yer Protection, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa

People
Central African Republic

Population:

4,444,330
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 41.3% (male 922,053/female 911,601)
15-64 years: 54.6% (male 1,206,121/female 1,221,158)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 71,597/female 111,800) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 18.7 years
male: 18.4 years
female: 19 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.509% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

33.13 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

18.04 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 82.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 88.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 75.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 44.22 years
male: 44.14 years
female: 44.29 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

4.23 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

13.5% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

260,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

23,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Central African(s)
adjective: Central African

Ethnic groups:

Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Mandjia 13%, Sara 10%, Mboum 7%, M'Baka 4%,
Yakoma 4%, other 2%

Religions:

indigenous beliefs 35%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim
15%
note: animistic beliefs and practices strongly influence the
Christian majority

Languages:

French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language),
tribal languages

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