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Demographics of the Central African Republic

demographics of country

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ2737061 ↗
Source-derived summary

Demographic features of the population of the Central African Republic include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

There are more than 80 ethnic groups in the Central African Republic (CAR), each with its own language. The largest ethnic groups are Gbaya (Baya) 28.8%, Banda 22.9%, Mandjia 9.9%, Sara 7.9%, M'Baka-Bantu 7.9%, Arab-Fulani (Peuhl) 6%, Mbum 6%, Ngbanki 5.5%, Zande-Nzakara 3%, other Central African Republic ethnic groups 2%, non-Central African Republic ethnic groups .1%, as of 2003. 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 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.

Editorial summary

“Demographics of the Central African Republic” enters the record as demographics of country. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Demographics, Central and African can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2003, 2022, 2021, 1950—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Demographics, Central and African.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Demographics of the Central African Republic” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Demographics, Central and African provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2737061. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2003, 2022, 2021 and 1950.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Demographics of the Central African Republic”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Demographics of the Central African Republic primary sources, Demographics of the Central African Republic archive and Demographics research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Demographics of the Central African Republic” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.