The Central African Republic is one of 29 countries where Scouting exists (be it embryonic or widespread) but where there is no National Scout Organization which is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement at the present time. Scouting was founded in French Equatorial Africa in 1941, and was first recognized in 1969. The Fédération du scoutisme centrafricain, or FESCA, is the national federation of seven Scouting organizations. While FESCA was still recognized in 1990, there were 7,000 Scouts, and total membership at the end of 1998 was reported as being the same number.