Unnamed African Country (UAC)

Unnamed African Country (UAC)
Capital	Mosate Selao
Official languages	Northern Sotho, English
Government	War-torn lawless country
Population	Unknown
Currency	Unknown local paper currency (de jure) Diamonds (de facto)

The Unnamed African Country, or the UAC, is a fictional war-torn state located somewhere in Central or Southern Africa. It spans the territory of two regions: the northern region of Leboa-Sako and the southern region of Bowa-Seko. Its capital city is Mosate Selao. The country is engulfed by a civil war between the Alliance for Popular Resistance, and the United Front for Liberation and Labour over control of the nation, which serves as main setting for Far Cry 2.

History

Pre-Civil War

The early history of the UAC is not well known, but it is known that French Foreign Legion built a Fort there and the country gained its independence in 1981 after years of colonial rule, being ruled by a native-led monarchy similar to Kyrat.

First Civil War

Sometime after its independence, a civil war broke out. Not much is known about this war, but the country became a presidential republic while the royal family was exiled. The royal family led by King Nnyere and Prince Oeduard then fled the country and took the UAC's gold reserve with them, leaving the country impoverished and destitute.

A new civil war would begin to flare up after the UAC's President was assassinated presumably in May 2008, with the involvement of his own security personnel. This ultimately culminated in the formation of the UFLL led by former labor union chief and opposition leader, Addi Mbantuwe and the APR led by former Chief of Staff, Major Oliver Tambossa.

Second Civil War

The outbreak of the second civil war was extremely devastating, as many people in the country would attempt to flee the upcoming chaos. The African Union initially helped to try and maintain order in the country, but the pressure eventually became too much for them to handle. In August 2008, the African Union withdrew from the country, abandoning the UAC and leaving its fate at the mercy of the UFLL and the APR. Subsequently, a large part of the country's population became refugees and began to flee the country with the help of the Underground. The mercenaries in the UAC did not fare better as they were not being paid by their employers and were essentially stuck in the country with no chance of getting out.

The country was later embargoed by the African Union in an attempt to deprive the factions of weapons and ammunition, but many arms dealers managed to smuggle arms into the country anyway. One infamous arms dealer, the Jackal, came to the UAC to profit from the civil war, and proceeded to sell weapons to both sides of the conflict. This eventually led to the Jackal being targeted by an unknown foreign government who then sent the player to assassinate him.

The Assassin Interference

With the player's arrival to the UAC, they took jobs from both the UFLL and the APR in order to get paid, but also to track down the elusive Jackal in the hope that either faction will divulge the information they have on him. The Assassin weakens both factions and UAC by killing the police chief, destroying the natural gas reserve and the farm crops. Soon, either faction leader order the assassin to assassinate the other faction leader in order gain dominance over Leboa-Sako, either faction would strike the whole region after their enemy faction leader is killed with independent mercenaries and civilians targeted as foreign spies and cowards respectively.

While the mercenaries held on in Mike's Bar, the Underground evacuate the remaining civilians in Pala church. The assassin would either help the mercenaries friends or the Underground, but he would be wounded in the attempt. The defeated faction would retreat back to the capital and southern region, Bowa-Seko with the mercenary leader ordering the assassin to assassinate their enemy warlord back North for revenge.

After the assassin's job is done, they meet up the mercenary leader and conspire to help them reignite the cease fire in order to survive from potential 'resignation'. They done so by having the Jackal weapons from Sehlakalase, a former Jackal hideout and plant them in the UAC's capital city, Port Selao. The plan worked and the war between the UFLL and APR reignite in the South once more. Despite the constant warring between the two factions along the assassin continuing undermining of UAC such as destroying the fresh water pipe, production of both morphine and malaria and assassination of a teacher, the two factions find a common ground for peace truce with the diamonds as token of good gesture. However, the Jackal personally attack the faction leader hideout and assassinate the faction leader to sour the peace deal as both factions wanted to use the peace to suppress the restless population. He scapegoat the assassin as the faction leader assassin and use this opportunity to clean the UAC once more.

