Today, let's visit
Chad
Chad is a country in Africa, home to about 15.5 million people. Its capital is N'Djamena.
It covers 1,284,000 square kilometres (495,752 square miles). That's almost nine times the size of New York state.
A little history
Chad emerged from a collection of powerful states that controlled the Sahelian belt starting around the 9th century. These states focused on controlling trans-Saharan trade routes and profited mostly from the slave trade. The Kanem-Bornu Empire, centered around the Lake Chad Basin, existed between the 9th and 19th centuries, and at its peak, the empire controlled territory stretching from southern Chad to southern Libya and included portions of modern-day Algeria, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. The Sudanese warlord Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR used an army comprised largely of slaves to conquer the Kanem-Bornu Empire in the late 19th century. In southeastern Chad, the Bagirmi and Ouaddai (Wadai) kingdoms emerged in the 15th and 16th centuries and lasted until the arrival of the French in the 19th and 20th centuries. France began moving into the region in the late 1880s and defeated the Bagirmi kingdom in 1897, Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR in 1900, and the Ouddai kingdom in 1909. In the arid regions of northern Chad and southern Libya, an Islamic order called the Sanusiyya (Sanusi) relied heavily on the trans-Saharan slave trade and had upwards of 3 million followers by the 1880s. The French defeated the Sanusiyya in 1910 after years of intermittent war. By 1910, France had incorporated the northern arid region, the Lake Chad Basin, and southeastern Chad into French Equatorial Africa.
Chad achieved its independence in 1960 and then saw three decades of instability, oppressive rule, civil war, and a Libyan invasion. With the help of the French military and several African countries, Chadian leaders expelled Libyan forces during the 1987 "Toyota War," so named for the use of Toyota pickup trucks as fighting vehicles. In 1990, Chadian general Idriss DEBY led a rebellion against President Hissene HABRE. Under DEBY, Chad approved a constitution and held elections in 1996. Shortly after DEBY was killed during a rebel incursion in 2021, a group of military officials – led by DEBY’s son, Mahamat Idriss DEBY – took control of the government. The military officials dismissed the National Assembly, suspended the Constitution, and formed a Transitional Military Council (TMC), while pledging to hold democratic elections by October 2022. A national dialogue in August-October 2022 culminated in decisions to extend the transition for up to two years, dissolve the TMC, and appoint Mahamat DEBY as Transitional President; the transitional authorities held a constitutional referendum in December 2023 and claimed 86 percent of votes were in favor of the new constitution. The transitional authorities have announced plans to hold elections by October 2024.
Chad has faced widespread poverty, an economy severely weakened by volatile international oil prices, terrorist-led insurgencies in the Lake Chad Basin, and several waves of rebellions in northern and eastern Chad. In 2015, the government imposed a state of emergency in the Lake Chad Basin following multiple attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram, now known as ISIS-West Africa. The same year, Boko Haram conducted bombings in N'Djamena. In 2019, the Chadian government also declared a state of emergency in the Sila and Ouaddai regions bordering Sudan and in the Tibesti region bordering Niger, where rival ethnic groups are still fighting. The army has suffered heavy losses to Islamic terror groups in the Lake Chad Basin.
What's it like there?
The weather is tropical in south, desert in north.
- Location
-
Central Africa, south of Libya
- Size
-
- Almost nine times the size of New York state
- Slightly more than three times the size of California
- Climate
-
Tropical in south, desert in north
- Landscape
-
- Broad
- Arid plains in center
- Desert in north
- Mountains in northwest
- Lowlands in south
- Natural resources
-
- Petroleum
- Uranium
- Natron
- Kaolin
- Fish (Lake Chad)
- Gold
- Limestone
- Sand and gravel
- Salt
- Land use
-
Agricultural land 40%
Arable land 4.2%
Permanent crops 0%
Permanent pasture 35.7%
Forest 3.1%
Other 57%
2023 estimate
- Good to know
-
Note: Chad is the largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries
Note: A wide variety of animals lived in modern-day Chad during the African Humid Period, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, and antelope; the last remnant of this "Green Sahara" exists in the Lakes of Ounianga in northern Chad, a series of 18 interconnected freshwater, saline, and hypersaline lakes
Note: Lake Chad, the most significant water body in the Sahel, is a remnant of a former inland sea, paleolake Mega-Chad; at its greatest extent, sometime before 5000 B.C., Lake Mega-Chad was the largest of four Saharan paleolakes that existed during the African Humid Period; it covered an area of about 400,000 sq km (150,000 sq mi), roughly the size of today's Caspian Sea
Who lives there?
About 15.5 million people live in Chad, and the biggest city is N'Djamena.
