Environment - current issues:
tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished its reputation as
one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification;
deforestation
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa
People Central African Republic
Population:
3,683,538
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
2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43.1% (male 799,241; female 788,370)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 969,581; female 1,000,740)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 53,322; female 72,284) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.9 years
male: 17.6 years
female: 18.3 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
1.62% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
35.93 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
19.73 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)