French Equatorial Africa was a federation of French colonies in central Africa. It included four territories that became independent nations in August 1960: the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo.
The region formerly known as French Equatorial Africa covers 969,114 square miles (2,509,994 square kilometers) and is thinly populated. Most people in the region speak languages in the Niger-Congo family. The Chadian Arabs and Sara peoples in the north and the Bakongo, Banda, Gbaya, and Fang peoples in the south are among the region’s largest groups.
The region has vast forest and mineral resources. The richest known mineral deposits lie in Gabon. In addition, the Central African Republic has significant deposits of diamonds, and Chad has substantial oil reserves. Chief products of the region also include cacao, coffee, cotton, manganese, meat, peanuts, rice, and timber.
The first French colonists in the area settled on the Gabon River in the 1840’s. In 1910, the French government established French Equatorial Africa as a federation of three (later four) French colonies in the area. The capital was Brazzaville.
See also Brazzaville; Central African Republic; Chad; Congo, Republic of the; Gabon; Libreville.
