Timeline: Central African Republic

A chronology of key events:

1880s - France annexes the area.

Obangui river flows past the capital

1894

- France sets up a dependency in the area called Ubangi-Chari and partitions it among commercial concessionaires.

1910 - Ubangi-Chari becomes part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa.

1920-30 - Indigenous Africans stage violent protests against abuses by concessionaires.

1946 - The territory is given its own assembly and representation in the French parliament; Barthelemy Boganda, founder of the pro-independence Social Evolution Movement of Black Africa (MESAN), becomes the first Central African to be elected to the French parliament.

1957 - MESAN wins control of the territorial assembly; Boganda becomes president of the Grand Council of French Equatorial Africa.

Independence

1958 - The territory achieves self-government within French Equatorial Africa with Boganda as prime minister.

1959 - Boganda dies.

1960 - The Central African Republic becomes independent with David Dacko, nephew of Boganda, as president.

1962 - Dacko turns the Central African Republic into a one-party state with MESAN as the sole party.

1964 - Dacko confirmed as president in elections in which he is the sole candidate.

The Bokassa era

1965 - Dacko ousted by the army commander, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, as the country faces bankruptcy and a threatened nationwide strike.

David Dacko: President was toppled twice Head of government 1959-65, ousted by Bokassa in 1965 Reinstated in 1979, deposed by General Kolingba in 1981 2003: CAR's first president dies

1972

- Bokassa declares himself president for life.

1976 - Bokassa proclaims himself emperor and renames the country the "Central African Empire".

1979 - Bokassa ousted in a coup led by David Dacko and backed by French troops after widespread protests in which many school children were arrested and massacred while in detention.

1981 - Dacko deposed in a coup led by the army commander, Andre Kolingba.

1984 - Amnesty for all political party leaders declared.

1986 - Bokassa returns to the CAR from exile in France.

1988 - Bokassa sentenced to death for murder and embezzlement, but has his sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Ban on parties lifted

1991 - Political parties permitted to form.

Self-styled emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa Took power in 1965 and ruled until his removal in a 1979 French-backed coup Spent millions on a Napoleonic-style coronation Found guilty of murder in 1987; death sentence later commuted Freed in 1993, died in 1996 2001: Ruined Bokassa palace haunts CAR

1992

October - Multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections held in which Kolingba came in last place, but are annulled by the supreme court on the ground of widespread irregularities.

1993 - Ange-Felix Patasse beats Kolingba and Dacko in elections to become president, ending 12 years of military rule. Kolingba releases several thousand political prisoners, including Bokassa, before standing down as president.

1996 May - Soldiers stage a mutiny in the capital, Bangui, over unpaid wages.

1997 November - Soldiers stage more mutinies.

1997 - France begins withdrawing its forces from the republic; African peacekeepers replace French troops.

1999 - Patasse re-elected; his nearest rival, former President Kolingba, wins 19% of the vote.

2000 December - Civil servants stage general strike over back-pay; rally organised by opposition groups who accuse President Patasse of mismanagement and corruption deteriorates into riots.

Coup bid

2001 May - At least 59 killed in an abortive coup attempt by former president Andre Kolingba. President Patasse suppresses the attempt with help of Libyan and Chadian troops and Congolese rebels.

Ange-Felix Patasse was ousted by his former military chief 2003: CAR - A classic African coup 2003: Profile of Francois Bozize

2001 November - Clashes as troops try to arrest sacked army chief of staff General Francois Bozize, accused of involvement in May's coup attempt. Thousands flee fighting between government troops and Bozize's forces.

2002 February - Former Defence Minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth appears in a Bangui court to answer charges related to the coup attempt of May 2001.

2002 October - Libyan-backed forces help to subdue an attempt by forces loyal to dismissed army chief General Bozize to overthrow President Patasse.

Patasse ousted

2003 March - Rebel leader Francois Bozize seizes Bangui, declares himself president and dissolves parliament. President Ange-Felix Patasse is out of the country at the time. Within weeks a transitional government is set up.

2004 December - New constitution approved in referendum.

2005 May - Francois Bozize is named the winner of presidential elections after a run-off vote.

2005 August - Flooding in the capital, Bangui, leaves up to 20,000 people homeless.

2005 June onwards - Thousands flee lawlessness in north-west CAR for southern Chad. Aid bodies appeal for help to deal with the "forgotten emergency".

FOCUS ON A CRISIS Mia Farrow, actress and goodwill envoy for the UNICEF children's fund, visited the Central African Republic in February 2007 where she said people were traumatized and "utterly neglected" by the most of the world

2006

June - UN says 33 people have been killed in a rebel attack on an army camp in the north.

2006 August - Exiled Former President Ange-Felix Patasse is found guilty, in absentia, of fraud and sentenced to 20 years' hard labour.

2006 October - Rebels seize Birao, a town in the north-east. President Bozize cuts short an overseas visit.

2006 December - French fighter jets fire on rebel positions as part of support for government troops trying to regain control of areas in the northeast.

2007 February - The rebel People's Democratic Front, led by Abdoulaye Miskine, signs a peace accord with President Bozize in Libya and urges fighters to lay down their arms.

2007 May - The International Criminal Court says it is to probe war crimes allegedly committed in 2002 and 2003 following the failed coup against the Ange-Felix Patasse.

2007 September - UN Security Council authorises a peacekeeping force to protect civilians from violence spilling over from Darfur in neighbouring Sudan.

2008 January - Civil servants and teachers strike in protest over non-payment of salaries for several months.

2008 January - Prime Minister Elie Dote and his cabinet resign a day before parliament was to debate a censure motion against him.

President Bozize appoints Faustin-Archange Touadera, an academic with no previous background in politics, to replace Mr Dote.

Peace process

2008 June - Two of three main rebel groups - the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) - sign peace agreement with government providing for disarmament and demobilisation of rebel fighters.

2008 September - Parliament adopts amnesty law seen as last remaining obstacle to successful conclusion of peace talks between rebels and the government.

2008 December - President Francois Bozize pledges to form a new unity government following peace talks between government and rebel groups in the capital Bangui.

2009 January - National unity government unveiled; includes leaders of the two main rebel groups - Francois Naouyama of the APRD and Djomo Didou of the UFDR - and two opposition ministers. Faustin-Archange Touadera continues as PM. Main opposition UVNF criticises the changes to the cabinet as insufficient.