Its jungle, pygmies, elephants, and gorillas may be classic Africa, but the Central African Republic has also suffered under mismanagement, lost opportunities, a sad history and larger than life tyrants.

The Central African Republic is a 600 to 700-meter-high plateau of jungle and savannah, numerous rivers and a scattering of hills in the northeast and southwest. The country has numerous tribal groups. French is the official language, but almost everyone speaks Sangho: a rare occurrence in Africa.

Despite threats like poaching, the country has probably the highest density of lowland gorillas and forest elephants in Africa; it is also the world’s best place for butterflies. But there is real danger that lack of governmental control will lead to disastrous exploitation of the jungle timber ad wildlife.