Central African Republic

Central African Republic

Central Africa has been inhabited by people for over 8000 years. The population of the early Africans remained low because of a limited food supply. As they started to have more advanced farming the population grew. In the 15th and 16th century Europeans started to make written records of what was happening in Central Africa. The first really significant form of outsider interference in the country started when the Arab slave trade began in the 1600s. It lasted until the late 19th century. The next significant form of outsider interference was foreign control of the country through imperialism and, today, foreign influence through foreign aid and trade (O'Toole, T. 1941).

One of the first direct changes in Central Africa's lifestyle was the beginning of the slave trade. The slave trade disrupted settlements and reduced the population. The trade caused the local people to start dealing, although not in a positive manner, with outsiders from countries that had known little of that area. As the raids continued, other countries started to give more attention to this area of the world. More people came to the country looking for things such as raw materials, people, and agriculture. Once the industrial revolution started in Europe and those materials became more of a necessity, the Europeans came into Africa looking for control. They began colonizing and establishing