The assassination of the faction leader set off a huge escalation of the situation with independent mercenaries captured for being saboteurs and general infighting of both faction leadership. The mercenary leader order the assassin to kill the remaining faction leader to 'stabilize' the situation, once that is done, the mercenaries leader and lieutenant of both factions turn against each other until one mercenary leader of both factions remaining. Two remaining mercenary leaders would set up an alliance to deal with the fleeing population

Many civilians and bystanders are no better as many journalists are either deported or executed with the civilians being massacred or drag back to their war torn country. A riot was staged by the Jackal that attract the assassin attention to help The Jackal in their quest for the civilian exodus out of the UAC, the assassin once more managed to kill the remaining leadership of the UFLL and APR to undermine the mercenaries attack on the civilians. The civilians managed to exodus out of the country thanks to the assassin and the Jackal effort with both of them bribing the AU guards with diamonds and using the battery to blow up the canyon, preventing the mercenaries from chasing the fleeing civilians.

Present

It is unknown what the ultimate fate of the UAC is, but it remains a war torn country after what was left of the UFLL and the APR failed to form an interim government. The news of the collapse and civil war of the UAC was largely ignored by the international community.

In Far Cry 3 you can overhear a conversation between Rook Islands pirates where they mention blood diamonds still being regularly being smuggled out of the UAC. Some of the UAC's blood diamonds even ended up as far as Kyrat, where a former warlord from the UAC would later attempt to track them down on a quest to atone for his past sins.

Geography

Waterfalls at Mt. Thabamolaetsa

The UAC is very geographically diverse, containing numerous different ecosystems and bioregions characteristic of the real-world African nations it was based on. The northern half of the country contains vast deserts, rain forests, and jungles, while the southern half is dominated by savannas and marshes. Geographic features such as valleys, waterfalls, rivers and oases are prevalent in the country. Both districts also contain their own unique natural landmarks. Northeast Leboa-Sako contains Mt. Thabamolaetsa, the highest and most notable mountain in the country, while Bowa-Seko features the UAC's largest and most important body of water, Lake Segolo.

Wildlife

The animals of the UAC are typical to fauna found in most of central and southern Africa. Buffalo, wildebeests, gazelles and zebras can all be seen roaming around the country.

Culture

Languages

The languages spoken in the UAC are all native to Southern Africa. Northern Sotho seems to be the main language spoken in the nation, seeing as how most native location names are in Northern Sotho. English is also spoken and understood fluently by the country's population and therefore could be a co-official language. Zulu and Afrikaans are also spoken to a degree by mercenaries.

Religion

Christianity seems to be the most-practiced religion in the country as churches can be seen in all major settlements in the game game. Pala has a small church headed by Underground participant Father Maliya, and both Sefapane and Mosate Selao contain a much larger church. The interiors of some Underground safehouses are also frequently adorned with Christian imagery.

Infrastructure and Economy

The Occidental Growers Company was a major agricultural company that produced pesticides in the UAC

The UAC is extremely poor and poverty-stricken. The people of the UAC use diamonds (commonly referred by them as "stones") as their main form of currency, as local paper currency is considered useless. The UAC also has high levels of wealth disparity. This is apparent when you compare the relatively poor cities of Pala and Sefapane (the former of which being comprised of mostly slums), to the capital city of Mosate Selao. The rest of the country is so impoverished that people had to construct crowded shantytowns in remote locations to live in, as is the case with Mokuba which would later become a prominent military outpost for the APR.

Prior to the second civil war, the UAC was home to multiple companies and corporations (both local and foreign) that contributed significantly to the economy. Pesticides, chemical products, and alcohol were some of the many products that these companies produced. The country also contained vast reserves of natural resources such as oil, gold and diamonds that were heavily exploited as well. Companies like TaeMoCo and PetrolSahel built mines and oil facilities in the country to exploit these valuable resources for commercial gain.

During the civil war, only one company was known to operate in the UAC - a foreign agricultural company known as the Occidental Growers Company which was able to keep operating due to the APR's protection of their farms.

Tourism was seemingly a part of the nation's economy at one point, as a hotel exists in Pala, in addition to a river-side resort and a marina in Bowa-Seko.

After the start of the second civil war, bartering became a major part of the UAC's economy. Passports and travel documents turned into some of the most sought-out items for civilians living in the UAC. People would trade valuable goods such as malaria medication in exchange for these documents as they scrambled for the chance to be able to leave the country.

Utilities

The Mertens-Segolo Pipeline Company initially provided water to the people of the UAC. Later during the war, the UFLL would take control of it and use it to pump water out of Lake Segolo, selling the water to neighboring countries to fund the war effort.

Transportation

Roads and Air Transport

A bus stop near Goka Falls

Cars are the most used form of transportation, as a vast network of roads and paths exist in the UAC. Almost all of the roads are unpaved dirt roads, which reflects the country's impoverished nature. Crashed and derelict cars can be found all over the two districts. Mercenaries commonly use roads to patrol faction-held territory. Buses and bus stops act as a fast travel location at each corner of the map and every major town/city in the game.

