Given the shortage of electricity, remote locations rely on word-of-mouth and messengers. Newspapers are privately owned, and their reach is limited by low literacy levels and a lack of distribution in rural areas. Around 5% of the population is online and approximately 22% of the population has cell phones. As in many African countries, radio stations are the most effective means to reach large segments of the population. The country has one government-controlled television station and about two dozen privately-owned radio stations. Many of them are run by religious organizations. BBC World Service (90.2 FM), Radio France Internationale and the Voice of America are available via local relays in Bangui. Radio Ndeke Luka (“bird of luck”), run by Swiss Non-Government Organization (NGO) Fondation Hirondelle, provides balanced output and rebroadcasts international news bulletins. MINUSCA runs Guira FM, which is available in the capital and in the regions. The station is named after a tree under which differences are solved and it works to bring together Muslim and Christian communities.
Radio is the most popular medium. State-run Radio Centrafrique has limited FM coverage.
Radio Ndeke Luka (“bird of luck”), run by Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle, provides balanced output, and rebroadcasts international news bulletins.
The UN stabilisation mission (MINUSCA) runs Guira FM, which is available in the capital and in the regions. The station is named after a tree under which differences are solved.
There are about two dozen privately-owned radio stations. Many of them are run by religious organisations.
Newspapers are privately-owned. Their reach is limited by low literacy levels and a lack of distribution in rural areas.
BBC World Service (90.2 FM), Radio France Internationale and the Voice of America are available via local relays in Bangui.
Around 224,000 citizens were online by 2016 – around 4.5% of the population (InternetLiveStats.com). Internet access is mainly confined to Bangui.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://minusca.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusca.
1894 – France sets up a dependency in the area called Ubangi-Chari and partitions it among commercial concessionaires.
1910 – Ubangi-Chari becomes part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa.
1920-30 – Indigenous Africans stage violent protests against abuses by concessionaires.
1946 – The territory is given its own assembly and representation in the French parliament; Barthelemy Boganda, founder of the pro-independence Social Evolution Movement of Black Africa (MESAN), becomes the first Central African to be elected to the French parliament.
1957 – MESAN wins control of the territorial assembly; Boganda becomes president of the Grand Council of French Equatorial Africa.
Independence
1958 – The territory achieves self-government within French Equatorial Africa with Boganda as prime minister.
1959 – Boganda dies.
1960 – The Central African Republic becomes independent with David Dacko, nephew of Boganda, as president.
1962 – Dacko turns the Central African Republic into a one-party state with MESAN as the sole party.
1964 – Dacko confirmed as president in elections in which he is the sole candidate.
The Bokassa era
1965 – Dacko ousted by the army commander, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, as the country faces bankruptcy and a threatened nationwide strike.
1972 – Bokassa declares himself president for life.
1976 – Bokassa proclaims himself emperor and renames the country the “Central African Empire”.
1979 – Bokassa ousted in a coup led by David Dacko and backed by French troops after widespread protests in which many school children were arrested and massacred while in detention.
1981 – Dacko deposed in a coup led by the army commander, Andre Kolingba.
1984 – Amnesty for all political party leaders declared.
1986 – Bokassa returns to the CAR from exile in France.
1988 – Bokassa sentenced to death for murder and embezzlement, but has his sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
Ban on parties lifted
1991 – Political parties permitted to form.
1992 October – Multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections held in which Kolingba came in last place, but are annulled by the supreme court on the ground of widespread irregularities.
1993 – Ange-Felix Patasse beats Kolingba and Dacko in elections to become president, ending 12 years of military rule. Kolingba releases several thousand political prisoners, including Bokassa, before standing down as president.
1996 May – Soldiers stage a mutiny in the capital, Bangui, over unpaid wages.
1997 November – Soldiers stage more mutinies.
1997 – France begins withdrawing its forces from the republic; African peacekeepers replace French troops.
1999 – Patasse re-elected; his nearest rival, former President Kolingba, wins 19% of the vote.
2000 December – Civil servants stage general strike over back-pay; rally organised by opposition groups who accuse President Patasse of mismanagement and corruption deteriorates into riots.
Coup bid
2001 May – At least 59 killed in an abortive coup attempt by former president Andre Kolingba. President Patasse suppresses the attempt with help of Libyan and Chadian troops and Congolese rebels.
