Central Africa

Central Africa is a region centered on the Congo Basin. Its boundaries and country membership vary among geographic, political, and institutional definitions.

Congo Basin: The drainage basin of the Congo River, spanning a vast area of equatorial Africa. It anchors the region geographically and shapes its forests, rivers, and settlement.
Economic Community of Central African States: A regional organization promoting economic and political cooperation among Central African states. Its membership is one formal definition of the region, distinct from physical geography.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: A large country in Central Africa whose territory includes most of the Congo Basin. It is the region’s largest country and its geographic anchor.
Congo Basin peatlands: Waterlogged tropical soils in the Congo Basin that store exceptionally large quantities of carbon. Their carbon stores give land-use changes in Central Africa global climate significance.
Congo River: A major African river that drains into the Atlantic Ocean through the Congo estuary. Its immense drainage network links much of the region’s interior.
Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa: A regional organization whose members share economic policies and a common currency framework. Its narrower membership illustrates how institutional groupings differ from broader regional usage.
Republic of the Congo: A country in Central Africa situated west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its name and location reflect the region’s central Congo-centered geography.
Deforestation in the Congo Basin: The loss or degradation of forest cover across the Congo Basin. It threatens habitats and carbon stores across the region’s largest ecosystem.
Congo Rainforest: The tropical rainforest of the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest contiguous tropical rainforest. It is the region’s defining ecosystem and a major global carbon store.
United Nations geoscheme for Africa: A United Nations statistical classification that divides Africa into geographic subregions. It provides a widely used country list for Central Africa, though not a universal boundary.

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