Bouar is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the western

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, lying on the main road from

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

(437 km) to the frontier with

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

(210 km). The city is the capital of

Nana-Mambéré Nana-Mambéré is one of the 16 prefectures of the Central African Republic. It covers an area of 26,600 km and has a population of 233,666 (2003 census). The capital is Bouar. It was part of Kamerun when it was a German colony between 1 ...

prefecture, has a population of 40,353, while the whole sous-préfecture has a population of 96,595 (2003 census). Bouar lies on a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

almost 1000m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

and is known as the site of Camp Leclerc, a French

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

. About seventy groups of

megaliths A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

lie in the town and to its north and east. The Bouar Megaliths, dating back to the very late

Neolithic Era The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

(c. 3500–2700 BC) were added to the

UNESCO World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Tentative List on April 11, 2006 in the Cultural category. The town's name comes from the Gbaya word for

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

, ''hbouar''.

History

Hundreds of granite megaliths around Bouar were erected during the

Late Stone Age The Later Stone Age (LSA) is a period in African prehistory that follows the Middle Stone Age. The Later Stone Age is associated with the advent of modern human behavior in Africa, although definitions of this concept and means of studying it ar ...

by an ancient farming society. These stone megaliths are nowadays known as ''tanzunu'' in Gbaya. The

Gbaya people The Gbaya, also Gbeya or Baya, are a people of western region of Central African Republic, east-central Cameroon, the north of the Republic of Congo, and the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the first half of the 20th century, the ...

settled in the region around the 1500s. The settlement of Bouar itself was founded circa 1840 by chief Bogbafeï on the site of a bean field. His grandson, Mbarta, served as the chief between 1904 and 1916 and nowadays is remembered as a local hero. In 1882,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

invaded Central Africa and 1894, the borders of

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, i ...

encompassed Bouar. In 1911, the area around Bouar was ceded by France to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

under the terms of the Morocco-Congo Treaty, becoming part of the German colony of

Neukamerun Neukamerun was the name of Central African territories ceded by the Third French Republic to the German Empire in 1911. Upon taking office in 1907, Theodor Seitz, governor of Kamerun, advocated the acquisition of territories from the French Co ...

until it was reconquered by the French during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Germans eventually settled in the town around Christmas of 1913, where they constructed a military post and a road. In 1928, the town became part of the French colony of

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the U ...

. The colonial town centre was occupied and burned down in the late 1920s by Gbaya rebels during the

Kongo-Wara rebellion The Kongo-Wara rebellion, also known as the War of the Hoe Handle and the Baya War, was a rural, anticolonial rebellion in the former colonies of French Equatorial Africa and French Cameroon which began as a result of recruitment of the native popu ...

. This was the most significant period in which the Gbaya population and others resisted French colonial rule in Ubangi-Shari. In 1948, the administrative centre of

Ouham-Pendé Ouham-Pendé is one of the 16 prefectures of the Central African Republic. Its capital is Bozoum. The region contains several ghost towns such as Goroumo, Beogombo Deux and Paoua due to government forces ransacking them and armed bandits killing ...

prefecture was moved from

Bozoum Bozoum is the capital of Ouham-Pendé, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic. History On 13 January 2014 Seleka withdrew from Bozoum. Anti-balaka took control of the town. Muslims who lived there were subjects to threats by ...

to Bouar. Later, the western part of the prefecture would become

prefecture with Bouar as its capital, while

would become the capital of the remaining Ouham-Pendé prefecture. In 1960 the colony became independent as the

. File:Bouar Megaliths stamp.jpg , The ancient stone megaliths of Bouar depicted on a 1967 stamp. File:Mbarta (28602311794).jpg , A portrait of chief Mbarta as a "Hero of Bouar" in the town's museum. File:Bouar (28936991490).jpg , A view of Bouar in 2015. File:Fillettes (28604153443).jpg , Children celebrating

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

in 2016.

Civil war

On 28 March 2013 Bouar was captured by

Séléka Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR was an alliance of rebel militia groups that subjugated the Central African Republic (CAR) on 24 March 2013. After its official dissolution in September 2013, the remaining rebel groups became known as Ex-Séléka. Sél� ...

rebels. On 26 October 2013 Bouar was attacked and captured by Anti-balaka militias resulting in more than 20 deaths. As of February 2014 the town and region around Bouar were experiencing

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...

, principally against

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

civilians. A French journalist,

Camille Lepage Camille Lepage (January 28, 1988 – May 12, 2014) was a French photojournalist who was killed during the conflict in the Central African Republic in 2014. Her death was described as a murder by the French presidency and it marked the first ...

, was also killed and her body found in the car of

Anti-balaka The Anti-balaka is an alliance of militia groups based in the Central African Republic in the early 21st century said to be composed primarily of Christians. However, some church leaders have contested the claimed exclusively Christian character ...

troops in the Bouar region in May, 2014. On 18 September 2017 city was recaptured by FACA from Anti-balaka. On 20 December 2020 parts of city were captured by rebels from

Coalition of Patriots for Change The Coalition of Patriots for Change (''Coalition des patriotes pour le changement'') is a coalition of major rebel groups in the Central African Republic created in 2020 to disrupt the 2020–21 Central African general election. Background O ...

. On 27 December entire city was captured by rebels. After many clashes it was recaptured by government forces on 8 February 2021.

Places of worship

Among the

places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

, they are predominantly

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

churches and temples :

Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

(

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic The Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic (Église Évangélique Baptiste en République Centrafricaine) is a Baptist Christian denomination, affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, in Central African Republic. The headq ...

(

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Bouar The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bouar ( la, Buaren(sis)) is a diocese in Bouar in the ecclesiastical province of Bangui in the Central African Republic. History * February 27, 1978: Established as Diocese of Bouar from the Diocese of Berbérati ...

(

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

).J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘‘Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices’’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 531-532 There are also

mosques.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies Bouar’s climate as tropical wet and dry (''Aw'').

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Central African Republic Populated places in Nana-Mambéré Sub-prefectures of the Central African Republic

History

Civil war

Places of worship

Climate

See also

References