2001 November – Clashes as troops try to arrest sacked army chief of staff General Francois Bozize, accused of involvement in May’s coup attempt. Thousands flee fighting between government troops and Bozize’s forces.
2002 February – Former Defence Minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth appears in a Bangui court to answer charges related to the coup attempt of May 2001.
2002 October – Libyan-backed forces help to subdue an attempt by forces loyal to dismissed army chief General Bozize to overthrow President Patasse.
Patasse ousted
2003 March – Rebel leader Francois Bozize seizes Bangui, declares himself president and dissolves parliament. President Ange-Felix Patasse is out of the country at the time. Within weeks a transitional government is set up.
2004 December – New constitution approved in referendum.
2005 May – Francois Bozize is named the winner of presidential elections after a run-off vote.
2005 August – Flooding in the capital, Bangui, leaves up to 20,000 people homeless.
2005 June onwards – Thousands flee lawlessness in north-west CAR for southern Chad. Aid bodies appeal for help to deal with the “forgotten emergency”.
2006 June – UN says 33 people have been killed in a rebel attack on an army camp in the north.
2006 August – Exiled Former President Ange-Felix Patasse is found guilty, in absentia, of fraud and sentenced to 20 years’ hard labour.
2006 October – Rebels seize Birao, a town in the north-east. President Bozize cuts short an overseas visit.
2006 December – French fighter jets fire on rebel positions as part of support for government troops trying to regain control of areas in the northeast.
2007 February – The rebel People’s Democratic Front, led by Abdoulaye Miskine, signs a peace accord with President Bozize in Libya and urges fighters to lay down their arms.
2007 May – The International Criminal Court says it is to probe war crimes allegedly committed in 2002 and 2003 following the failed coup against the Ange-Felix Patasse.
2007 September – UN Security Council authorises a peacekeeping force to protect civilians from violence spilling over from Darfur in neighbouring Sudan.
2008 January – Civil servants and teachers strike in protest over non-payment of salaries for several months.
Prime Minister Elie Dote and his cabinet resign a day before parliament was to debate a censure motion against him.
President Bozize appoints Faustin-Archange Touadera, an academic with no previous background in politics, to replace Mr Dote.
2008 February – Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army rebels raid CAR.
Peace process
2008 June – Two of three main rebel groups – the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) – sign peace agreement with government providing for disarmament and demobilisation of rebel fighters.
2008 September – Parliament adopts amnesty law seen as last remaining obstacle to successful conclusion of peace talks between rebels and the government.
2008 December – Government-rebel peace deal envisages formation of consensus government and elections in March 2010.
2009 January – National unity government unveiled; includes leaders of the two main rebel groups. Main opposition UVNF criticises the changes to the cabinet as insufficient.
2009 February – Ugandan LRA rebels cross into CAR.
2009 March – French troops reportedly deploy in Bangui after rebels infiltrate the capital.
2009 April – Clashes between government and rebels continue. UN Security Council agrees to creation of new UN peacebuilding office for CAR to address ongoing insecurity.
2009 July – New electoral commission established after parliament approves new election law.
2009 August – UN report says more than a million people have been affected by civil unrest in CAR.
2009 September – Ugandan army confirms that it is pursuing LRA rebels in CAR.
2009 October/November – Former President Ange-Felix Patasse returns from exile, hints that he may stand for the presidency in 2010.
2010 February – Rights groups, opposition and France call for prove into claims – denied by the authorities – that rebel leader Charles Massi was tortured to death in government custody.
President Bozize says elections to be held on 25 April; opposition rejects date, fearing vote will be rigged.
2010 April – Elections postponed. Parliament extends President Bozize’s term until polls can be held.
2010 May – UN Security Council votes to withdraw a UN force from Chad and the Central African Republic, deployed to protect displaced Chadians and refugees from Sudan’s Darfur.
2010 July – Rebels attack northern town of Birao.
2010 September – Voter registration begins for presidential, parliamentary elections due in January 2011.
2010 October – Four countries affected by LRA violence agree to form joint military force to pursue the rebels.
2010 November – Ex-DR Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba goes on trial at International Criminal Court accused of letting his troops rape and kill in Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003.
2010 December – 50th independence anniversary. Former self-styled Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa is officially rehabilitated.
