Environment - current issues:
tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished the country's
reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges;
desertification; deforestation
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, 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:
3,799,897
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
2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.5% (male 813,596/female 802,728)
15-64 years: 54% (male 1,010,696/female 1,041,903)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 54,345/female 76,629) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.12 years
male: 17.75 years
female: 18.5 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.49% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
35.17 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
20.27 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)