Country name:
conventional long form: Central African Republic
conventional short form:
none
local long form:
Republique Centrafricaine
local short form:
none
former:
Ubangi-Shari, Central African Empire
abbreviation:
CAR
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name:
Bangui
geographic coordinates:
4 22 N, 18 35 E
time difference:
UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
14 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture), 2 economic prefectures* (prefectures economiques, singular - prefecture economique), and 1 commune**; Bamingui-Bangoran, Bangui**, Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou, Kemo, Lobaye, Mambere-Kadei, Mbomou, Nana-Grebizi*, Nana-Mambere, Ombella-Mpoko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pende, Sangha-Mbaere*, Vakaga
Independence:
13 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday:
Republic Day, 1 December (1958)
Constitution:
several previous; latest ratified by referendum 5 December 2004, effective 27 December 2004; amended 2010; note - the transitional parliament has begun work on a new constitution which should be ready for citizens feedback in early 2015 (2010)
Legal system:
civil law system based on the French model
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
Interim President Catherine SAMBA-PANZA (since 20 January 2014); elected by the National Transitional Council
head of government:
Interim Prime Minister Andre NZAPAYEKE (since 25 January 2014); note - he replaced Prime Minister Nicolas TIANGAYE who resigned 10 January 2014
cabinet:
Council of Ministers
elections:
interim president was elected by the National Transitional Council on 20 January 2014; she will be in office until February 2015 at the new general elections
election results:
in the second round Catherine SAMBA-PANZA was elected; SAMBA-PANZA 75 votes from the National Transitional Council, Desire KOLINGBA 53 votes (129 MPs out of 135 voted)
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Transitional Council to act as the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (105 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections:
last held on 23 January 2011 and 27 March 2011 (next to be held in February 2015)
election results:
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Supreme Court (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges, at least 3 of which are women)
judge selection and term of office:
Supreme Court judges appointed by the president; Constitutional Court judge appointments - 2 by the president, 1 by the speaker of the National Assembly, 2 elected by their peers, 2 are advocates elected by their peers, and 2 are law professors elected by their peers; judges serve 7-year non-renewable terms
subordinate courts:
high courts; magistrates' courts
Political parties and leaders:
Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP [Clement BELIBANGA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, EITI (compliant country), FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Stanislas MOUSSA-KEMBE (since 24 August 2009)
chancery:
1618 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 483-7800
FAX:
[1] (202) 332-9893
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Laurence D. WOHLERS (since September 2010)
embassy:
Avenue David Dacko, Bangui
mailing address:
B. P. 924, Bangui
telephone:
[236] 21 61 02 00
FAX:
[236] 21 61 44 94
note:
the embassy temporarily suspended operations in December, 2012
Flag description:
four equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, green, and yellow with a vertical red band in center; a yellow five-pointed star to the hoist side of the blue band; banner combines the Pan-African and French flag colors; red symbolizes the blood spilled in the struggle for independence, blue represents the sky and freedom, white peace and dignity, green hope and faith, and yellow tolerance; the star represents aspiration towards a vibrant future
National symbol(s):
elephant
National anthem:
name:
"Le Renaissance" (The Renaissance)
lyrics/music: Barthelemy BOGANDA/Herbert PEPPER
note: adopted 1960; Barthelemy BOGANDA, who wrote the anthem's lyrics, was the first prime minister of the autonomous French territory
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Central African Republic on this page is re-published from the 2015 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Central African Republic Government 2015 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Central African Republic Government 2015 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 10-Feb-15