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Republic of Chad

  • جمهورية تشاد (Arabic)
  • République du Tchad  (French)
Coat of arms of Chad
Coat of arms
Motto: 
  • "Unité, Travail, Progrès" (French)
  • الاتحاد، العمل، التقدم (Arabic)
  • "Unity, Work, Progress"
Anthem: 
  • "La Tchadienne" (French)
  • نشيد تشاد الوطني (Arabic)
  • "The Song of Chad"
Location of Chad
Capital
and largest city
N'Djamena
12°06′N 16°02′E / 12.100°N 16.033°E / 12.100; 16.033
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2009 Census)
  • 26.6% Sara
  • 12.9% Arab
  • 8.5% Kanembu
  • 7.2% Masalit
  • 6.9% Toubou
  • 4.8% Masa
  • 3.7% Bidiyo
  • 3.7% Bulala
  • 3.0% Maba
  • 2.6% Daju
  • 2.5% Mundang
  • 2.4% Gabri
  • 2.4% Zaghawa
  • 2.1% Fula
  • 2.0% Tupuri
  • 1.6% Tama
  • 1.4% Karo
  • 1.3% Bagirmi
  • 1.0% Masmaje
  • 2.6% Other Chadian
  • 0.7% Foreign
Religion
(2020)
  • 55.1% Islam
  • 41.1% Christianity
  • 2.4% No religion
  • 1.3% Animism
  • 0.1% Others
Demonym(s) Chadian
Government Unitary republic under a hereditary military dictatorship
Mahamat Déby
Saleh Kebzabo
• Vice President
Djimadoum Tiraina
Legislature National Transitional Council
Independence from France
• Colony established
5 September 1900
• Autonomy granted
28 November 1958
• Sovereign state
11 August 1960
Area
• Total
1,284,000 km2 (496,000 sq mi) (20th)
• Water (%)
1.9
Population
• 2023 estimate
18,523,165 (66th)
• Density
8.6/km2 (22.3/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) 2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $32.062 billion (147th)
• Per capita
Increase $1,789 (179th)
GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $13.523 billion (145th)
• Per capita
Increase $755 (183rd)
Gini (2018) 37.5
medium
HDI (2021) Decrease 0.394
low · 190th
Currency Central African CFA franc (XAF)
Time zone UTC+1 (WAT)
Driving side right
Calling code +235
ISO 3166 code TD
Internet TLD .td

Chad ( chad), officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad), and Niger to the west. Chad has a population of 16 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N'Djamena.

Chad has several regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the second-largest wetland in Africa. Chad's official languages are Arabic and French. It is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Islam (55.1%) and Christianity (41.1%) are the main religions practiced in Chad.

Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium AD, a series of states and empires had risen and fallen in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the South's hegemony. The rebel commanders then fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. The Chadian–Libyan conflict erupted in 1978 by the Libyan invasion which stopped in 1987 with a French military intervention (Operation Épervier). Hissène Habré was overthrown in turn in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. With French support, a modernization of the Chad National Army was initiated in 1991. From 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan spilt over the border and destabilised the nation. Already poor, the nation and people struggled to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees who live in and around camps in eastern Chad.

While many political parties participated in Chad's legislature, the National Assembly, power laid firmly in the hands of the Patriotic Salvation Movement during the presidency of Idriss Déby, whose rule was described as authoritarian. After President Déby was killed by FACT rebels in April 2021, the Transitional Military Council led by his son Mahamat Déby assumed control of the government and dissolved the Assembly. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état.

Chad ranks the 2nd lowest in the Human Development Index, with 0.394 in 2021 placed 190th, and a least developed country facing the effects of being one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. Most of its inhabitants live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003 crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. Chad has a poor human rights record, with frequent abuses and limits on civil liberties by both security forces and armed militias.

Geography

Chari River
View of Chari River

Chad is the world's 21st-largest country. It is slightly smaller than Peru and slightly larger than South Africa. To the north is Libya, to the south is the Central African Republic, to the east is Sudan, and to the west are Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger.

The country's capital is 1,060 kilometres (660 mi) from the nearest seaport Douala, Cameroon. Due to this distance from the sea and the country's largely desert climate, Chad is sometimes called the "Dead Heart of Africa".

Lake Chad is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Lake Chad was 330,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) 7000 years ago. Now it is 17,806 square kilometres (6,875 sq mi). Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara.

The region's tall grasses and large amount of marshes make it good for birds, reptiles, and large mammals. Chad's major rivers are the Chari and Logone.

