The Congo–Nile Divide or the Nile–Congo Watershed is the continental divide that separates the drainage basins of the Congo and Nile rivers. It is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) long.
85-766: There are several geologically and geographically distinct sections between the point on the border between the Central African Republic and South Sudan where the Congo and Nile basins meet the Chad Basin , and the southern point in Tanzania to the southwest of Lake Victoria where the boundaries of the Nile and Congo basins diverge and border several endorheic basins in the Gregory Rift , of which
170-422: A wet season that lasts from June to September in the northern regions of the country, and from May to October in the south. During the wet season, rainstorms are an almost daily occurrence, and early morning fog is commonplace. Maximum annual precipitation is approximately 1,800 millimetres (71 in) in the upper Ubangi region. The northern areas are hot and humid from February to May, but can be subject to
255-571: A 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.28/10, ranking it seventh globally out of 172 countries. In 2008, Central African Republic was the world's least light pollution affected country. The Central African Republic is the focal point of the Bangui Magnetic Anomaly , one of the largest magnetic anomalies on Earth. The climate of the Central African Republic is generally tropical , with
340-739: A U.N. peacekeeping force (MINURCA) . Since 1997, the country has hosted almost a dozen peacekeeping interventions, earning it the title of "world champion of peacekeeping". In 1998, parliamentary elections resulted in Kolingba's RDC winning 20 out of 109 seats. The next year, however, in spite of widespread public anger in urban centers over his corrupt rule, Patassé won a second term in the presidential election. On 28 May 2001, rebels stormed strategic buildings in Bangui in an unsuccessful coup attempt . The army chief of staff, Abel Abrou, and General François N'Djadder Bedaya were killed, but Patassé regained
425-478: A company owned by one of his wives. The government violently suppressed the protests, killing 100 children and teenagers. Bokassa might have been personally involved in some of the killings. In September 1979, France overthrew Bokassa and restored Dacko to power (subsequently restoring the official name of the country and the original government to the Central African Republic). Dacko, in turn,
510-431: A land area of about 620,000 square kilometres (240,000 sq mi). As of 2024, it has a population of 5,357,744, and is in the scene of a civil war , which has been ongoing since 2012. As a former French colony , French is the official language, with Sango, a Ngbandi based-creole language as the national and co- official language . The Central African Republic mainly consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas , but
595-605: A new constitution, and announced that he would step down and run for office once the new constitution was approved. In 2004, the Central African Republic Bush War began as forces opposed to Bozizé took up arms against his government. In May 2005, Bozizé won the presidential election, which excluded Patassé, and in 2006 fighting continued between the government and the rebels. In November 2006, Bozizé's government requested French military support to help them repel rebels who had taken control of towns in
680-417: A new lava lake appeared at the volcano for the first time in 75 years. The previous lava lake at the volcano was emptied in the 1938 lava flow. The formation of the new lake occurred between June and August 2014. It reached a depth of 500 metres (1,600 ft). The eruption did not affect the communities in the area but left a lot of ash and air pollution. Sulfate aerosols formed by volcanic sulfur dioxide from
765-636: A plane crash on 29 March 1959, his cousin, David Dacko , took control of MESAN. Dacko became the country's first president when the Central African Republic formally received independence from France at midnight on 13 August 1960, a date celebrated by the country's Independence Day holiday. 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. With all opposition parties suppressed by November 1962, Dacko declared MESAN as
850-714: A point near the southwest corner of Lake Victoria in a southwesterly direction through Tanzania and Burundi to the mountains that form the eastern wall of the Albertine Rift . The divide runs northward along the crest of these mountains to the east of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu . This region includes the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda and the Kibira National Park in Burundi. The parks provide
935-523: A power-sharing government. The deal later broke down, and the rebels seized the capital in March 2013 and Bozizé fled the country. Michel Djotodia took over as president. 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. By the end of
