young and old listeners. Makombo Bambot, author of the novels Princesse Mandupa (1972) and Coup d'tat Ngre (1987), is the country's best-known writer. Other prominent Central African authors include tienne Goymid, Faustin Lpeko-Etomane, Cyriaque Yavoucko, Pierre Sammy-Mackfoy, and Gabriel Danzi. Notable in Central African film production is the work of Joseph Akouissonne, who directed Zo kwe zo (A Human Being Is a Person) and Les dieux noirs du stade (The Black Gods of the Stadium). Central African artists have produced both watercolour and oil paintings. The murals and canvases of Jerome Ramedane depict scenes of African animal life, hunting parties, and daily village life. Similar works are often found on the walls of restaurants, bars, and other gathering places in Bangui and other towns.