2011 January – Presidential and parliamentary elections. Mr Bozize wins another term.
Rebels seize power
2011 April – Former President Ange-Felix Patasse dies aged 74.
2011 December – The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warns that the Central country is in a state of chronic medical emergency because of epidemic diseases, conflict, an economic downturn and a poor health system.
2012 March – African Union deploys a military force to hunt down Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, believed to be in the Central African Republic.
2012 August – Last historic armed group – Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) – signs peace deal.
Bozize ousted
2012 November – New Seleka rebel coalition rapidly overruns north and centre of country.
2013 March – Seleka rebels overrun the capital and seize power. President Bozize flees. Rebel leader Michel Djotodia suspends constitution and dissolves parliament in a coup condemned internationally.
2013 August – Coup leader Michel Djotodia is sworn in as president.
UN Security Council warns CAR poses a risk to regional stability. UN chief Ban Ki-moon says CAR has suffered a “total breakdown of law and order”.
2013 September – Djotodia dissolves Seleka coalition. He is criticsed for failing to control the fighters.
2013 October – UN Security Council approves the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force. It would support African Union troops already on the ground and French troops controlling the airport.
2013 November – US casts doubt on Central African Republic official reports that Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony is among LRA figures negotiating their surrender with the CAR authorities.
Religious conflict
2013 December – With turmoil continuing in the country and rival Muslim and Christian fighters accused of killing hundreds of people, France steps up its deployment of troops to 1,600 in a bid to disarm the militias.
2014 January – Interim president Michel Djotodia resigns over criticism that he failed to stop sectarian violence. Catherine Samba-Panza takes over as interim leader.
2014 April – UN Security Council authorises a peacekeeping force of 12,000 troops.
2014 May – French and Estonian troops take charge of security at the airport in Bangui under a European Union mandate from previous French force.
2014 July – Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian “anti-balaka” vigilante forces agree to a tentative ceasefire at talks in Brazzaville.
2014 August – Muslim politician Mahamat Kamoun tasked with leading a transitional government.
2014 September – UN formally takes over and augments African Union peacekeeping mission, renamed Minusca. European Union’s French mission remains in place.
2015 January – The CAR government rejects a ceasefire deal made in Kenya between two militia groups aimed at ending more than a year of clashes, saying it was not involved in the talks.
UN accuses Christian militia of ethnic cleansing.
EU-commissioned research reveals how Seleka fighters were illegally supplied with guns made in China and Iran.
2015 February – The UN says that surging violence in the Central African Republic has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes since the beginning of the year to escape killings, rape and pillaging by militias.
2015 May – Prosecutors in France open a judicial investigation into alleged child abuse by French soldiers.
2015 September – Communal clashes break out in Bangui after Muslim taxi-driver attacked.
2015 November – Pope visits, calls for peace between Muslims, Christians.
2015 December – New constitution approved in referendum. Parliamentary and presidential elections pass off peacefully, but constitutional court annuls results of parliamentary poll, citing irregularities.
2016 February – Faustin-Archange Touadera wins presidential election in the run-off.
2016 June – International Criminal Court sentences Congolese ex-rebel Jean-Pierre Bemba to eighteen years in prison for his militia’s abuses in CAR between 2002 and 2003.
2016 July – Kidnappings by Lords Resistance Army reportedly on increase in CAR.
2017 April – Uganda withdraws its forces from the Central African Republic where it has been fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army for five years.
2017 May – Upsurge in violence, blamed in part on the withdrawal of foreign forces.
Several UN peacekeepers are killed in a number of attacks, including on a base and a convoy.
2017 July – Several aid agencies withdraw because of the violence, saying they are leaving tens of thousands without support.
2017 September – The UN refugee agency says continuing violence has caused the highest level of displacement since the start of the crisis in 2013. More than 1 million people have left their homes.
2017 November – UN Security Council extends mandate of the peacekeeping mission MINUSCA for another year and increases its size to some 13,000 troops and police.
2018 January – The International Committee of the Red Cross warns that the situation in the country is getting worse, with half of the population in need of humanitarian aid.
2018 June – International Criminal Court overturns conviction of Congolese ex-rebel Jean-Pierre Bemba for war crimes committed in CAR.
2018 July – Three Russian journalists killed, reportedly while working on a documentary about Wagner, a Kremlin-linked mercenary company believed to be active in CAR.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://minusca.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusca.
