Ubangi-Shari Oubangui-Chari (French) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903–1960 | |||||||||
 Flag .svg) Coat of arms (1958–1960) | |||||||||
| Anthem: "La Marseillaise" | |||||||||
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| Status | Colony of France | ||||||||
| Capital | |||||||||
| Official language | French | ||||||||
Commonly spoken | Sango | ||||||||
| Demonym | Ubangi-Sharian | ||||||||
| Commissioner General | |||||||||
• 1903 | Charles Noufflard [fr] | ||||||||
• 1958–1960 | Yvon Bourges | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1958–1959 | Barthélemy Boganda | ||||||||
• 1959 | Abel Goumba | ||||||||
• 1959–1960 | David Dacko | ||||||||
| Establishment | |||||||||
• Established | 29 December 1903 | ||||||||
| 15 January 1910 | |||||||||
| 12 April 1916 | |||||||||
| 30 June 1934 | |||||||||
| 31 December 1937 | |||||||||
| 1 December 1958 | |||||||||
| 13 August 1960 | |||||||||
| Currency | |||||||||
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| Today part of | CAR | ||||||||
Ubangi-Shari (French:Oubangui-Chari) was aFrench colony in central Africa, a part ofFrench Equatorial Africa. It was named after theUbangi andCharirivers along which it was colonised.
Established on 29 December 1903 from the Upper Ubangi (Haut-Oubangui) and Upper Shari (Haut-Chari) territories of theFrench Congo, it was renamed theCentral African Republic (CAR) on 1 December 1958, and gained independence on 13 August 1960.[1]
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French activity in the area began in 1889 with the establishment of the outpostBangi at the head of navigation on theUbangi.
The Upper Ubangi was established as part of theFrench Congo on 9 December 1891. Despite a France-Congo Free State convention establishing a border around the4th parallel, the area was contested from 1892 to 1895 with theCongo Free State, which claimed the region as its territory of Ubangi-Bomu (Oubangui-Bomou). The Upper Ubangi was a separate colony from 13 July 1894 until 10 December 1899, at which time it was folded back into the French Congo. The Upper Shari region was established as part of the French Congo on 5 September 1900.[1] That same year theCompany of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates took over 140,000 km2 of Upper Ubangi as aconcession.[2]
Theterritories were united as the separate colony of Ubangi-Shari on 29 December 1903,[1] following the French defeat ofAbbas II of Egypt, who had claimed the area.[citation needed] On 11 February 1906, this colony merged with the French settlements aroundLake Chad and became the Ubangi-Shari territory ofUbangi-Shari-Chad (Oubangui-Chari-Tchad).[1] In1909, it received the administration over thesultanates ofZemio andRafai from theBelgian Congo.[3]
On 15 January 1910, this administration was merged withFrench Congo andGabon as the Ubangi-Shari area ofFrench Equatorial Africa (FEA). On 12 April 1916, it again became the separate colony of Ubangi-Shari, but in 1920 lost the territory around Lake Chad, and on 30 June 1934, was again folded into FEA. As a part of FEA, it was declared anoverseas territory on 31 December 1937.[1]
Between 1915 and 1931, stamps were overprinted for use in Ubangi-Shari, and later specially printed for the colony.
DuringWorld War II, it remained loyal toVichy France from 16 June to 29 August 1940, before being taken by theFree French. It was grantedautonomy as theCentral African Republic on 1 December 1958, and independence under the same name on 13 August 1960.[1]
Ubangi-Shari had a similar concession system as the Congo Free State and similar atrocities were also committed there. French author and Nobel laureateAndré Gide travelled to Ubangi-Shari and was told by inhabitants about atrocities includingmutilations,dismemberments,executions, the burning of children, and villagers being forcibly bound to large beams and made to walk until dropping from exhaustion and thirst.[4]
The book "Travels to Congo" by Gide, published in 1927 describes the horrors of the concession companies in French Equatorial Africa. The book had an important impact on the anti-colonialist movement in France.[5] The number of victims under the French concession system in Ubangi-Shari and other parts of French Equatorial Africa remains unknown.
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