Central African Republic

Central African Republic: Land of Traditions and Natural Riches

The Central African Republic, often referred to as the CAR, is a landlocked country at the geographical heart of Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan and South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo to the south, and Cameroon to the west.

The country covers over 600,000 square kilometers, making it one of the larger countries in Africa, but it has a population of only around five million people, making it one of the most sparsely populated. This page is provided for informational purposes and to document the country’s extraordinary natural and cultural heritage.

Dzanga-Sangha: One of Africa’s Greatest Wildlife Reserves

The Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve in the southwestern corner of the country, bordering Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, is one of the most remarkable wildlife destinations in Africa. It forms part of the Sangha Trinational, a cross-border protected area that was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.

The reserve is home to one of the highest densities of western lowland gorillas and forest elephants in Africa. The Dzanga Bai, a large forest clearing or “bai” in the local language, is where forest elephants gather in numbers that can exceed a hundred animals at a time to drink the mineral-rich water and dig for salt in the sandy ground.

Watching this gathering from an elevated viewing platform is one of the most extraordinary wildlife experiences in Africa, comparable to the elephant gatherings at Amboseli or Chobe but in a setting that feels genuinely remote and undiscovered.

Gorilla tracking in the Dzanga-Sangha reserve allows visitors to observe habituated western lowland gorilla groups in their natural forest habitat. Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered and far harder to access than the more visited mountain gorillas of Rwanda and Uganda. The dense forest environment makes each sighting feel genuinely rare and precious.

The reserve is also home to the Aka people, one of the most well-studied hunter-gatherer communities in Africa. The Aka have an extraordinary depth of knowledge about the forest, its plants, animals, and ecological systems, accumulated over thousands of years of living within it. Cultural visits to Aka communities can be arranged respectfully through the reserve management.

The Chinko Nature Reserve

The Chinko Nature Reserve in the east of the country, managed by African Parks, is one of the largest protected areas in Africa, covering over 17,000 square kilometers. It protects a remarkable diversity of savanna and forest wildlife including lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, and a wide range of antelope species.

The reserve has been working to stabilize wildlife populations that were severely depleted by poaching during the years of conflict. The Chinko is also home to one of the largest remaining populations of the giant eland, the world’s largest antelope, which has disappeared from much of its former range across Central Africa.

Ancient Rock Art

The Mazoyer region and several sites in the north and east of the country contain prehistoric rock paintings and engravings that document the lives of people who inhabited this landscape thousands of years ago. These sites, comparable in their way to the better-known rock art of the Sahara and southern Africa, remain almost entirely unstudied and unvisited by international researchers and travelers.

The Sangha River and Forest World

The Sangha River, which runs along the western border before continuing through Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, is one of the great forest rivers of Central Africa. Traveling by dugout canoe along the river and its tributaries through dense lowland rainforest, watching for forest elephants, forest buffalo, bongo antelope, and hundreds of bird species, is the defining travel experience of the southwestern CAR.

The forest here is part of the Congo Basin, the second largest tropical rainforest on earth. It supports extraordinary biodiversity, including species that are still being described by science. The combination of mega-fauna such as gorillas and elephants with a forest so dense and rich that it feels primordial makes the Dzanga-Sangha area one of the most biologically significant places on the planet.

People and Culture

The Central African Republic is home to around 80 ethnic groups, reflecting the diversity of the ecosystems they inhabit. The Banda, Gbaya, and Zande peoples of the north and east are predominantly agriculturalists with strong traditions of music, dance, and craftsmanship. The Aka and other forest peoples of the south and west have maintained hunter-gatherer lifestyles for thousands of years, with a relationship to the forest that is the foundation of their entire cultural world.

The country’s official language is French, with Sango serving as the national language used for everyday communication across ethnic groups.

Practical Travel Information

A visa is required for most nationalities and should be arranged through a Central African embassy before travel. The Central African CFA franc is the currency. French and Sango are the main languages. Security conditions across most of the country are extremely serious and require expert local guidance for any travel.

The Dzanga-Sangha reserve in the southwest is the most viable destination for those determined to visit, with an established infrastructure managed through the World Wildlife Fund and the CAR government. The best time to visit the reserve is December to April during the dry season.