Central African Republic (CAR), formerly the French colony of Ubangi-Shari is a landlocked country in Central Africa bordered by Chad to the North, Sudan to the East, Congo to the South, and Cameroon to the West. 
The country covers a land area of around 240,000 square miles with a population of around 4.4 million people making it a sparsely populated country at around 18 per square mile – the population has however quadrupled in the last fifty years. Human presence dates back to 1000 BC but exposure to the outside world had to wait till the early 1800s when Muslim traders made first contact. During the period from 1860 to 1910 slave traders raided Eastern CAR and even today that area has few inhabitants. The area of Ubangi-Shari was under French Colonial rule during the period from 1900 to 1958. It became an autonomous territory within the French Community on December 1, 1958 and took the name Central African Republic. It gained Independence on 13th August 1960. The climate is tropical – the northern regions are subject to desertification while the rest of the country is prone to flooding. Central African Republic is one of the world’s poorest countries with a per-capita GDP (ppp) of around $400. Sustenance farming, forestry, and the diamond industry is the mainstay of the economy. The country is in dire need of humanitarian aid. The country experienced around thirty years of military rule immediately following independence. Civilian rule followed in the next decade until a military coup resulted in the establishment of a transitional government.
The first stamps of Central African Republic were a set of two (Scott #1 & #2) issued on December 1, 1959 showing Premier Barthelemy Boganda and Flag. It was released in his honor following his tragic death in a mysterious plane accident. The set catalogs for under a dollar for MNH and around half that for Used.
Below are other relevant stamp issues of Central African Republic over the years:
Last Updated: 07/2011.
The country covers a land area of around 240,000 square miles with a population of around 4.4 million people making it a sparsely populated country at around 18 per square mile – the population has however quadrupled in the last fifty years. Human presence dates back to 1000 BC but exposure to the outside world had to wait till the early 1800s when Muslim traders made first contact. During the period from 1860 to 1910 slave traders raided Eastern CAR and even today that area has few inhabitants. The area of Ubangi-Shari was under French Colonial rule during the period from 1900 to 1958. It became an autonomous territory within the French Community on December 1, 1958 and took the name Central African Republic. It gained Independence on 13th August 1960. The climate is tropical – the northern regions are subject to desertification while the rest of the country is prone to flooding. Central African Republic is one of the world’s poorest countries with a per-capita GDP (ppp) of around $400. Sustenance farming, forestry, and the diamond industry is the mainstay of the economy. The country is in dire need of humanitarian aid. The country experienced around thirty years of military rule immediately following independence. Civilian rule followed in the next decade until a military coup resulted in the establishment of a transitional government.The first stamps of Central African Republic were a set of two (Scott #1 & #2) issued on December 1, 1959 showing Premier Barthelemy Boganda and Flag. It was released in his honor following his tragic death in a mysterious plane accident. The set catalogs for under a dollar for MNH and around half that for Used.
Below are other relevant stamp issues of Central African Republic over the years:
- A set of three stamps (Scott #53 to #55) released on August 25, 1965 to publicize plant protection. The set catalogs for around $5 MNH and around a dollar for Used. The designs show Caterpillars and Moth on Coffee Plant, Hawk Moth and Caterpillar on Coffee Leaves, and Platyedra Moth and Larvae on Cotton Plant.
- A set of five stamps (Scott #81 to #85) released on October 3, 1967 showing Various Mushrooms. The set is very expensive at around $155 for MNH and $15 for Used. The designs show Leucocoprinus Africanus.
A set of six stamps (Scott #240 to #245) released on November 28, 1975 to promote Central African Wood. The set catalogs for around $5 MNH and $3 for Used. The designs show Crane Lifting Log onto Truck, Forest, Tree Felling, Log Pile, Logs Transported by Raft, and Lumberyard.- A set of six stamps (Scott #323 to #328) released on February 21, 1978 in the Endangered Animals theme.
The set catalogs for around $25 MNH and $5 for Used. The designs show Rhinoceros, Slender Nosed Crocodile, Leopard, Giraffe, Elephant, and Gorilla. - A set of four stamps released on January 22, 1982 in the Animals theme. The set (Scott #502 to #505) catalogs for around $5 MNH and a dollar for Used. T
he designs show Elephant, Giraffes, Addaxes, and Okapi.
Last Updated: 07/2011.
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