Since gaining independence in 1960, CAR has experienced decades of violence and instability. An insurgency led by the Seleka (or “alliance” in Sango)—a coalition of armed, primarily Muslim groups—has resulted in the severe deterioration of the country’s security infrastructure and heightened ethnic tensions. Seleka fighters launched an offensive against the CAR government in December 2012, and both seized the capital city of Bangui and staged a coup in March 2013. In response to brutality by Seleka forces, “anti-balaka” (meaning “invincible” in Sango) coalitions of Christian fighters formed to carry out reprisal violence against Seleka fighters, adding an element of religious animosity to the violence that had previously been absent.
In September 2013, anti-balaka forces began committing widespread revenge attacks against mostly Muslims civilians, displacing tens of thousands of people to Seleka-controlled areas in the north. Seleka forces were disbanded by the government shortly after revenge attacks began, but many ex-Seleka members started committing counterattacks, plunging CAR into a chaotic state of violence and an ensuing humanitarian crisis. Since the outbreak of renewed conflict in 2013, thousands of people have been killed and nearly 575,000 refugees have been displaced, the majority of whom fled to neighboring Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Despite optimism after the election of President Faustin Archange Touadera in the spring of 2016, the crisis only intensified. A de facto territorial partition led to a pause in Muslim-Christian fighting, but fighting between factions of the ex-Seleka has grown. Though the government maintains control of Bangui, most armed groups have boycotted President Touadera’s attempts to calm the region through disarmament, leaving the government powerless outside the capital. Lawlessness in the rest of the country has allowed armed groups to thrive and fighting has increased in the central, western, and eastern provinces. The conflict has also wreaked havoc on the economy, crippling the private sector and leaving nearly 75 percent of the country’s population in poverty.
Reports by human rights groups and UN agencies suggest that crimes committed by both ex-Seleka forces and anti-balaka groups amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Due to the scale of the crisis, the UN Security Council established a peacekeeping force in April 2014 that incorporated African Union and French forces that had been deployed to CAR previously. MINUSCA was established, with a mandate to protect civilians and disarm militia groups, and currently has nearly fifteen thousand peacekeepers operating inside CAR. MINUSCA faces significant challenges in fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians and dismantle armed groups, primarily due to lack of infrastructure and reluctance to use military force. Numerous attacks have also been carried out against UN peacekeepers and humanitarian workers; fifteen peacekeepers were killed in CAR in 2017 and six peacekeepers have been killed in attacks by various armed groups in 2018.
Mission Background
The UN has several decades of history in CAR engagement missions, both peacekeeping and political. The first such mission was the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) (from the French name, Mission des Nations Unies en République Centrafricaine). It was established by UNSCR 1159(1998) as a 1350-troop force. After two peaceful elections, it was replaced in 2000 with the UN Peace-Building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA).
In March 2013, a rebel Muslim coalition known as the Séléka (“coalition”) upset the government. Conflict escalated between the Séléka and a predominantly Christian movement known as the “anti-Balaka” (“anti-machete”).
In 2007, BONUCA was still in CAR when the UN authorized a multidimensional mission called the UNMission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT). MINURCAT’s mandate was in response to the ongoing violence in Darfur (a state of affairs that also led to the establishment of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur, or UNAMID). Given the estimated 230,000 Darfur refugees flowing into eastern Chad and north-eastern CAR, and the corresponding cross-border attacks by armed Sudanese rebel groups, a European Union (EU) force was swiftly put in place (the EUFOR Chad/CAR) to serve as a “bridge” until MINURCAT was fully operationalized. EUFOR Chad/CAR, which was comprised of approximately 3,000 soldiers, operated from 2007 until March 2009. At that point, the MINURCAT force of less than 500 police and military personnel were in place in both Chad and CAR. At the same time, the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), another political mission, replaced BONUCA. In 2010, the UN did not reauthorize MINURCAT, leaving the political mission, BINUCA, to operate alone in CAR.
UNSCR 2121(2013) strengthened BINUCA’s mandate, but it was not able to deter or mitigate the ongoing violence. By December 2013, the situation devolved to the point that the UN authorized an African-led Mission Internationale de Soutien à la Centrafrique sous conduite Africaine, or MISCA (also known as “International Support Mission in the CAR”) with UNSCR 2127(2013). Near-simultaneously, the French deployed troops in Operation Sangaris. In July 2014, mediation efforts supported by the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) resulted in the signing of the Brazzaville Cease-fire Agreement. In September 2014, MINUSCA was established with UNSCR 2149(2014).
