Central African Republic Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

water pollution; tap water is not potable; poaching and mismanagement have diminished the country's reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification; deforestation; soil erosion

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Climate

tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers

Land use

agricultural land: 8.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 5.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 36.2% (2018 est.)

other: 55.7% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 43.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.32% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies:due to internal conflict and high food prices - according to the latest analysis, issued in November 2022, the number of people in Crisis and above is estimated at 2.7 million between September 2022 and March 2023; this is mainly attributed to the impact of civil insecurity and high food prices; persisting insecurity and population displacements continue to affect agricultural activities and limit farmers’ access to crop growing areas and agricultural inputs; elevated international prices of fuel and fertilizers, largely imported, have reportedly led to a lower use of agricultural inputs in 2022, especially among smallholder farmers, with a negative impact on yields (2023)

Revenue from forest resources

8.99% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 27.2 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.3 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 22.44 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,105,983 tons (2014 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Oubangui (Ubangi) river [s] (shared with Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo [m]) - 2,270 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km), (Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 sq km)

Major aquifers

Congo Basin, Lake Chad Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 10 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 400,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

141 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)