Law and government

Bangui is an autonomous commune (commune autonome) of the Central African Republic. With an area of 67 km², it is by far the smallest high-level administrative division of the CAR in area but the highest in population . The city of Bangui consists of 8 urban districts (‘arrondissements’), 16 groups (‘groupements’) and 205 neighborhoods (‘quartiers’).

Economy

Bangui serves as an administrative, trade, and commercial center. It received its first bank branch in 1946 when the Bank of West Africa (BAO) established a branch there. Bangui manufactures include textiles, food products, beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

, shoes, and soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

. The main exports are cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

, coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, and sisal

Sisal

Sisal is an agave that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards. The term may refer either to the plant or the fibre, depending on context...

. Because of the ongoing strife, unemployment hovered near 23% in the city .

Transport

Bangui hosts a river port and is served by Bangui M'Poko International Airport

Bangui M'Poko International Airport

-External links:* Afriqiyah Airways http://www.afriqiyah.aero* Official Airline Guide http://www.oag-flights.com...

 (IATA airport code

IATA airport code

An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...

 BGF); the former handles the overwhelming majority of the country's international trade. River ferries

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 sail to Brazzaville

Brazzaville

-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...

 and Zongo

Zongo

Zongo is a city in Sud-Ubangi Province in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying on the south bank of the Ubangi River, across from Bangui in the Central African Republic...

. Roads connect the city to Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, Chad

Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...

, and Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

.

Telecommunications

Two GSM-900 mobile telecommunications companies, Telecel CAR and Nationlink Telecom RCA, operate out of Bangui. State-owned Socatel

Socatel

Socatel is the leading telecommunications and Internet service provider in the Central African Republic. The government owns 60% of its stock and France Câbles et Radio, an affiliate of France Telecom, 40%....

 is the principal telecom

Telecommunication

Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...

 in CAR and Bangui, and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the communications infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

.

Restaurants

There are three types of restaurants in Bangui.

First, those with French orientation, although they may have African ambiance and/or some African food. These include "Relais des Chasses", "L'Equateur", "Tropicana", and "L'Escale".

Second, there are restaurants focusing on foreign cuisine, such as the Lebanese "Ali Baba" and "Beyrouth", and a Chinese restaurant simply known as "Chinese Restaurant".

Third, there are numerous African restaurants very popular especially among locals, which include the celebrated "Madame M'boka".

A number of bars and street food stalls also complement Bangui's culinary scene.

Culture

Several periodicals and three daily newspapers publish in Bangui. Other attractions in Bangui include Boganda Museum and Bokassa Palace. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Bangui is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Bangui in the Central African Republic. The see is currently sede vacante.-History:...

.

Archaeology

Archaeological studies in and around the city have yielded at least 26 ancient Iron Age sites that contain many metallurgical tools and objects, illuminating the pre-European history of the city and surrounding area.

These archaeological sites were added to the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Tentative List on 11 April 2006 in the Cultural category.

Education

Bangui is home to the University of Bangui

University of Bangui

The University of Bangui is a public university located in Bangui, Central African Republic. As of 2006, it is the only university in the Central African Republic.- History :...

, founded in 1970. A public institution, the University of Bangui monopolizes non-agricultural college education in the Central African Republic.

External links