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://minusca.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusca.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://minusca.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusca.
From Cia Factbook (Page last updated on October 06, 2020)
Economy – overview:
Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry and mining, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with about 60% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates more than half of estimated GDP, although statistics are unreliable in the conflict-prone country. Timber and diamonds account for most export earnings, followed by cotton. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR’s landlocked geography, poor transportation system, largely unskilled work force, and legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between the government and its opponents remains a drag on economic revitalization. Distribution of income is highly unequal and grants from the international community can only partially meet humanitarian needs. CAR shares a common currency with the Central African Monetary Union. The currency is pegged to the Euro.
Since 2009, the IMF has worked closely with the government to institute reforms that have resulted in some improvement in budget transparency, but other problems remain. The government’s additional spending in the run-up to the 2011 election worsened CAR’s fiscal situation. In 2012, the World Bank approved $125 million in funding for transport infrastructure and regional trade, focused on the route between CAR’s capital and the port of Douala in Cameroon. In July 2016, the IMF approved a three-year extended credit facility valued at $116 million; in mid-2017, the IMF completed a review of CAR’s fiscal performance and broadly approved of the government’s management, although issues with revenue collection, weak government capacity, and transparency remain. The World Bank in late 2016 approved a $20 million grant to restore basic fiscal management, improve transparency, and assist with economic recovery.
Participation in the Kimberley Process, a commitment to remove conflict diamonds from the global supply chain, led to a partially lifted the ban on diamond exports from CAR in 2015, but persistent insecurity is likely to constrain real GDP growth.
GDP (official exchange rate): $1.937 billion (2017 est.)
Other sources about Central African Republic Economy
From World Bank
Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry and mining, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with about 60% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates more than half of estimated GDP, although statistics are unreliable in the conflict-prone country. Timber and diamonds account for most export earnings, followed by cotton. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR’s landlocked geography, poor transportation system, largely unskilled work force, and legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between the government and its opponents remains a drag on economic revitalization. Distribution of income is highly unequal and grants from the international community can only partially meet humanitarian needs. CAR shares a common currency with the Central African Monetary Union. The currency is pegged to the Euro.
Years of insecurity have exerted a heavy toll on the country. Per capita income ranges between $550-700 annual, although the World Bank states that the last household income survey was done in 2008.[i] Livestock availability is less than 50% of the pre-crisis levels, and infrastructure damaged the fishing industry to 40% of its previous capacity. The formerly lucrative cotton and coffee sectors are now essentially non-existent. Disrupted markets led to soaring food prices, resulting in purchasing power decreasing about one third in 2015. Unemployment is high and the population in the north is particularly marginalized.
Commercial poaching and wildlife trafficking, committed by heavily armed groups moving across borders as well as local actors, has greatly impacted the area. Significant pressures from transboundary pastoralism and local mining were documented…(yet) The vast magnificent savanna, forests, wooded savannas, and deep rivers habitats remain largely intact with potential for recovery of wildlife populations if urgent and robust conservation security measures are taken in this strategic area…
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://minusca.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusca.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://minusca.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minusca.
1899-1955 – South Sudan is part of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, under joint British-Egyptian rule.
1956 – Sudan gains independence.
First civil war
1962 – Civil war led by the southern separatist Anya Nya movement begins with the north.
1969 – Group of socialist and communist Sudanese military officers led by Col Jaafar Muhammad Numeiri seizes power; Col Numeiri outlines the policy of autonomy for the south.
1972 – The government concedes a measure of autonomy for southern Sudan in a peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa.
1978 – Oil discovered in Unity State in southern Sudan.
Second civil war
1983 – Fighting breaks out again between north and south Sudan, under the leadership of John Garang’s Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), after Sudanese President Jaafar Numeiri abolishes South Sudan’s autonomy.
1988 – Democratic Unionist Party – part of Sudan’s ruling coalition government – drafts cease-fire agreement with the SPLM, but it is not implemented.
1989 – Military seizes power in Sudan.
