French Equatorial Africa is an immense re gion which extends from the mouth of the Kongo to Tripolitana and from the Atlantic to E t, covering an area of 2,200,000 square kilometers (849,420 square miles) or almost four times that of France. Situated between lat. 19° N. and lat. 5° S., its climate is very varied, alternating with the dry and healthy climate of the Saharean countries to that encountered in the wooded forests of the equatorial zone. The inhabitants, numbering some 6,137,000, are no less diversified, from the nomads of the north to the savages living in the forests. Some have a pretense to civil ization — at least Islamic — others are still bar barous and in the first stage of human evolu tion; the former are priests of tribes and tur bulent, the latter still ferocious but more docile and more apt for agricultural work. This col ony, so rich naturally as regards its soil, so well favored by the variety of its climate and its populations, possesses moreover the most magnificent navigable system imaginable, with the immense Kongo and its great tributaries, the smallest of which are large in comparison with our rivers in France, with the vast Tchad which receives the waters from the Chari and Logone,• with the Ogooue increased by the Ivindo, the N'Gounie and the Fernan Vaz. Such a situation is unique in Africa and for Equatorial Africa it is Indeed fortunate as not only does this system water and fertilize the greater part of its territory but it constitutes the most remarkable means of penetration, of communication and transport between the dif ferent regions.
From a physical point of view, the division of French Equatorial Africa into natural regions gives four large distinct zones : 'the mountain ous zone of the coast basins ; the large equato rial depressions of the African plateau; trans equatorial Kongo of the upper country; and the basiit of the Tchad.
The coastal basins each comprise four banks rising one above the other; beyond the mari time bank, the banks of the virgin forests at the top of the first falls, limited at the east by the N'Gounie, the Nyanga and the mid-Niari, then the banks of the grassy plateaux having an altitude of 400 to 700 metres (1,311 to 2,295 feet) and the bank of sandy prairies of the upper plateaux of a height varying from 700 to 800 metres (2,295 to 2,622 feet) and extending as far as the watershed of the Kongo Basin, The principal rivers are the Ogooue (1,200 km., 745 miles), the Kouilou, called the Niari in its upper course; a part of the Kongo(about 600 km., 373 miles, of its length of 4,000 km., 2,485 miles). The Kongo possesses in French territory a certain number of tributaries among which are the Alima, the Likouala, the Sangha (itself swelled by the N'Goko), the Oubangui forming the boundary between French Kongo and Belgian Kongo and itself swelled by the Ibenga, the Lobayem, the Kouango, the Kotto, etc. The Chari River has no outlet to the sea; it finishes in the lake Tchad after having re ceived on its right bank the waters from Bahr Salamat, and on its left those of Bahr-Sara and Logone, of which the confluence is at Fort-Lamy. From an administrative point of view, the decree of 15 Feb. 1910 provided for the definite creation of the general government of French Equatorial Africa, as stipulated by the decree of 26 June 1908. The general govern ment is constituted to govern the following groups of colonies: the Gaboon colony, capital Libreville; the Middle Kongo, capital Brazza ville; the Oubangui-Chari-Tchad colony, capital Bangni, including the military territory of Tchad.
At the head of the colony is a governor-gen eral invested with mandatory powers from the French Republic and residing at Brazzaville. The colonies composing the group have admin istrative and financial autonomy; they are ad thinistered, under the superior authority of the governor-general, by governors of colonies hav ing the title of lieutenant-governors. The mili tary territory of Tchad was administered by a commander of the territory of Tchad, acting under the direct orders of the lieutenant-gov ernor of Oubangui-Chari-Tchad. The decree of 14 May 1915 specified that the military ter ritory of Tchad should hereafter, under the name of °Tchad Territory," be administered either by a civil official or by the officer com manding the troops stationed there, such func tionary to take the title of administrator or commander of the Tchad territory. Decree of 12 April 1916 specified that the chief of the Tchad territory would hereafter be under the orders of the governor-general of French West Africa. A decree of 7 April 1916—modified by decree of 5 Sept. 1916—fixed the conditions under which the Cameroon territories would be administered. The governor-general of French Equatorial Africa administers, as commissioner of the French Republic, the Cameroon territories which previously formed part of Equatorial Africa and which had been relinquished by virtue of the treaty of 4 Nov. 1911. Moreover, a governor of .colonies is appointed as commis sioner of the Republic in the old Cameroon ter ritories.
From an economical point of view, French Equatorial Africa has, during the last 10 years, undergone an important evolution and its pros pects are excellent.
The trade returns for the colony in 1892 were francs 5,500000 ($1,100,000) ; it rose to a yearly average of about francs 11,450,000 ($2, 290,000) for the following period of 10 years, and amounting in 1908, when the general gov ernment was formed, to francs 27,000,000 ($5, 400,000) and reaching in 1913 francs 57,846,805 ($11,569,361). The trade for the year 1913 — taken as an average year—is divided up as fol lows: Francs 21,181,768 ($4,236.353) for im portations and francs 36,865,038 ($7,373,007) for exportations. trade played a con siderable part in exportations, in fact almost half. The French markets received in 1913 francs 14,389,717 ($2,877,943) of products from French West Africa, while the export figure for other countries was francs 5,728,194 ($1,145, 638) for Belgium; francs 3,967,377 ($793,475) for England; francs 3,860,549 ($772,109) for Germany and francs 1,242,031 ($248,406) for Holland. These figures explain why the eco nomical life of Equatorial Africa has slackened since the outbreak of hostilities. Trade fell in 1914 to 28,000,000 and to 22,000,030 in 1915, while there was a slight increase in 1916, the figure being francs 30,533,038 ($6,106,607). The products exported consist of minerals, animal and vegetable products, both of a superior qual ity. The mineral products of the colony which are found particularly in the Niari and Djoue basins are principally copper (of an exception ally high grade), zinc and lead. For many years the natives have carried on the extraction of these products, and recently Europeans have systematically exploited same, the exportations amounting to tons in 1910, 1,271 tons in 1913 and 1,451 tons in 1914.