Bouar
Bouar is a market town in the western Central African Republic, lying on the main road from Bangui (437 km) to the frontier with Cameroon (210 km). The city is the capital of Nana-Mambéré prefecture, has a population of 40,353, while the whole sous-préfecture has a population of 96,595 (2003 census). Bouar lies on a plateau almost 1000m above sea level and is known as the site of Camp Leclerc, a French military base. About seventy groups of megaliths lie in the town and to its north and east. The Bouar Megaliths, dating back to the  very late Neolithic Era (c. 3500–2700 BC) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on April 11, 2006 in the Cultural category. History. Bouar was ceded by France to Germany under the terms of the 1912 Morocco-Congo Treaty, becoming part of the German colony of Neukamerun until it was reconquered by the French during World War I. The town was occupied and burned down in the late 1920s by Gbaya rebels during the Kongo-Wara rebellion. Civil war. On 28 March 2013 Bouar was captured by Séléka rebels. On 26 October 2013 Bouar was attacked and captured  by Anti-balaka militias resulting in more than 20 deaths. As of February 2014 the town and region around Bouar were experiencing ethnic cleansing, principally against Muslim civilians. A French journalist, Camille Lepage, was also killed and her body found in the car of Anti-balaka troops in the Bouar region in May, 2014. On 18 September 2017 city was recaptured by FACA from Anti-balaka. On 20 December 2020 parts of city were captured by rebels from Coalition of Patriots for Change. On 27 December entire city was captured by rebels. After many clashes it was recaptured by government  forces on 8 February 2021. Climate. Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies Bouar’s climate as tropical wet and dry ("Aw"). Places of worship. Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples : Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic (Lutheran World Federation), Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic (Baptist World Alliance), Roman Catholic Diocese of Bouar (Catholic Church). There are also Muslim mosques.