2001 – Sudanese Islamist leader Hassan Al-Turabi’s party, the Popular National Congress, signs memorandum of understanding with the southern rebel SPLM’s armed wing, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Mr. Al-Turabi is arrested the next day.
2002 – Talks in Kenya lead to a breakthrough agreement between southern rebels and the Sudanese government on ending the civil war. The Machakos Protocol provides for the south to seek self-determination after six years.
Fragile peace
2006 November – Hundreds die in fighting centered on the southern town of Malakal – the heaviest between northern Sudanese forces and former rebels since the 2005 peace deal.
2008 March – Tensions rise over clashes between an Arab militia and SPLM in the disputed oil-rich Abyei area on the north-south divide – a key sticking point in the 2005 peace accord.
2009 July – North and south Sudan say they accept the ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague shrinking disputed Abyei region and placing the major Heglig oil field in the north.
Independence referendum
2009 December – Leaders of North and South reach a deal on terms of a referendum on independence due in South by 2011.
2011 January – The people of South Sudan vote in favor of full independence from Sudan.
2011 February – Clashes between the security forces and rebels in southern Sudan’s Jonglei state leave more than 100 dead.
2011 May – North occupies the disputed border region of Abyei.
2011 June – Governments of north and south sign accord to demilitarize the disputed Abyei region and let in an Ethiopian peacekeeping force.
New state born
2011 9 July – Independence day.
2011 August – UN says at least 600 people are killed in ethnic clashes in Jonglei state.
2012 January – South Sudan declares a disaster in Jonglei State after some 100,000 flee clashes between rival ethnic groups.
2012 April – After weeks of border fighting, South Sudan troops temporarily occupy the oil field and border town of Heglig before being repulsed. Sudanese warplanes raid the Bentiu area in South Sudan.
2012 August – Some 200,000 refugees flee into South Sudan to escape fighting between the Sudanese army and rebels in Sudan’s southern border states.
2012 September – The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan agree to trade, oil and security deals after days of talks in Ethiopia.
2013 March – Sudan and South Sudan agree to resume pumping oil after a bitter dispute over fees that saw production shut down more than a year earlier. They also agreed to withdraw troops from their border area to create a demilitarized zone.
2013 June – President Kiir dismisses Finance Minister Kosti Manibe and Cabinet Affairs Minister Deng Alor over a multi-million dollar financial scandal and lifts their immunity from prosecution.
2013 July – President Kiir dismisses the entire cabinet and Vice-President Riek Machar in a power struggle within the governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
Civil war
2013 December – Civil war erupts as President Salva Kiir accuses his former vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting to overthrow him.
Rebel factions seize control of several regional towns, thousands are killed and many more flee. Uganda troops intervene on the government’s side.
2014 January – A ceasefire is signed but broken several times over subsequent weeks, and further talks in February fail to end the violence that displaces more than a million people by April.
2014 April – UN says pro-Machar forces sack the oil town of Bentiu, killing hundreds of civilians.
2014 August – Peace talks begin in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and drag on for months as fighting continues.
2016 April – Riek Machar finally returns to Juba and is sworn in as first vice-president in a new unity government – but is sacked in July after further conflict and goes back into exile.
2016 November – UN sacks Kenyan commander of its peacekeeping mission over the failure to protect civilians in Juba during July violence. Kenya withdraws its troops from the peacekeeping mission.
Japanese peacekeepers arrive in South Sudan, the first time in nearly 70 years that Japan has deployed its soldiers overseas with a broad mandate to use force if necessary.
2016 December – A UN commission on human rights says a process of ethnic cleansing is underway in several parts of the country, a claim that President Salva Kiir denies.
2017 February – A famine is declared in parts of South Sudan in what the UN describes as a man-made catastrophe caused by civil war and economic collapse.
2017 May – President Kiir declares a unilateral ceasefire, launches national dialogue.
2017 August – The number of refugees fleeing violence in South Sudan to Uganda passes the one million mark, according to the UN.
2018 August – President Kiir signs a power-sharing agreement with Riek Machar and other opposition groups in a bid to end the civil war. The deal will see Machar return to the government as one of five vice-presidents.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://unmiss.unmissions.org or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unmiss.
According to the US-based NGO Freedom House, guarantees of media freedom in the Transitional Constitution are not respected in practice. The government has threatened and detained journalists over reports it does not like and the security services have seized print runs of newspapers. Defamation is criminalized.
