Central African Empire

Central African Empire
Empire centrafricain
1976–1979
Motto: "Unité, Dignité, Travail"
("Unity, Dignity, Duty")
Anthem: "La Renaissance"
("The Renaissance")
Location of Central African Empire
Capital
and largest city
Bangui
Official languageFrench
National language
Sango
Religion
Catholicism (official)
Protestantism, Sunni Islam (minority)
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (de jure)
Unitary one-party absolute monarchy under a military dictatorship (de facto)
Emperor 
• 1976–1979
Bokassa I
Prime Minister 
• 1976–1978
Ange-Félix Patassé
• 1978–1979
Henri Maïdou
Establishment
4 December 1976
4 December 1977
• Overthrow
21 September 1979
Area
• Total
622,984 km2 (240,535 sq mi)
CurrencyCentral African CFA franc
ISO 3166 codeCF
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Central African Republic
Central African Republic
Today part ofCentral African Republic

The Central African Empire (French: Empire centrafricain) was established on 4 December 1976 when the then-President of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, declared himself Emperor of Central Africa. The empire would fall less than three years later when French and Central African forces overthrew Bokassa and re-established the Central African Republic on 21 September 1979.