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#17327919687201020-418: A refuge for various primates of conservation concern, and also for rare bird and plant species. Around these parks the land is heavily populated, and agriculture is practiced intensively. Farming is difficult in this area, where peaks can be over 3,000 metres (10,000 ft) high. The parks are under pressure from the people that live near them. The Rukarara River rises in forested country in southern Rwanda to
1105-741: A second round of elections were finally held in 1993, again with the help of the international community coordinated by GIBAFOR, Ange-Félix Patassé won in the second round of voting with 53% of the vote while Goumba won 45.6%. Patassé's party, the Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain (MLPC) or Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People, gained a plurality (relative majority) but not an absolute majority of seats in parliament, which meant Patassé's party required coalition partners. Patassé purged many of
1190-444: A surprise attack against Patassé, who was out of the country. Libyan troops and some 1,000 soldiers of Bemba's Congolese rebel organization failed to stop the rebels and Bozizé's forces succeeded in overthrowing Patassé. François Bozizé suspended the constitution and named a new cabinet, which included most opposition parties. Abel Goumba was named vice-president. Bozizé established a broad-based National Transition Council to draft
1275-595: A survey, Western Sources of the Nile , in the Geographical Journal . He claimed to be the only living "white man who had crossed the headwaters of all the rivers from river Wau to Bahr al-Arab." In 1911 Comyn, in his Service and Sport in the Sudan , described the tributaries of the Nile that came from the Congo–Nile divide to the east of the Central African Republic. In 1915–16, when the divide defined part of
1360-724: Is a landlocked country in Central Africa . It is bordered by Chad to the north , Sudan to the northeast , South Sudan to the east , the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south , the Republic of the Congo to the southwest , and Cameroon to the west . Bangui is the country's capital and largest city, bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Central African Republic covers
1445-730: Is a member of the United Nations , the African Union , the Economic Community of Central African States , the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Non-Aligned Movement . The name of the Central African Republic is derived from the country's geographical location in the central region of Africa and its republican form of government. From 1976 to 1979, the country was known as
1530-560: Is an active shield volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , situated about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Lake Kivu . The name is derived from the Kinyarwanda Bantu verb Kuragira nyamu , meaning to herd animals ; nyamu means animal or cows . It has been described as Africa's most active volcano and has erupted over 40 times since 1885. As well as eruptions from
1615-476: Is argued that the focus of the initial disarmament efforts exclusively on the Seleka inadvertently handed the anti-Balaka the upper hand, leading to the forced displacement of Muslim civilians by anti-Balaka in Bangui and western Central African Republic. On 11 January 2014, Michael Djotodia and Nicolas Tiengaye resigned as part of a deal negotiated at a regional summit in neighboring Chad . Catherine Samba-Panza
1700-501: Is in the Nord-Kivu Province. It is 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north-north-west of Nyiragongo, the volcano which caused extensive damage to the city of Goma in its 2002 eruption. Nyamuragira has a volume of 500 cubic kilometres (120 cu mi), and covers an area of 1,500 square kilometres (580 sq mi). It has a low shield profile and contrasts with adjacent steep-sided Nyiragongo volcano. Nyamuragira volcano
1785-483: Is responsible for a large portion of the sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere by volcanoes. At dawn on 2 January 2010 Nyamuragira began spewing out lava flows. There are no settlements close to the volcano, but wildlife officials feared that the eruption may threaten the chimpanzees in the area. Another danger was that the lava could have flowed into the southern sector of Virunga National Park , where there are settlements and villages. Extensive lava flows from
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#17327919687201870-463: Is today the Central and East Central African Republic while some Bantu people migrated from the southwest of Cameroon . Bananas arrived in the region during the first millennium BCE and added an important source of carbohydrates to the diet; they were also used in the production of alcoholic beverages . Production of copper , salt , dried fish , and textiles dominated the economic trade in
1955-581: The Bahr al Jabal river that drains Lake Albert and Lake Victoria in the south, and also from ten smaller rivers flowing from the Congo–Nile divide which together provide 20 billion cubic meters of water annually. The easily traveled northern section of the divide may have been the main route for Bantu expansion to the east and south in the Iron Age . The combination of deforestation due to seed agriculture, cattle ownership and changes in weapons technology with
