Central Africa covers a large physical area ranging from desert conditions to the north in Chad to tropical rainforests and mountains in the equatorial region of the Congo. The entire region is roughly the same size as the United States west of the Mississippi River. The countries in the region vary with different organizations or geographic perspectives; in this textbook, the countries include Cameroon, Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Congo (Zaire), Rwanda, and Burundi. Located off the west coast of Central Africa is the small twin-island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Burundi and Rwanda are often included in the region of East Africa, but their connection to the Congo makes them more relevant to the Central African region for this textbook.

The equator runs through the middle of Central Africa. Type A climates dominate the region, with tropical rainforests and jungle environments. In the north is the African Transition Zone, which runs through Chad. In Chad, the arid region of the Sahara Desert transitions into the humid tropics. Central Africa usually only includes portions of Subsaharan Africa south of the African Transition Zone. Southern Chad exhibits qualities similar to Central Africa, and the northern areas exhibit qualities similar to North Africa or the northern regions of Niger, Mali, or Mauritania.

The physical geography varies with each country in Central Africa. The most prominent physical landscape is the tropical rainforests of the equatorial region. Highlands can be found in both the western and eastern regions of Central Africa. The Cameroon Highlands is a geologic rift product in tectonic plates that created São Tomé and Príncipe, the island portion of Equatorial Guinea, and the mountainous portions of the mainland on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. There are several volcanoes in Cameroon. The only active volcano with the highest elevation is Mt. Cameroon, at more than thirteen thousand feet. Mt. Cameroon once emitted a cloud of carbon dioxide in 1986, killing more than 1,700 people. The volcano last erupted in 2000. In the crater of one of the volcanic peaks is Lake Nyos (Mount Cameroon). Lake Chad in the north is a large, shallow water on the border of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The size of Lake Chad varies widely because it expands and contracts with the seasonal variations in precipitation. Lake Chad provides water for local livestock and fishing for millions of people. However, its location on the border of four countries has caused political infighting over local water rights and valuable commodities in such an arid climate. The average depth of Lake Chad ranges from five to thirty-five feet. Climatic conditions and the diversion of the lake for human purposes have caused the water to recede. If these conditions continue, the lake might virtually disappear by the end of the twenty-first century, which would have disastrous effects on the human population around the lake and the biodiversity. Waterfowl, crocodiles, fish, and other creatures depend on Lake Chad for their survival, and its loss would create an environmental catastrophe.

On the eastern border of the Congo is a portion of the Great Rift Valley, which extends from Southern Africa in Mozambique to Lebanon in the Middle East. Lake Tanganyika and Lake Albert are two mammoth lakes in Central Africa along the western section of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Tanganyika is more than 418 miles long and runs the entire boundary between the Congo and Tanzania. These are deepwater lakes. Lake Tanganyika is the world’s second-deepest lake, with a depth of 4,800 feet. Because of its depth, it is also the world’s second-largest lake by volume after Lake Baikal in Russia, which has a record for both volume and depth.

Fish and freshwater from Lake Tanganyika support millions of people who live directly from the lake’s resources or in the surrounding area. The Great Rift Valley is bordered by high mountains such as the Rwenzori Range and its highlands, including active volcanoes. Several volcanoes are located in the Congo, near Rwanda’s border. In 2002, Mt. Nyiragongo, a volcano with an elevation of 11,358 feet in the eastern highlands of the Congo, experienced a series of eruptions that killed a few dozen, destroyed thousands of buildings, and caused the evacuation of as many as four hundred thousand people. Various volcanoes in this range have active lava lakes in their craters at their peaks. At the heart of Central Africa are the massive Congo River and all its tributaries. It is the deepest river system in the world and has some stretches that run more than seven hundred feet deep, providing habitats for a wide range of organisms and fish species. The Congo River basin is second only to the size of the Amazon basin in South America. Home to Africa’s largest tropical rainforest, this region hosts many plant and animal species, creating an extensive environmental resource base. Unfortunately, human activity has encroached on this valuable environmental region filled with extensive biodiversity. Logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and civil war have devastated large areas of the Congo basin, resulting in habitat loss for many tropical species.

Deforestation activities have increased in Central Africa and the Congo Basin. Endangered primates and game animals have struggled to adjust to their shrinking habitat, causing a decline in their population. The endangered mountain gorillas in the northern region of the highlands have gained attention through professional scientists such as Dian Fossey, who have attempted to understand and preserve their ecosystems. Unfortunately, mountain gorillas have been dwindling because of poaching, civil war, and hunting. Gorillas will take concerted preservation activities to survive in their native habitat.

Conflicts and Unrest

The two landlocked countries of Chad and the Central African Republic have endured unstable transitions to independent, stable democratic states. Chad had been in dispute with Libya over the Aozou Strip bordering their two countries, an area deemed rich in minerals and uranium. However, in 1994, Chad was awarded sovereignty over the Aozou Strip by the United Nations (UN) International Court of Justice. Chad is a temporary home of more than 250,000 refugees from the ethnic cleansing campaign in the Darfur region of Sudan. Thousands more from the Central African Republic have sought refuge in Chad. Meanwhile, Chad’s government has been plagued with corruption and mismanagement, a state of affairs that has hampered its efforts to offer humanitarian aid to its refugees.

Similarly, the Central African Republic is troubled by a history of unstable and short-lived democratic governments. Military coups and transitional governments are frequent. Civil unrest erupts into chaos. Rebel groups control large parts of the countryside. It is difficult for people to access reliable public services such as healthcare, education,

Moreover, transportation systems when the government needs to be fixed.