Vakaga is one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic. Its capital is Birao. It covers an area of 46,500 km² and has a population of 37,595 (2003 census). The extremely low population density, less than 1 person/km², is a result of the capture of the majority of the region's inhabitants by slave-traders from the Sudan in the second half of the nineteenth century.