13 August: Central African Republic Independence Day

Central African Republic gained independence from France on this date in 1960.

1. The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of the Congo to the south and Cameroon to the west.
2. It is about the size of Ukraine, or slightly smaller than the US state of Texas.
3. The terrain is mostly flat or rolling plateau with hills in the northeast and southwest. The highest point is Mont Ngaoui at 1,420m and the lowest lowest point is at the Oubangui River, 335m above sea level.
4. The population of the Central African Republic has almost quadrupled since independence. In 1960, the population was 1,232,000; in 2014 it was approximately 4,709,000.
5. The capital and largest city is Bangui, which was established as a French outpost in 1889. The city gets its name from the Ubangi River, the name of which means "rapids" in the Bobangi language.
6. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite its most important export being diamonds. It is estimated that between 30% and 50% of those produced each year leave the country clandestinely.
7. According to National Geographic, Central African Republic is the country least affected by light pollution.
8. The country has one of the largest magnetic anomalies in the world, a local variation in Earth's magnetic field. The anomaly is called the Bangui magnetic anomaly; it is roughly elliptical, about 700 km × 1,000 km (430 mi × 620 mi) in area, and covers most of the country.
9. The official languages of Central African Republic are French and Sango (a Ngbandi based creole). Arabic and tribal languages are also spoken.
10. The Flag of the Central African Republic was adopted on December 1, 1958. It was designed by Barthélemy Boganda, the first president of the autonomous territory of Oubangui-Chari. He believed that "France and Africa must march together," so he included the Blue, white and red of the French tricolour alongside the Pan-African colours of red, Green and Yellow.