Ubangi-Shari

Ubangi-Shari was a French colony in central Africa, named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers and forming part of French Equatorial Africa. French activity in the region began in 1889 with the establishment of an outpost at Bangui, at the head of navigation on the Ubangi. The colony proper was created on 29 December 1903 out of the Upper Ubangi and Upper Shari territories of the French Congo. Its early economy rested on concession companies that exploited rubber and ivory, and the imposition of forced labour provoked repeated revolts. In 1910 Ubangi-Shari became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, administered from Brazzaville. After the First World War it recovered districts that had been ceded to German Cameroon in 1911. Bangui remained the administrative centre and grew into the colony's largest town. After the Second World War the territory became an overseas territory of France, and in 1958 it voted for autonomy within the French Community, taking the name Central African Republic. It became fully independent in 1960.