2040-599: The Central African Empire . During the colonial era, the country's name was Ubangi-Shari ( French : Oubangui-Chari ), a name derived from two major rivers and Central African waterways – Ubangi and Chari . Barthélemy Boganda , the country's first prime minister , favored the name "Central African Republic" over Ubangi-Shari, reportedly because he envisioned a larger union of countries in Central Africa . Approximately 10,000 years ago, desertification forced hunter-gatherer societies south into
2125-709: The Congo-Ocean Railway . Through the period of construction until 1934 there was a continual heavy cost in human lives, with total deaths among all workers along the railway estimated in excess of 17,000 of the construction workers, from a combination of both industrial accidents and diseases including malaria . In 1928, a major insurrection, the Kongo-Wara rebellion or 'war of the hoe handle', broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari and continued for several years. The extent of this insurrection, which
2210-674: The Free French Forces in Bangui . In 1946 Barthélemy Boganda was elected with 9,000 votes to the French National Assembly , becoming the first representative of the Central African Republic in the French government. Boganda maintained a political stance against racism and the colonial regime but gradually became disheartened with the French political system and returned to the Central African Republic to establish
2295-493: The Human Development Index (HDI), the country had the third-lowest level of human development, ranking 191 out of 193 countries. The country had the second lowest inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), ranking 164th out of 165 countries. The Central African Republic is also estimated to be the unhealthiest country as well as the worst country in which to be young. The Central African Republic
2380-672: The Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa ( Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire , MESAN) in 1950. In the Ubangi-Shari Territorial Assembly election in 1957, MESAN captured 347,000 out of the total 356,000 votes and won every legislative seat, which led to Boganda being elected president of the Grand Council of French Equatorial Africa and vice-president of
2465-590: The Peace Corps evacuated all its volunteers to neighboring Cameroon. To date, the Peace Corps has not returned to the Central African Republic. 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 inter-African military mission was later replaced by
2550-621: The Vakaga and Haute-Kotto prefectures. From this triple point: The Congo–Nile divide runs southeast and then south along the border between South Sudan and Uganda to the east and the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the west. The Ironstone Plateau region between South Sudan and the DRC is cut by many streams that have formed steep and narrow valleys. The vast Sudd wetlands in South Sudan are fed by
2635-802: The fall of the Berlin Wall , a pro-democracy movement arose. Pressure from the United States, France, and from a group of locally represented countries and agencies called GIBAFOR (France, the US, Germany, Japan, the EU, the World Bank , and the United Nations ) finally led Kolingba to agree, in principle, to hold free elections in October 1992 with help from the UN Office of Electoral Affairs. After using
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2720-803: The 18th century Bandia-Nzakara Azande peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi River . In the mid 19th century, the Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast. In 1875, the Sudanese sultan Rabih az-Zubayr governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day Central African Republic. The European invasion of Central African territory began in
2805-407: The 2010 eruption can be seen on satellite photographs reaching 25 kilometres (16 mi) south-west to Lake Kivu, about 22 kilometres (14 mi) north-west and 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-north-east. The volcano erupted again on 5 November 2011. That eruption produced a 400-metre (1,300 ft) high column of lava, and it is said to have been its largest eruption in 100 years. In 2014,
2890-579: The Central African Republic is the world's 44th-largest country . Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River ; the Mbomou River in the east merges with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River , which also comprises portions of the southern border. The Sangha River flows through some of the western regions of the country, while the eastern border lies along
2975-683: The Central African Republic...a 'vassal state' of the Kremlin." The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. The country lies between latitudes 2° and 11°N , and longitudes 14° and 28°E . Much of the country consists of flat or rolling plateau savanna approximately 500 metres (1,640 ft) above sea level . In addition to
