中非共和国(Central African Republic)
法语作République Centrafricaine
旧称Ubangi-Shari
非洲中部的共和国。面积622,436平方公里。人口约3,577,000（2001）。首都︰班吉。无法把中非人民画分为严格且固定不变的种族集团，18～19世纪他们为了躲避奴隶贩子的追捕而深入内陆。现在组成了庞杂的种族集团，班达、巴亚、恩格班迪和阿赞德人占全部居民的3/4。语言︰法语和山果语（均为官方语）。宗教︰泛灵论和基督教。货币︰非洲金融共同体法郎。中非共和国是封闭的内陆国，地处海拔610～760公尺的广阔高原。北半部是稀树草原，有沙里河流经。南半部是浓密的树林区。该国已逐渐发展混合公、民营结构的自由企业经济，农业是其主要部门。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
尽管考古发现在旧石器时代後期这里即有人烟，然而考古遗存很少。这里曾为16世纪高加帝国一部分。16、17、18世纪贩奴潮袭卷该区，原住民几乎灭绝。1889年法国建立班吉市。1906年与查德组成乌班吉－沙里－查德殖民地。1910年成为法属赤道非洲（即法属刚果）的一部分。1920年与查德仳离。1946年地位改为法国海外领地。1958年成为法兰西共同体内的自治共和国。1960年取得独立。1966年博卡萨发动军事政变推翻文人政府。博卡萨於1977年底将国名改为中非帝国，自立为帝，但於1979年9月被废黜，恢复共和。1981年又发生政变，军人掌权。1993年举行选举，走回文人政府体制。
English version：
Central African Republic
formerlyUbangi-ShariRepublic, central Africa. Area: 240,376 sq mi (622,374 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 3,342,000. Capital: Bangui. Almost all the inhabitants trace their origin to communities founded in the 18th-19th century when various African peoples fled into the interior to escape slave traders. They now form heterogeneous ethnic groups, with the Banda, Baya (Gbaya), Ngbandi, and Azande almost three-quarters of its inhabitants. Languages: French, Sango (both official), Zande. Religions: animism, Christianity. Currency: CFA franc. A landlocked country, it consists of a plateau with an average altitude of about 2,200 ft (670 m). The northern half is characterized by savanna and is drained by tributaries of the Chari River. The southern half is densely forested. The country has a developing free-enterprise economy of mixed state and private structure; agriculture is its main component. It is a republic with one legislative body; its chief of state is the president and its head of government, the prime minister. Though seemingly inhabited for a long time, the area has yielded few archaeological remains. For several centuries before the arrival of Europeans, the territory was subjected to slave traders. The French explored and claimed central Africa and in 1889 established a post at Bangui. In 1898 they partitioned the colony among commercial concessionaires. United with Chad in 1906 to form the French colony of Ubangi-Shari-Chad, it later became part of French Equatorial Africa. It was separated from Chad in 1920 and became an overseas territory in 1946. An autonomous republic within the French Community in 1958, it achieved independence in 1960. In 1966 the military overthrew a civilian government and installed J.-B. Bokassa, who in 1976 renamed the country the Central African Empire. He was overthrown in 1979, but the military again seized power in the 1980s. Elections in 1993 led to installation of a civilian government.