Summary
Content
Vast, landlocked and hard to access
- The Central African Republic covers a landmass of 600.000 km2 with only 4.2 million people. Over 60% of them live in 3 major cities, with the remaining 1.5 million spread thinly across rural areas with population densities of less than 10 inhabitants per km2.
- Of the estimated 24,000 km of road network, no more than 700 km are tarred and barely 300 km - in the south - are in good condition.
- The nearest seaport, Douala in Cameroon is at 1,500 km from Bangui. The port of Douala and the Douala-Bouar-Bangui corridor constitute CAR’s lifeline. However, armed bandits are frequently attacking vehicles making transport along the corridor a risky and costly business.
- The Oubangui River between Bangui and the Atlantic Ocean is only navigable during the rainy season, between May and October. It takes 21 days for a return trip between Brazzaville and Bangui.
- The M’Poko airport is frequented by three regional airlines, offering flights to neighboring countries only. There is one direct flight to Europe per week. There are no commercial internal flights.
Road network and centers of humanitarian operation - Distance/travel time by road from Bangui
Details on distance/travel time by road from Bangui, infrastructure in humanitarian centers, importing to CAR, road transport costs, energy costs and communication costs are avialble on the attched snapshot.