3060-761: The Central African region. In the 16th and 17th centuries, slave traders began to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan and Nile River slave routes. 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. During
3145-468: The Congo . About 29% of them now lived in the Sudan, 68% in the Congo and the rest in the French colony of Ubangi-Shari , now the Central African Republic . In the central section, the divide runs along the mountains that form the west flank of the Albertine Rift from Lake Albert in the north, past Lake Edward and on towards the north end of Lake Kivu . The divide crosses the Albertine rift along
3230-688: The Fertit Hills in the northeast of the Central African Republic, there are scattered hills in the southwest regions. In the northwest is the Yade Massif, a granite plateau with an altitude of 348 metres (1,143 ft). The Central African Republic contains six terrestrial ecoregions: Northeastern Congolian lowland forests , Northwestern Congolian lowland forests , Western Congolian swamp forests , East Sudanian savanna , Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic , and Sahelian Acacia savanna . At 622,984 square kilometres (240,535 sq mi),
3315-561: The Kolingba elements from the government and Kolingba supporters accused Patassé's government of conducting a " witch hunt " against the Yakoma. A new constitution was approved on 28 December 1994 but had little impact on the country's politics. 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. During this time (1996),
3400-584: The Sahel regions of northern Central Africa, where some groups settled. Farming began as part of the Neolithic Revolution . Initial farming of white yam progressed into millet and sorghum , and before 3000 BCE the domestication of African oil palm improved the groups' nutrition and allowed for expansion of the local populations. This agricultural revolution, combined with a "Fish-stew Revolution", in which fishing began to take place and
3485-534: 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. On 14 December 2015, Séléka rebel leaders declared an independent Republic of Logone . Presidential elections were held in December 2015. As no candidate received more than 50% of
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3570-695: The Ubangi-Shari Government Council. Within a year, he declared the establishment of the Central African Republic and served as the country's first prime minister. MESAN continued to exist, but its role was limited. The Central African Republic was granted autonomy within the French Community on 1 December 1958, a status which meant it was still counted as part of the French Empire in Africa. After Boganda's death in
3655-482: The boundary between Darfur and Wadai . Most of this area had not previously been explored by Europeans. A joint Anglo-French surveying party left Khartoum at the end of 1921. The section along the divide from the 11th to 5th parallel, where French Equatorial Africa met the Belgian Congo, was densely wooded and uninhabited. The expedition could not buy food locally, but had to carry all they needed. Pinning down
3740-458: The boundary between the British Sudan and the Congo State. Under an agreement of 12 May 1894 between Britain and King Leopold II of Belgium , the sphere of influence of Leopold's Congo Free State was limited to "a frontier following the 30th meridian east of Greenwich up to its intersection by the watershed between the Nile and the Congo, and thence following the watershed in a northerly and north-westerly direction." In 1907 D.C.E. Comyn published
3825-446: The country also includes a Sahelo - Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. Two-thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin (which flows into the Congo ), while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari , which flows into Lake Chad . What is today the Central African Republic has been inhabited since at least 8,000 BCE. The country's borders were established by France, which ruled
3910-408: The country as a colony starting in the late 19th century. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders, including an abortive attempt at a monarchy under the regime of Jean-Bedel Bokassa . By the 1990s, calls for democracy led to the first multi-party democratic elections in 1993. Ange-Félix Patassé became president, but
3995-423: The country's northern regions. 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. The Syrte Agreement in February and the Birao Peace Agreement in April 2007 called for a cessation of hostilities, the billeting of FDPC fighters and their integration with FACA,
4080-426: The country. Some 800 of the country's polling stations, or 14% of the total, were closed due to violence. Three Burundian peacekeepers were killed and an additional two were wounded during the run-up to the election. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra was reelected in the first round of the election in December 2020. Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group have supported President Faustin-Archange Touadéra in