Radio is the most popular medium. Private stations, some with foreign funding, operate alongside the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC). The Catholic Church and Internews, a US-based media development organization, are key players in non-state radio. BBC World Service broadcasts to Juba on 90 FM (Arabic) and 88.2 FM (English).
Though expensive for many locals, newspapers rank second to radio in popularity. Most publish in English and are printed in Uganda or Kenya.
State TV has little competition. The development of TV is hindered by poverty and limited electricity and telecoms infrastructure.
There were 2.2 million Internet users by December 2018, around 17% of the population (InternetWorldStats.com). Access to online media that report opposition views has been blocked.
There were 230,000 active social media users by January 2019 (We Are Social). Facebook is the most-used platform.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://unmiss.unmissions.org or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unmiss.
Natural gas – proved reserves: 63.71 billion cu m (1 January 2016 est.)
Airports: 89 (2020)
Airports – with paved runways:
total: 4 (2020)
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
Airports – with unpaved runways:
total: 84 (2020)
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 38
under 914 m: 33
Heliports: 3 (2020)
Railways:
total: 248 km (2018)
note: a narrow gauge, single-track railroad between Babonosa (Sudan) and Wau, the only existing rail system, was repaired in 2010 with $250 million in UN funds, but is not currently operational
Roadways:
total: 90,200 km (2019)
paved: 300 km (2019)
unpaved: 89,900 km (2019)
note: most of the road network is unpaved and much of it is in disrepair
Waterways: NA
According to the African Development Bank Group, decades of civil war basically inhibited the provision of basic infrastructure and this undermined much of its production capacity. As a result, most goods – such as food, construction materials, and basic inputs – are imported. And exports other than oil are minimal. Given that about 80% of the population lives in rural areas, the lack of basic infrastructure for many years now has been a serious impediment to the development of the large agricultural potential of the country.
Large areas with very low population densities and decades of internal conflict have made it difficult to provide adequate infrastructure services throughout the country. Moreover, there has been a major decline in the quality of the little infrastructure that does exist: some of the facilities that were put in place several decades ago were damaged by the civil war and there have been negligible amounts of routine maintenance. As a result, most existing infrastructure is in need of rehabilitation. Moreover, relative to the population of the country and its GDP, there is not sufficient infrastructure to meet the needs of an economy that has the prospect of sustained strong economic growth in the decade ahead.
Only 2% of the existing road network in South Sudan is paved, and most roads are impassable during the wet season making it difficult if not impossible for rural people, which raises the transportation costs and also hinders the movement of goods from rural areas to urban centers and markets in the country.
There is no national rail network in South Sudan. The branch line from Babanusa in the North to Wau in South Sudan (446 km) is the only line in the country. It was heavily damaged during the conflict with the North and ceased commercial operations in 1991. It is currently being rehabilitated.
A range of constraints limits the pace of recovery in the Nile river transport system. For example, Juba Port has suffered from siltation at its entrance. Navigational aids on the river require rehabilitation or re-installation, and in many locations, dredging is required to open up the waterways after more than two decades of neglect. There is also a general shortage of equipment for operating river transport services, including a lack of handling equipment for containers, and vessels that are not in operating condition.
Only one percent of the population has access to electricity. As a result, per capita consumption of electricity is estimated at about 80 kWh for 2010. Data are not available for the comparator countries, but for the low-income countries of the world, the average consumption of power was 375 kWh in 2004. Inadequate electric power supply and its high cost is a major constraint on the economy.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://unmiss.unmissions.org or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unmiss.
From Cia Factbook (Page last updated on October 09, 2020)
Economy – overview:
Industry and infrastructure in landlocked South Sudan are severely underdeveloped and poverty is widespread, following several decades of civil war with Sudan. Continued fighting within the new nation is disrupting what remains of the economy. The vast majority of the population is dependent on subsistence agriculture and humanitarian assistance. Property rights are insecure and price signals are weak, because markets are not well-organized.
South Sudan has little infrastructure – about 10,000 kilometers of roads, but just 2% of them paved. Electricity is produced mostly by costly diesel generators, and indoor plumbing and potable water are scarce, so less than 2% of the population has access to electricity. About 90% of consumed goods, capital, and services are imported from neighboring countries – mainly Uganda, Kenya and Sudan. Chinese investment plays a growing role in the infrastructure and energy sectors.