Wildlife

Chad's animal and plant life correspond to the three climatic zones. In the Saharan region, the only flora is the date-palm groves of the oasis. Palms and acacia trees grow in the Sahelian region. The southern, or Sudanic, zone consists of broad grasslands or prairies suitable for grazing. As of 2002, there were at least 134 species of mammals, 509 species of birds (354 species of residents and 155 migrants), and over 1,600 species of plants throughout the country.

Elephants, lions, buffalo, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, giraffes, antelopes, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and many species of snakes are found here, although most large carnivore populations have been drastically reduced since the early 20th century. Elephant poaching, particularly in the south of the country in areas such as Zakouma National Park, is a severe problem. The small group of surviving West African crocodiles in the Ennedi Plateau represents one of the last colonies known in the Sahara today.

Chad had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.18/10, ranking it 83rd globally out of 172 countries. Extensive deforestation has resulted in loss of trees such as acacias, baobab, dates and palm trees. This has also caused loss of natural habitat for wild animals; one of the main reasons for this is also hunting and livestock farming by increasing human settlements. Populations of animals like lions, leopards and rhino have fallen significantly.

Efforts have been made by the Food and Agriculture Organization to improve relations between farmers, agro-pastoralists and pastoralists in the Zakouma National Park (ZNP), Siniaka-Minia, and Aouk reserve in southeastern Chad to promote sustainable development. As part of the national conservation effort, more than 1.2 million trees have been replanted to check the advancement of the desert, which incidentally also helps the local economy by way of financial return from acacia trees, which produce gum arabic, and also from fruit trees.

Poaching is a serious problem in the country, particularly of elephants for the profitable ivory industry and a threat to lives of rangers even in the national parks such as Zakouma.

Regions

Since 2002, the Republic of Chad has been divided into regions. It was previously divided into prefectures, and then departments.

Below is a list of the 23 regions as of 2012.

Cities

The largest cities in Chad are:

  1. N'Djamena - 704,200
  2. Moundou - 136,900
  3. Sarh - 100,100
  4. Abéché - 72,500
  5. Kélo - 41,500
  6. Koumra - 35,400
  7. Pala - 34,600
  8. Am Timan - 28,200
  9. Bongor - 27,100
  10. Mongo - 27,100

Languages

Chad's official languages are Arabic and French, but over 100 languages and dialects are spoken. Due to the important role of Arab traders and merchants, Chadian Arabic has become a lingua franca, a language for all to use.

Education

Attending primary school is required in Chad, though only about 50% of children attend school. Adult literacy is only 35%.

The University of N'Djamena provides higher education.

Religion

Chad is a religiously diverse country. Various estimates, including from Pew Research Center in 2010, found that 52–58% of the population was Muslim, while 39–44% were Christian, with 22% being Catholic and a further 17% being Protestant. According to a 2012 Pew Research survey, 48% of Muslim Chadians professed to be Sunni, 21% Shia, 4% Ahmadi and 23% non-denominational Muslim. Islam is expressed in diverse ways; for example, 55% of Muslim Chadians belong to Sufi orders. Its most common expression is the Tijaniyah, an order followed by the 35% of Chadian Muslims which incorporates some local African religious elements. In 2020, the ARDA estimated the vast majority of Muslims Chadians to be Sunni belonging to the Sufi brotherhood Tijaniyah. A small minority of the country's Muslims (5–10%) hold more fundamentalist practices, which, in some cases, may be associated with Saudi-oriented Salafi movements.

Roman Catholics represent the largest Christian denomination in the country. Most Protestants, including the Nigeria-based "Winners' Chapel", are affiliated with various evangelical Christian groups. Members of the Baháʼí and Jehovah's Witnesses religious communities also are present in the country. Both faiths were introduced after independence in 1960 and therefore are considered to be "new" religions in the country.

A small proportion of the population continues to practice indigenous religions. Animism includes a variety of ancestor and place-oriented religions whose expression is highly specific. Christianity arrived in Chad with the French and American missionaries; as with Chadian Islam, it syncretises aspects of pre-Christian religious beliefs.

Cuisine

Millet is the staple food of Chadian cuisine. It is used to make balls of paste that are dipped in sauces. In the north this dish is known as alysh; in the south, as biya. Fish is popular, which is generally prepared and sold either as salanga (sun-dried and lightly smoked Alestes and Hydrocynus) or as banda (smoked large fish). Carcaje is a popular sweet red tea extracted from hibiscus leaves. Alcoholic beverages, though absent in the north, are popular in the south, where people drink millet beer, known as billi-billi when brewed from red millet, and as coshate when from white millet.

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See also

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