4165-538: The country. On 18 February 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy 3,000 troops to the country, bolstering the 6,000 African Union soldiers and 2,000 French troops already in the country, to combat civilians being murdered in large numbers. The Séléka government was said to be divided, and in September 2013, Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka, but many rebels refused to disarm, becoming known as ex-Seleka, and veered further out of government control. It
4250-423: The east of the divide. The source of the Rukarara is now known to be the overall source of the Nile – the point at the furthest distance upstream from the river's mouth. The East African great lakes plateau was difficult for the nineteenth-century European explorers to access, with inhospitable arid or semi-arid land to the north, east and southeast, and the difficult Congo Basin forests to the west. The route from
4335-413: The edge of the Nile River watershed . It has been estimated that up to 8% of the country is covered by forest, with the densest parts generally located in the southern regions. The forests are highly diverse and include commercially important species of Ayous , Sapelli , and Sipo . The deforestation rate is about 0.4% per annum, and lumber poaching is commonplace. The Central African Republic had
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#17327919687204420-410: The eruptions were observed as far away as over the central Amazon rain forest in South America. By 2018, the lava lake had hardened and the activity appeared to have stopped. Eruptive activity continues during 2021 at the summit caldera. In 2021, a lava lake appeared at the volcano based on a June 11 satellite image. On July 26, 2024, lava began to overflow the northern caldera rim and flowed towards
4505-407: 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. When
4590-529: The fears of widespread violence were ultimately unfounded, and the African Union regarded the elections as successful. Touadéra was sworn in on 30 March 2016. No representatives of the Seleka rebel group or the "anti-balaka" militias were included in the subsequently formed government. After the end of Touadéra's first term, presidential elections were held on 27 December 2020 with a possible second round planned for 14 February 2021. Former president François Bozizé announced his candidacy on 25 July 2020 but
4675-410: The fight against rebels. Russia's Wagner group has been accused of harassing and intimidating civilians. In December 2022, Roger Cohen wrote in The New York Times , " Wagner shock troops form a Praetorian Guard for Mr. Touadéra, who is also protected by Rwandan forces, in return for an untaxed license to exploit and export the Central African Republic's resources" and "one Western ambassador called
4760-409: The hot, dry, and dusty trade wind known as the Harmattan . The southern regions have a more equatorial climate, but they are subject to desertification , while the extreme northeast regions of the country are a steppe . In the southwest, the Dzanga-Sangha National Park is located in a rain forest area. The country is noted for its population of forest elephants and western lowland gorillas . In
4845-485: The introduction of iron may have allowed Bantu -speakers to migrate south through the region into Buganda no more than 1,500 years ago. From there, they would have continued yet further south. The people who now live along the Congo–Nile divide in South Sudan speak Central Sudanic languages , and include the Kresh people . They once lived to the west of the divide in the region to the south of Lake Chad , but were forced east and south by expanding populations further to
4930-438: The lake toward the White Nile . Their research and follow-up explorations by David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley established among Europeans that this was not the case. The Ruzizi flows into Lake Tanganyika, which overflows into the Lukuga River about 120 kilometres (75 mi) south of Ujiji . The Lukuga flows west into the Lualaba River , a major tributary of the Congo. Other European explorers who helped map out
5015-402: The largest are Lake Eyasi in the north and Lake Rukwa in the south. The people who live along the divide are diverse, mainly speaking Central Sudanic languages in the northern parts and Bantu languages further south. The European colonialists used the Congo–Nile divide as a boundary between British-controlled territories to the east and territories controlled by the French and Belgians to
5100-444: The late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa . Europeans, primarily the French, Germans , and Belgians , arrived in the area in 1885. France seized and colonized Ubangi-Shari territory in 1894. In 1911 at the Treaty of Fez , France ceded a nearly 300,000 km portion of the Sangha and Lobaye basins to the German Empire which ceded a smaller area (in present-day Chad ) to France. After World War I France again annexed
5185-406: The liberation of political prisoners, the integration of FDPC into government, an amnesty for the UFDR , its recognition as a political party, and the integration of its fighters into the national army. Several groups continued to fight but other groups signed on to the agreement or similar agreements with the government (e.g., UFR on 15 December 2008). The only major group not to sign an agreement at
