31 March 2013 Last updated at 10:48 ET

Central African Republic profile

The Central African Republic (CAR) has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960 and is one of the least-developed countries in the world.

It has endured several coups and a notorious period under a self-declared emperor, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who headed a brutal regime.

The Bokassa era ended in 1979, when he was overthrown in a coup led by David Dacko and backed by French commandos based in the country.

After just two years in office Mr Dacko was toppled by Andre Kolingba, who eventually allowed multi-party presidential elections and was duly rejected in the first round.

The Central African Republic has endured several coups

Mr Kolingba's successor, Ange-Felix Patasse, had to contend with serious unrest which culminated in riots and looting in 1997 by unpaid soldiers.

When in that year the French pulled out, there were fears of a power vacuum, so Paris financed a group of French-speaking African countries to create a peacekeeping force. That force was then transformed into the UN Mission to the Central African Republic, or Minurca.

In 1999 Mr Patasse beat nine other candidates to become president again, but there were allegations of electoral fraud. He was overthrown in a coup in 2003 and went into exile in Togo.

At a glance

Politics: Country described as a failed state in permanent crisis, facing mutinies and rebellions. Latest rebel alliance ousted president in March 2013
Economy: Decades of instability have undermined the economy. Diamonds are an important source of income - and rivalry
International: Suffers spill-over of violence from neighbours; assisted by French military; hosts African peacekeepers.

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

Illegal weapons proliferate across the CAR, the legacy of years of unrest. The unrest has displaced tens of thousands of Central Africans; many of them have crossed the border into Chad.

Some progress towards stabilising the country was made between 2008 and 2012, before the new Seleka rebel alliance marched south and captured the capital in March 2013, ousting President Francois Bozize.

The CAR possesses considerable agricultural, water and mineral resources. But corruption is rife and undermines the timber and diamond industries.

The country is endowed with virgin rainforests and has some of the highest densities of lowland gorillas and forest elephants in Africa.

The Central African Republic has some rainforests as well as communities that follow tradition, such as this Bayaka tribesman climbing a 40 m tree to harvest honey