- Largest cities
-
N'Djamena Capital 1,359,526 Moundou 196,124 Abéché 139,983 Sarh 138,928 Kelo 82,677 Am Timan 74,691 Doba 70,942 Pala 70,677 Bongor 63,699 Goz Beida 58,941 - Languages
-
- French (official)
- Arabic (official)
- Sara (in south)
- More than 120 languages and dialects
- Religions
-
Muslim 52.1% Protestant 23.9% Roman Catholic 20% Animist 0.3% Other Christian 0.2% None 2.8% Unspecified 0.7% 2014-15 estimate
- Ethnic groups
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Sara (Ngambaye/Sara/Madjingaye/Mbaye) 30.5% Kanembu/Bornu/Buduma 9.8% Arab 9.7% Wadai/Maba/Masalit/Mimi 7% Gorane 5.8% Masa/Musseye/Musgum 4.9% Bulala/Medogo/Kuka 3.7% Marba/Lele/Mesme 3.5% Mundang 2.7% Bidiyo/Migaama/Kenga/Dangleat 2.5% Dadjo/Kibet/Muro 2.4% Tupuri/Kera 2% Gabri/Kabalaye/Nanchere/Somrai 2% Fulani/Fulbe/Bodore 1.8% Karo/Zime/Peve 1.3% Baguirmi/Barma 1.2% Zaghawa/Bideyat/Kobe 1.1% Tama/Assongori/Mararit 1.1% Mesmedje/Massalat/Kadjakse 0.8% Other 4.6% Unspecified 1.7% 2014-15 estimate
- Where people live
-
- The population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography
- The highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south
- The dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated, as shown in this population distribution map
- Cities and towns
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Urban population 24.4% of total population
2023
Rate of urbanization 4.1% annual rate of change
2020-25 estimate
- Reading and writing
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Total population 30.6%
Male 44.5%
Female 18.6%
2019 estimate
- What people are called
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Noun Chadian(s)
Adjective Chadian
Who's in charge?
Its government is a presidential republic.
- Leaders
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Head of state President Mahamat Idriss Déby (since 6 May 2024)
Head of government Prime Minister Allamaye Halina (since 23 May 2024)
- Parliament
-
Legislature name Parliament
Legislative structure Bicameral
- Courts
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Highest court(s) - Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice, 3 chamber presidents, and 12 judges or councilors and divided into 3 chambers)
- Supreme Council of the Judiciary (consists of the Judiciary president, vice president and 13 members)
Judge selection and term of office - Supreme Court chief justice selected by the president
- Councilors - 8 designated by the president and 7 by the speaker of the National Assembly
- Chief justice and councilors appointed for life
- Supreme Council of the Judiciary - with the exception of the Judiciary president and vice president, members are elected for single renewable 4-year terms
Subordinate courts - High Court of Justice
- Courts of Appeal
- Tribunals
- Justices of the peace
- Constitution
-
History Several previous
- Latest adopted by National Transitional Council 27 June 2023
- Approved by referendum 17 December
- Verified by Chad Supreme Court 28 December
- Promulgated 1 January 2024
Amendment process - Previous process: proposed as a revision by the president of the republic after a Council of Ministers (cabinet) decision or by the National Assembly
- Approval for consideration of a revision requires at least three-fifths majority vote by the Assembly
- Passage requires approval by referendum or at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly
- Legal system
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Mixed system of civil and customary law
- Who can vote
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- 18 years of age
- Universal
How does it make a living?
- In short
-
- Oil-dependent economy challenged by market fluctuations, regional instability, refugee influx, and climate vulnerability
- High levels of extreme poverty and food insecurity
- Recent growth driven by oil and agricultural recovery
- Debt-restructuring agreement under G20 Common Framework
- Industries
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- Oil
- Cotton textiles
- Brewing
- Natron (sodium carbonate)
- Soap
- Cigarettes
- Construction materials
- Farming
-
- Sorghum
- Groundnuts
- Millet
- Beef
- Cereals
- Yams
- Sugarcane
- Maize
- Cassava
- Milk
2023
Note: Top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
- Exports
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- Crude petroleum
- Gold
- Oil seeds
- Gum resins
- Cotton
2023
Note: Top five export commodities based on value in dollars
- Sells most to
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UAE 26% China 19% Germany 17% Netherlands 13% France 10% 2023
Note: Top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
- Imports
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- Jewelry
- Broadcasting equipment
- Packaged medicine
- Cars
- Refined petroleum
2023
Note: Top five import commodities based on value in dollars
- Buys most from
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China 28% UAE 23% Turkey 10% France 9% India 5% 2023
Note: Top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
- Workforce
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6.6 million
2024 estimate
Note: Number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
- Below the poverty line
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44.8%
2022 estimate
Note: % of population with income below national poverty line
- Electricity
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Electrification - total population 11.7%
2022 estimate
Electrification - urban areas 46.3%
Electrification - rural areas 1.3%
- Government budget
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Revenues $2.129 billion
Expenditures $2.15 billion
2020 estimate
Note: Central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
Want to read more? Try the Wikipedia article or the Human Rights Watch report.
Have a great day!
I'll look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.
The more we all learn about the world, the better a place it becomes. Thank you for your curiosity!