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#17327919687205270-426: The line of the Virunga Mountains , to the north of Lake Kivu. The Virunga Massif along the border between Rwanda and the DRC consists of eight volcanoes. Two of these, Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo , are still highly active. South of the Virungas, Lake Kivu drains to the south into Lake Tanganyika through the Ruzizi River . Lake Tanganyika then drains into the Congo River via the Lukuga River . It seems likely that
5355-530: The location of the divide was extremely difficult. The technique was to march along a compass bearing until a stream was reached, then to follow it up to its ultimate source, which was often a marsh, and to determine its location. The surveyors suffered from poor food, although there was abundant game, from malaria and from torrential rainfall. It took eighteen months to complete the task. Further reading Central African Republic The Central African Republic ( CAR ), formerly known as Ubangi-Shari ,
5440-447: The north, the Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park is well-populated with wildlife, including leopards , lions , cheetahs and rhinos , and the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park is located in the northeast of the Central African Republic. The parks have been seriously affected by the activities of poachers, particularly those from Sudan , over the past two decades. Nyamuragira Nyamuragira , also known as Nyamulagira ,
5525-592: The official party of the state. 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. President Bokassa declared himself President for Life in 1972 and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire (as the country was renamed) on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in an expensive ceremony. In April 1979, young students protested against Bokassa's decree that all school pupils were required to buy uniforms from
5610-399: The present hydrological system was established quite recently when the Virunga volcanoes erupted and blocked the northward flow of water from Lake Kivu into Lake Edward , causing it instead to discharge southward into Lake Tanganyika. Before that Lake Tanganyika, or separate sub-basins in what is now the lake, may have had no outlet other than evaporation. In the south, the divide runs from
5695-442: The press and freedom of movement. Despite its significant mineral deposits and other resources, such as uranium reserves, crude oil , gold , diamonds , cobalt , lumber , and hydropower , as well as significant quantities of arable land , the Central African Republic is among the ten poorest countries in the world, with the lowest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity in the world as of 2017. As of 2022 , according to
5780-401: The region included Panayotis Potagos (1839–1903), Georg August Schweinfurth (1836–1925), who discovered the Uele River , although he mistakenly thought it flowed into the Chad Basin rather than the Congo, Wilhelm Junker (1840–1892), who corrected Schweinfurth's hydrographical theories, and Oskar Lenz 1848–1925). The Berlin Conference of 1885 agreed that the Nile–Congo watershed would form
5865-442: The south via the rift valley lakes, Nyasa and Tanganyika , was easier, and the Congo–Nile divide from the northwest provided the easiest route. The Ruzizi River, flowing south into Lake Tanganyika, is part of the upper watershed of the Congo River . Nineteenth-century British explorers such as Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke , uncertain of the direction of flow of the Ruzizi, thought that it might flow north out of
5950-445: The summit, there have been numerous eruptions from the flanks of the volcano, creating new smaller volcanoes that have lasted only for a short time (e.g. Murara from late 1976 to 1977). Recent eruptions occurred on 2 January 2010, 8 November 2011 and 23 May 2021. Nyamuragira volcano is an active volcano near the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Lake Kivu. It
6035-474: The territory. 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. In 1920, French Equatorial Africa
6120-486: The time was the CPJP , which continued its activities and signed a peace agreement with the government on 25 August 2012. In 2011, Bozizé was reelected in an election which was widely considered fraudulent. In November 2012, Séléka , a coalition of rebel groups, took over towns in the northern and central regions of the country. These groups eventually reached a peace deal with Bozizé's government in January 2013, involving
6205-579: The upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and Libyan soldiers. 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. Eventually, Patassé came to suspect that General François Bozizé was involved in another coup attempt against him, which led Bozizé to flee with loyal troops to Chad. In March 2003, Bozizé launched
