Fast Facts about the Central African Republic...

Population: 4,511,488  (note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)
 

Background: The former French colony of Ubangi-Shari became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. After three tumultuous decades of misrule - mostly by military governments - civilian rule was established in 1993 and lasted for one decade. President Ange-Felix PATASSE's civilian government was plagued by unrest, and in March 2003 he was deposed in a military coup led by General Francois BOZIZE, who established a transitional government. Though the government has the tacit support of civil society groups and the main parties, a wide field of candidates contested the municipal, legislative, and presidential elections held in March and May of 2005 in which General BOZIZE was affirmed as president. The government still does not fully control the countryside, where pockets of lawlessness persist. Unrest in neighboring nations, Chad, Sudan, and the DRC, continues to affect stability in the Central African Republic as well.

Geography: Bigger than Ukraine, slightly smaller than France (622,984 sq km).

Average Life Expectancy: 44 years.   One of the 10 lowest in the world.  In the USA, our average life expectancy is 78 years. 

Television: Only one TV station in the entire C.A.R. 

If you'd like to find out more, here's a link to the CIA Factbook on the Central African Republic.  Nothing like a little research from the CIA when you're headed overseas, right?  =)