Societe Nouvelle des Sultanats du Haut-Oubangui 1927 - Congo

Beautifully engraved Certificate from the Societe Nouvelle des Sultanats du Haut-Oubangui 1927 issued in 1927. This historic document has an ornate border around it with a vignettes of elephant tusks (without the elephant) and scenes of a river with natives working.

This item is hand signed and is over 73 years old.



Ubangi, also called the Oubangui, river of central Africa, the chief tributary of the Congo River. Formed in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire), the river flows generally northwest, defining the border between the DRC and the Central African Republic. The river ultimately enters the Congo River near Lake Tumba. The Ubangi is 1,130 km (700 mi) long.

French Equatorial Africa is the former French federation in W central Africa. It consisted of four constituent territories: Gabon, Middle Congo (see Congo), Chad, and Ubangi-Shari (now the Central African Republic). The capital was Brazzaville. The federation was formed in large part through the efforts of Savorgnan de Brazza, who forged the link between French possessions in the Congo basin and those in W Africa. French Equatorial Africa (originally called French Congo) was officially established in 1910. Until 1920, Chad and Ubangi-Shari were a single territory. The federation was ruled by a governor general, resident in Brazzaville, who had a deputy in each of the four territories. About 100,000 sq mi (259,000 sq km) were ceded to Germany as a result of the Agadir crisis (1911) but were returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles. During World War II the federation supported the Free French. In the Fourth French Republic, French Equatorial Africa was given representation in the French parliament and in the assembly of the French Union. When the constituent territories voted (1958) to become autonomous republics within the French Community, the federation was dissolved. In 1959 the new republics formed a loose association called the Union of Central African Republics, and in 1960 they became fully independent republics within the French Community.

Central African Republic

1991 est. pop. 2,952,400), 240,534 sq mi (622,983 sq km, central Africa. The landlocked nation is bordered by Chad in the north, Sudan in the east, Zaïre and Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. Bangui is the capital and largest city. There are 14 administrative prefectures.

Land and People

The terrain consists of a 2,000-3,000 ft (610-910 m) undulating plateau, mainly covered by savanna; dense tropical forests in the south; and a semidesert area in the east. The Bongo Massif in the northeast reaches a height of c.4,500 ft (1,370 m). The country is drained by numerous rivers, but only the Ubangi is commercially navigable. Rainfall is heavy in the south;.the north is hot, dry, dusty, and subject to harmattan winds. There are no railroads, and the network of all-weather roads is inadequate; rivers are the chief means of transportation. The population consists of approximately 80 ethnic groups; the chief ethnic groups are the Mangia-Baya, the Banda, the Mbaka, the Sara, and the Azande. Considerable migration of inhabitants from urban to rural areas has led to the uneven distribution of the population. Population density is low relative to other African nations, and the eastern portion of the republic is largely uninhabited. French is the official language, but Sango, the national tongue, is used as a lingua franca; Arabic, Hunsa, and Swahili are also spoken. Roughly one fourth of the population practices traditional religions, about one half is Christian, and most of the remainder are Muslim. Among the country's educational institutions are a university at Bangui (founded 1970) and two agricultural colleges.

Economy

The overwhelming majority of the people is engaged in subsistence agriculture, although only about 3% of the land is under cultivation. Manioc, yams, millet, corn, and bananas are the main food crops. The principal cash crops and important exports are cotton, tobacco, and coffee; cocoa, rubber, and palm products are raised in the southwest. Timber is also an important product for export. Cattle are raised in the western portion of the country. Mining, formerly limited to diamonds (the leading export), has become increasingly important with the extraction of uranium, begun in 1972. Industry is limited to food, timber, and mineral processing and to the production of light consumer goods. Inadequate transportation has been a major obstacle to the country's economic development. The Central African Republic belongs to the French franc zone and trades chiefly with France. Most exports are shipped via Pointe-Noire, in Congo, more than 1,100 mi (1,770 km) away. The Central African Republic is also an ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) member of the European Economic Community and belongs to the nine-nation Central African States Development Bank.

History

Between the 16th and 19th cent., much of the region was subject to devastating slave raids. The Baya people, seeking refuge from the Fulani of northern Cameroon, arrived in what is now the Central African Republic in the early 19th century; the Banda, fleeing the Muslim Arab slave raiders of Sudan, came later in the century. French expeditions, pushing out from the Congo, made treaties with local tribal chiefs and occupied the area in 1887. The region was organized in 1894 as the colony of Ubangi-Shari and was united administratively with Chad in 1906 and incorporated into French Equatorial Africa in 1910. Chad later became a separate French territory. Much of the region was leased to French concessionaires, whose fostering of forced labor and other abuses sparked rebellions in 1928, 1935, and 1946. The population of Ubangi-Shari actively supported the Free French forces during World War II. In 1946 the colony was given its own territorial assembly and representation in the French parliament. In the French constitutional referendum of 1958 the country opted for membership in the French Community. It received autonomy and took its present name. Full independence was attained on Aug. 13, 1960, under President David Dacko. (The nationalist leader Barthélémy Boganda, founder of the country's only political party, the Mouvement d'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire [MESAN], had been killed in a plane crash in 1959.) The Central African Republic had a parliamentary government until Dec., 1965, when a military coup led by Col. Jean-Bédel Bokassa (Boganda's nephew) overthrew the Dacko regime, dissolved the national assembly, and abrogated the constitution. The military regime, with Bokassa as both president and head of MESAN, dealt harshly with dissenters. There were frequent cabinet changes, and Bokassa personally took charge of various branches of the civil service. Despite the brutal nature of Bokassa's regime, France continued to invest heavily in the country's economic development in order to maintain the uranium trade. France financed much of Bokassa's coronation in 1977; in that ceremony Bokassa crowned himself emperor of the renamed Central African Empire. His excesses aroused intense public opposition and after a government-ordered massacre the French military intervened. Bokassa was removed from power in a 1979 coup and Dacko was reinstated. In 1981 Dacko was reelected as president but was overthrown by General André Kolingba in a bloodless coup. Kolingba became president and head of the military, establishing a dictatorial rule with himself as the leader the nation's only legal political party. In 1991 the national assembly amended the 1986 constitution to allow multiple parties and in 1993 a free election resulted in the presidency of Ange-Félix Patassé.