La présente publication fait partie d'une étude d'ensemble des centres urbains de l'Afrique Equatoriale Française. Ces recherches dont nous avons été chargé par le Haut-Commissariat de la République en A.E.F, présentent l'originalite d'être les premières qui aient été poursuivies par des spécialistes des sciences humaines, non dans une intention purement érudite, mais afin que des mesures administratives puissent être prises dans le but de dormer une solution à certains problèmes posés par la colonisation.

D'autre part, ces travaux ne sont qu'une introduction à des recherches plus approfondies. En effet, eu égard au temps dont nous disposions par rapport à l'importance du problème envisagé, nous avons dû nous en tenir, une fois le cadre tracé, à l'étude de points particulièrement importants dans l'évolution actuelle. Le rapport complet de ces recherches a fait l'objet de publications dont le présent article constitue le résumé.

URBAN CENTRES IN FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA

The centres discussed in this paper are Fort-Lamy (the capital of Chad Territory) and Bangui, situated on the right bank of the River Oubangui. The African populations of these two towns have rapidly increased of recent years and in 1950 numbered 40,000 in Fort-Lamy and between 55,000 and 60,000 in Bangui. Each has an important market, and is a centre of road, water, and air transport. The populations, however, are far from homogeneous and include members of most of the ethnic groups found in French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa and Cameroons, as well as of many native to the Belgian Congo, Middle Congo, Nigeria, and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. All of these have migrated to the towns because of the need, or the desire, to earn money. Among them are government employees, clerks, a small number of specialized craftsmen, and a very large number of unskilled workers who show little preference for any particular form of employment. The women, for the most part, engage in petty trading on their own account. House types show Arab or European influence in the case of the wealthier inhabitants; those of the poorer display the traditional forms characteristic of the area of their origin. The main lingua franca in Fort-Lamy is Arabic; French is understood though not widely or well spoken; in Bangui French is the medium of communication and is used in government and mission schools. It is doubtful whether many of the citizens of these towns have any very clear idea of French Equatorial Africa as a territorial and political entity, still less of the significance of French citizenship.

The chief categories into which the African populations of these towns may be divided are: Moslems on the one hand and Christians (or those influenced to some extent by Christianity) and pagans on the other. Fort-Lamy is predominantly Moslem, and the powerful influence of Islam exercised through the religious leaders and the schools creates a certain unity and cohesion, even among those whose adherence to it is only superficial.

The majority of the pagans maintain strong links with their ancestral homes and continue to practise their traditional religious observances, returning home whenever possible to take part in important rituals. The Christian religion has comparatively few adherents in Fort-Lamy; they are more numerous in Bangui, but not a great number of these can be counted as practising Christians. The great obstacle to the spread of Christianity is its prohibition of polygamy, though among the évolués monogamy is coming to be regarded as a socially superior condition. Among these also new economic and political theories are becoming influential.

Immigrants from the more highly organized societies, such as Hausa and natives of Bornu, have adjusted themselves more successfully to urban conditions than have the pagan peoples, usually migrants from village areas, and it is these who, in their search for a new integrative factor, have been most susceptible to the influence of an external authority, whether Moslem, Christian, or secular.