6290-410: The use of boats, allowed for the transportation of goods. Products were often moved in ceramic pots. 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 ). Ironwork developed in the region around 1000 BCE. The Ubangian people settled along the Ubangi River in what
6375-457: The vote, a second round of elections was held on 14 February 2016 with run-offs on 31 March 2016. In the second round of voting, former Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadéra was declared the winner with 63% of the vote, defeating Union for Central African Renewal candidate Anicet-Georges Dologuélé , another former Prime Minister. While the elections suffered from many potential voters being absent as they had taken refuge in other countries,
6460-514: The west. The Europeans knew little about the area in 1885, when they made the divide the boundary between Belgian and French spheres of influence to the west and the British sphere of influence to the east. The line ran through the territory of the Zande people , who lived in the dense woodland in the extreme southwest of what is now South Sudan and northeast of what is now the Democratic Republic of
6545-452: The west. This was decided at a time when few Europeans had visited the area, which had yet to be mapped. It separated members of the ethnic groups that live on both sides of the divide. The Congo–Nile divide starts at the triple divide where the Congo, Chad and Nile basins meet. This point is located on the boundary between the Central African Republic and the Sudan , at the limit between
6630-599: The western frontier of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan , Cuthbert Christy explored the area. He opined that it was a suitable place to build a railway. France and Britain made a friendly agreement in 1919 to define the boundary between the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and French Equatorial Africa. The boundary was to run along the Nile–Congo divide until the 11th parallel of northern latitude, and then along
6715-438: The year, there were international warnings of a "genocide" and fighting was largely reprisal attacks on civilians by Seleka's predominantly Muslim fighters and Christian militias called " anti-balaka ". By August 2013, there were reports of over 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). French President François Hollande called on the UN Security Council and the African Union to increase their efforts to stabilize
6800-655: Was again overthrown in a coup by General André Kolingba on 1 September 1981. Kolingba suspended the constitution and ruled with a military junta until 1985. He introduced a new constitution in 1986 which was adopted by a nationwide referendum. Membership in his new party, the Rassemblement Démocratique Centrafricain (RDC), was voluntary. In 1987 and 1988, semi-free elections to parliament were held, but Kolingba's two major political opponents, Abel Goumba and Ange-Félix Patassé , were not allowed to participate. By 1990, inspired by
6885-573: Was elected interim president by the National Transitional Council, becoming the first ever female Central African president. On 23 July 2014, following Congolese mediation efforts, Séléka and anti-balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement in Brazzaville . By the end of 2014, the country was de facto partitioned with the anti-Balaka in the southwest and ex-Seleka in the northeast. In March 2015, Samantha Power ,
6970-414: Was established and Ubangi-Shari was administered from Brazzaville . During the 1920s and 1930s the French introduced a policy of mandatory cotton cultivation, a network of roads were built, attempts were made to combat sleeping sickness , and Protestant missions were established to spread Christianity. New forms of forced labour were also introduced and a large number of Ubangians were sent to work on
7055-438: Was later removed by General François Bozizé in a 2003 coup . The Central African Republic Bush War began in 2004 and, despite a peace treaty in 2007 and another in 2011, civil war resumed in 2012. The civil war perpetuated the country's poor human rights record : it was characterized by widespread and increasing abuses by various participating armed groups, such as arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and restrictions on freedom of
7140-625: Was perhaps the largest anti-colonial rebellion in Africa during the interwar years, was carefully hidden from the French public because it provided evidence of strong opposition to French colonial rule and forced labour. French colonization in Oubangui-Chari is considered to be the most brutal of the French colonial Empire. In September 1940, during the Second World War , pro-Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi-Shari and General Leclerc established his headquarters for
7225-478: Was rejected by the Constitutional Court of the country, which held that Bozizé did not satisfy the "good morality" requirement for candidates because of an international warrant and United Nations sanctions against him for alleged assassinations, torture and other crimes. As large parts of the country were at the time controlled by armed groups, the election could not be conducted in many areas of
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