Two airports exist in the country, but neither of them see much traffic since the African Union pulled out of the country. It is mentioned in-game by a local cab driver that the last few airplanes leaving the country were being used by the rich as a way to escape the country.

Rail Transport

A train station in Sefapane.

A railway line snakes through the northern, western and southern parts of the country. It begins at the north-eastern border of Leboa-Sako and connects multiple industries along its path to Sefapane and Mosate Selao, before finally terminating at a railway border crossing in south-eastern Bowa-Seko. A large portion of the line is covered by massive sand dunes and several derailed freight trains can be found near sections of tracks, suggesting that the line hasn't been used in years. Parts of it also seem to have been subject to sabotage by the factions, as the tracks near Sefapane are partially destroyed and blocked off. When it was active, it presumably provided both passenger and freight service to the people and industries of the UAC.

Military troop transport trains are known to have occasionally run on the line, as seen during the subverted path of the mission Head to the rail yard and destroy the tanker car.

Waterways

Rivers and waterways are also used by mercenaries as a way to navigate the country. Mercenaries of the APR and UFLL can be seen patrolling the waterways of both provinces in small river boats. Mosate Selao contains a small port off the coast of Lake Segolo, which was likely used to import and export goods into and out of the country respectively.

Politics

The UAC is a lawless and war-torn country where many warring factions and illegal businesses can operate freely without prosecution. Two main political factions are centered upon in Far Cry 2. The first faction is the United Front for Liberation and Labour, or UFLL. The UFLL is a socialist paramilitary group mostly comprised of natives to the UAC. Their political motives are to keep the UAC independent and restore it to its former glory. This is directly contrary to what the second faction, the Alliance for Popular Resistance, or APR, is trying to do. The APR is a large organization seeking to unite all of Africa under one name. This is where the conflict arises. Aside from political factions, a number of secondary or illegal groups exist in UAC. There is a humanitarian organization known as the Underground which seeks to help lead the refugees out of the country and into the safety of other nations. They are known to hold Christian beliefs.

Many independent Mercenaries and Mercenary groups exist in the UAC. They mostly take jobs from the APR or UFLL in the hope to make a profit from the conflict. Some unnamed hostile militias attempt to subdue the Underground. Gun runners also make a large profit from the civil war, many found in private gun shops. In addition to these, many gun running organizations contend for profits in UAC, giving opportunities to the player to assist one organization and undermine another. The most powerful gun runner in the UAC is the Jackal. There is also an shady entity that the player can contact to do assassination contracts for.

Although both factions employ natives and mercenaries, the combat structure of the two factions are different in a descriptive view. Since the UFLL was originally a party of politicians with a socialist agenda, they rely mostly on paramilitary forces lead by Hector Voorhees and the country's native sympathizers. The APR on the other hand, is comprised of the country's former military, African coalitions, and local warlords and street gangs, in addition to foreign mercenaries.

Trivia

• The UAC seems to have been based on an assortment of different African countries.
  • The Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness was a major influence on the game's story. The book was set in the Congo Free State which was most likely a massive influence on the African setting of the game.
  • Kenya is confirmed to have been used as the main basis for the geography, wildlife and the general atmosphere of the country. Prior to the release of Far Cry 2, Ubisoft sent out a team of researchers to Kenya to take reference images and record soundscapes that would eventually be used in the game.
  • The civil war plot seems to have been inspired by the Sierra Leone Civil War, where (not unlike the game) warring factions profited from the international trafficking and sale of blood diamonds from the region.
  • The dwellings made by the Dogon people of Mali served as inspiration for the Dogon village outpost seen in the southern part of the map.
  • Mercenaries and civilians can be heard speaking both Northern Sotho and Afrikaans throughout the game, both of which being languages spoken primarily in South Africa. Reuben Oluwagembi's personal blog War Unlimited also makes reference to some mercenaries conversing in Zulu - another language native to South Africa.
• A few characters in-game make reference to other countries bordering the UAC. Like the UAC itself, it is not known what the name of these countries are, but it is known that the factions make frequent business deals with them.
• The UAC is mentioned in a note from Bembé in Far Cry 6 which reads as follows. "We have a shipment of diamonds coming in by freighter. They will be hidden in a crate of bibles. In exchange, our client in the UAC needs guns. When he comes to collect his weapons, be careful he doesn't try to convert you." - Bembe

See Also

• Far Cry 2 map
• Far Cry 2 locations