Birao is an extremely dangerous city. See the warning at the Central African Republic article.
Birao is a remote and out of the way place in the very north of the Central African Republic. It is close to the Chad and Sudan border so there is some trade going on but mostly the place suffers from lack of government attention and money.
The airstrip is no longer usable, but south of Birao - just where the laterite soil turns into sand - there is a big airstrip, so connection with the capital Bangui is a matter of hours. However, fuel for the airplanes is rare (often months on end not available) and very costly (€3.60 per liter).
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division