There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the Central African Republic (CAR), each with its own language. About 50% are Baya-Mandjia, 40% Banda (largely located in the northern and central parts of the country), and 7% are M'Baka (southwestern corner of the CAR). Sangho, the language of a small group along the Oubangui River, is the national language spoken by the majority of Central Africans. Only a small part of the population has more than an elemental knowledge of French, the official language.
More than 55% of the population of the CAR lives in rural areas. The chief agricultural areas are around the Bossangoa and Bambari. Bangui, Berberati, Bangassou, and Bossangoa are the most densely populated urban centers.
Population
According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[1][2] the total population was 5,457,154 in 2021, compared to only 1 327 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.4%, 55.6% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4% were 65 years or older.[3]
Vital statistics
Registration of vital events is not complete in the Central African Republic. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[3]
Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects, 2022[4]
Fertility and Births
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):[5]
Life expectancy
Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.[7]
One birth every 3 minutes
One death every 9 minutes
One net migrant every 25 minutes
Net gain of one person every 6 minutes
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.[8]
Population
5,454,533 (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 119th
5,745,062 (July 2018 est.)
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2015 est.)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; the Central African Republic is currently considered a high risk to travelers for polio; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
Nationality
Noun: Central African(s)
Adjective: Central African
Ethnic groups
An approximate distribution of the ethnic groups is shown in the chart below:
Religion
Christian 89%, Muslim 9%, folk religionist 1%, unaffiliated 1% (2020 est.)
^"World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
^ a bPopulation Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^"MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys". microdata.worldbank.org.
^"World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
^"Central African Republic Population 2022", World Population Review
^ This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "The World FactBook - Central African Republic", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018
^ a b"Africa: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC". CIA The World Factbook. 14 November 2022.
Attribution:
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2006 edition.)