Geography of the Central African Republic

Error creating thumbnail:

A United Nations map of the Central African Republic

Location of the Central African Republic

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. Much of the country consists of flat, or rolling plateau savanna, about 1,640 feet (500 m) above sea level. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills, and there are scattered hills in the southwestern part of the country. To the northwest is the Karre Mountains (also known as Yade Massif), a granite plateau with an altitude of 3,750 feet (1,143 m).

At 622,984 square kilometres (240,535 sq mi), the Central African Republic is the world's 45th-largest country (after Somalia). It is comparable in size to Ukraine.

Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River, with the Mbomou River in the east merging with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. In the west, the Sangha River flows through part of the country. The eastern border lies along the edge of the Congo-Nile watershed.

In the Central African Republic forest cover is around 36% of the total land area, equivalent to 22,303,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 23,203,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 22,301,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 2,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 9% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 91% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 9% private ownership. In 2021, the rate of deforestation in the Central African Republic increased by 71%. The forest is highly diverse and includes commercially important species of Ayous, Sapele and Sipo.

Climate

Error creating thumbnail:

Central African Republic map of Köppen climate classification.

The climate of the Central African Republic is generally a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), although there are areas with a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) and in the north there is also a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). There is a wet season and a dry season, and the temperature is hot throughout the year. The northern areas are subject to harmattan winds, which are hot, dry, and carry dust. The tip of the northern regions have been subject to desertification. The remainder of the country is prone to flooding from nearby rivers. About one third of the Central African Republic's population do not have access to clean water.

Forests

Tree cover extent and loss

Global Forest Watch publishes annual estimates of tree cover loss and 2000 tree cover extent derived from time-series analysis of Landsat satellite imagery in the Global Forest Change dataset. In this framework, tree cover refers to vegetation taller than 5 m (including natural forests and tree plantations), and tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover canopy for a given year, regardless of cause.

For the Central African Republic, country statistics report cumulative tree cover loss of 1,076,630 ha (10,766.3 km²) from 2001 to 2024 (about 2.3% of its 2000 tree cover area). For tree cover density greater than 30%, country statistics report a 2000 tree cover extent of 47,073,506 ha (470,735.06 km²). The charts and table below display this data. In simple terms, the annual loss number is the area where tree cover disappeared in that year, and the extent number shows what remains of the 2000 tree cover baseline after subtracting cumulative loss. Forest regrowth is not included in the dataset.

Annual tree cover extent and loss

Year	Tree cover extent (km2)	Annual tree cover loss (km2)
2001	470,422.24	312.82
2002	470,078.06	344.18
2003	469,940.79	137.27
2004	469,794.91	145.88
2005	469,501.74	293.17
2006	468,922.91	578.83
2007	468,549.83	373.08
2008	468,231.23	318.60
2009	467,748.70	482.53
2010	467,263.16	485.54
2011	466,771.76	491.40
2012	466,198.61	573.15
2013	465,756.78	441.83
2014	465,178.26	578.52
2015	464,905.11	273.15
2016	464,393.58	511.53
2017	463,754.49	639.09
2018	463,345.36	409.13
2019	462,855.10	490.26
2020	462,303.73	551.37
2021	461,631.92	671.81
2022	461,121.63	510.29
2023	460,576.28	545.35
2024	459,968.76	607.52

Facts

A satellite map of the Central African Republic.

Topography of Central African Republic.

Location: Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Area comparative

• Slightly smaller than Somalia
• Slightly larger than Ukraine
• Australia comparative: slightly more than 3/4 the size of New South Wales
• Canada comparative: slightly smaller than Manitoba
• United Kingdom comparative: slightly more than 21/2 times the size of the United Kingdom
• United States comparative: approximately 1/10 smaller than Texas
• EU comparative: approximately 1/5 larger than Spain

Land boundaries:
total: 5,920 km
border countries: Cameroon 901 km, Chad 1,556 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,747 km, Republic of the Congo 487 km, Sudan 174 km and South Sudan 1,055 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Terrain: vast, flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Oubangui River 335 m
highest point: Mont Ngaoui 1,420 m

Natural resources: diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, petroleum, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 2.89%
permanent crops: 0.13%
other: 96.98% (2012 est.)

Irrigated land: 1.35 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 144.4 km³ (2011)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.07 km³/yr (83%/17%/1%)
per capita: 17.42 m³/yr (2005)

Natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas; floods are common

Environment — current issues: tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished its reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification

Environment — international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography — note: landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa

Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of the Central African Republic, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

• Northernmost point - unnamed location in the Aoukal river on the border with Chad, Vakaga Prefecture
• Easternmost point - unnamed location immediately East of the tripoint with South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and south of the town of Ezo in South Sudan, Haut-Mbomou Prefecture
• Southernmost point - the tripoint with Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, Sangha-Mbaéré Prefecture
• Westernmost point - unnamed location on the border with Cameroon west of the town of Koundé in Central African Republic near Cameroon's Lokoti to Garoua Boulai road, Nana-Mambéré Prefecture

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/.