Central African Republic
Estimate population 4,840,400 - Capital City Bangui
The Central African Republic covers approximately 622,436 square kilometres (240,324 square miles). It has a wide variety of vegetation like forests, desert and steppe, or treeless plains. The centre of the country is a savannah, or grassland. The north corner of the country contains dry steppe.
The Central African Republic used to be a French dependency named Ubangi-Shari. It has been independent since 1960. French and Sango, a Sudanic language, are the official languages, but other languages are also spoken.