Nevertheless, South Sudan does have abundant natural resources. South Sudan holds one of the richest agricultural areas in Africa, with fertile soils and abundant water supplies. Currently the region supports 10-20 million head of cattle. At independence in 2011, South Sudan produced nearly three-fourths of former Sudan’s total oil output of nearly a half million barrels per day. The Government of South Sudan relies on oil for the vast majority of its budget revenues, although oil production has fallen sharply since independence. South Sudan is one of the most oil-dependent countries in the world, with 98% of the government’s annual operating budget and 80% of its gross domestic product (GDP) derived from oil. Oil is exported through a pipeline that runs to refineries and shipping facilities at Port Sudan on the Red Sea. The economy of South Sudan will remain linked to Sudan for some time, given the existing oil infrastructure. The outbreak of conflict in December 2013, combined with falling crude oil production and prices, meant that GDP fell significantly between 2014 and 2017. Since the second half of 2017 oil production has risen, and is currently about 130,000 barrels per day.
Poverty and food insecurity has risen due to displacement of people caused by the conflict. With famine spreading, 66% of the population in South Sudan is living on less than about $2 a day, up from 50.6% in 2009, according to the World Bank. About 80% of the population lives in rural areas, with agriculture, forestry and fishing providing the livelihood for a majority of the households. Much of rural sector activity is focused on low-input, low-output subsistence agriculture.
South Sudan is burdened by considerable debt because of increased military spending and high levels of government corruption. Economic mismanagement is prevalent. Civil servants, including police and the military, are not paid on time, creating incentives to engage in looting and banditry. South Sudan has received more than $11 billion in foreign aid since 2005, largely from the US, the UK, and the EU. Inflation peaked at over 800% per year in October 2016 but dropped to 118% in 2017. The government has funded its expenditures by borrowing from the central bank and foreign sources, using forward sales of oil as collateral. The central bank’s decision to adopt a managed floating exchange rate regime in December 2015 triggered a 97% depreciation of the currency and spawned a growing black market.
Long-term challenges include rooting out public sector corruption, improving agricultural productivity, alleviating poverty and unemployment, improving fiscal transparency – particularly in regard to oil revenues, taming inflation, improving government revenues, and creating a rules-based business environment.
GDP (official exchange rate): $3.06 billion (2017 est.)
General Overview. South Sudan is one of the most oil-dependent countries in the world, with oil accounting for almost the totality of exports, and more than 40% of its gross domestic product (GDP). The country’s GDP per capita in 2014 was $1,111 dropping to less than $200 in 2017. Outside the oil sector, livelihoods are concentrated in low productive, unpaid agriculture and pastoralists work. Coupled with economic mismanagement, many years of conflict have eroded the productive capacity of the country.
With consumption, non-oil exports, and investment declining, oil production provides the immediate sources of growth in South Sudan. While the rehabilitation of oil fields and resumption of oil production are underway, oil production is not expected to reach pre-crisis levels in the short term. The economy is estimated to have recovered with a growth rate of 3.2% in FY2018/19, from a contraction of 3.5% during FY2017/18. Inflation averaged 60.8% during FY2018/19 from 121.4% during FY 2017/18. The gap between the official exchange rate and the parallel market rate remains high and increased from 65% in December 2018 to 85% in June 2019. The external sector current account deficit, excluding grants, rose to 6.5% of GDP during FY2018/19 from 4.5% in FY 2017/18.
South Sudan continues to under-invest in sectors that would have the largest knock-on effect on poverty reduction and building resilience, with expenditures skewed toward defense and security. Consequently, poverty levels are expected to remain extremely high on the back of severe food insecurity and limited access to basic services across the country. About 82% of the population in South Sudan is poor according to the most recent estimates, based on the $1.90 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) poverty line.
The main challenge going forward is to ensure the sustainability of peace and security in the country. Whereas parties to the September 2018 peace deal agreed to extend the timeline for the formation of a transitional power-sharing government from May to November 2019, little progress has been achieved on key milestones such as the unification of the army and on the number and boundaries of states the country should be divided into. A recent high-level meeting between the two main parties to the conflict and public commitments to continue the dialogue to find solutions on outstanding issues is a positive step towards the implementation of the peace deal.
These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://unmiss.unmissions.org or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unmiss.
