CENTRAL AFRICA

The ACOI Region has great human, geographical, linguistic and institutional diversity.On the human level, we have populations representative of all of Africa. Alongside nomadic peoples such as the Pygmies, there are various sedentary peoples Bantu, Fulani, Hausa, etc., mixtures of African and Indian peoples, Arab-Shoa.

The life of the spirit shows the existence of all kinds of religious communities: the resilient persistence of various ancestor cults and rituals from the distant past, the various Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, revivalist churches, prophetisms, etc.), the various Islams; we can also underline the life of immemorial and modern arts of great quality, varied customary ways of settling conflicts by palaver, oral traditions where the epic gesture dominates, ancient and modern music known on an international scale, some being now classified as universal heritage of humanity, very great writers, poets, political scientists, historians, philosophers, etc. 

In terms of geography, it is a region bordering West and East Africa, European countries (with Reunion), Asia and the Arab world. It is characterized by a great diversity in terms of fauna and flora. There are areas of forests and savannah which in some parts herald the Sahel, with large rivers (the Congo, the Sanaga, the Sangha, etc.), active volcanoes like Mount Cameroon; it is bordered by large lakes (Lake Chad, for example) and seas (the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean), by many islands, etc. 

On the linguistic level, the CAIO Region also shows an extreme diversity of African languages ​​(in particular the use of Swahili, Sango), but also of languages ​​linked to the colonial period (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese).​