Chad

Geography

Chad is a landlocked country spanning north-central Africa. It covers an area of 1,284,000 square kilometres (496,000 sq mi), lying between latitudes 7° and 24°N, and 13° and 24°E, and is the twentieth-largest country in the world. It is bounded to the north by Libya, to the east by Sudan, to the west by Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, and to the south by the Central African Republic. The capital is 1,060 kilometres (660 mi) from the nearest seaport, Douala, Cameroon. Because of this distance from the sea and the largely desert climate, Chad is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa".

The dominant physical structure is a wide basin bounded to the north and east by the Ennedi Plateau and Tibesti Mountains, which include Emi Koussi, a dormant volcano that reaches 3,414 metres (11,201 ft) above sea level. Lake Chad, after which the country is named (and which in turn takes its name from the Kanuri word for "lake"), is the remains of an immense lake that occupied 330,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) of the Chad Basin 7,000 years ago. Although in the 21st century it covers 17,806 square kilometres (6,875 sq mi), and its surface area is subject to heavy seasonal fluctuations, the lake is Africa's second-largest wetland.

Chad contains six terrestrial ecoregions: East Sudanian savanna, Sahelian Acacia savanna, Lake Chad flooded savanna, East Saharan montane xeric woodlands, South Saharan steppe and woodlands, and Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands. Tall grasses and extensive marshes make it favourable for birds, reptiles, and large mammals. Major rivers—the Chari, Logone and their tributaries—flow through the southern savannas from the southeast into Lake Chad.

Each year a tropical weather system known as the intertropical front crosses Chad from south to north, bringing a wet season that lasts from May to October in the south, and from June to September in the Sahel. Variations in local rainfall create three major geographical zones. The Sahara lies in the country's northern third. Yearly precipitations throughout this belt are under 50 millimetres (2.0 in); only occasional spontaneous palm groves survive, all of them south of the Tropic of Cancer.

The Sahara gives way to a Sahelian belt in central Chad; precipitation there varies from 300 to 600 mm (11.8 to 23.6 in) per year. In the Sahel, a steppe of thorny bushes (mostly acacias) gradually gives way to the south to East Sudanian savanna. Yearly rainfall in this belt is over 900 mm (35.4 in).

Wildlife

The 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. There are 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 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.

Forest cover is around 3% of the total land area, equivalent to 4,313,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 6,730,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 4,293,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 19,800 hectares (ha). For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership. 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, Siniaka-Minia National Park, and Aouk National Park 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. Elephants are often massacred in herds in and around the parks by organised poaching. The problem is worsened by the fact that the parks are understaffed and that wardens have been murdered by poachers.

Government and politics

Under the constitution adopted following the 2023 Chadian constitutional referendum, Chad is a presidential republic with a strong executive branch headed by the president, who dominates the political system. The incumbent president is Mahamat Déby. The president has the power to appoint the prime minister and the cabinet and exercises considerable influence over appointments of judges, generals, provincial officials, and heads of para-statal firms. In cases of grave and immediate threat, the president, in consultation with the National Assembly, may declare a state of emergency. The president is directly elected by popular vote; constitutional term limits were adjusted under the 2023 constitution to allow a limit of two consecutive five-year terms. Most of Déby's key advisers are members of the Zaghawa ethnic group, although southern and opposition personalities are represented in government.

The legal system is based on customary law and French civil law, applicable where the former does not interfere with public order or constitutional guarantees of equality. Despite the constitution's guarantee of judicial independence, the president names most key judicial officials. The legal system's highest jurisdictions are the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council. The Supreme Court is made up of a chief justice, named by the president, and 15 councillors, appointed for life by the president and the National Assembly. The Constitutional Council is headed by nine judges elected to nine-year terms. It has the power to review legislation, treaties, and international agreements prior to their adoption.

The bicameral parliament makes legislation. The upper house, the Senate, has 69 members. 46 are indirectly elected by an electoral college, consisting of provincial and municipal councillors, and 23 are appointed by the President of the Republic. They serve six-year terms. The current President of the Senate is Haroun Kabadi. The lower house, the National Assembly, has 188 members. The current Speaker of the National Assembly is Ali Kolotou Tchaïmi. The president must sign or reject newly passed laws within 15 days. The National Assembly must approve the prime minister's plan of government and may force the prime minister to resign through a majority vote of no confidence. However, if the National Assembly rejects the executive branch's programme twice in one year, the president may disband the Assembly and call for new legislative elections. In practice, the president exercises considerable influence through his party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), which holds a large majority in both chambers.

Until the legalisation of opposition parties in 1992, Déby's MPS was the sole legal party in Chad. Since then, 78 registered political parties have become active. In 2005, opposition parties and human rights organisations supported the boycott of the constitutional referendum that allowed Idriss Déby to stand for re-election for a third term amid reports of widespread irregularities in voter registration and government censorship of independent media outlets during the campaign. Correspondents judged the 2006 presidential elections a mere formality, as the opposition deemed the polls a farce and boycotted them.

Chad is listed as a failed state by the Fund for Peace. Chad had the tenth-highest rank in the Fragile States Index in 2024. Corruption is rife at all levels; Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021 ranked Chad 164th among the 180 countries listed. Critics of Déby had accused him of cronyism and tribalism. In southern Chad, bitter conflicts over land are becoming more common. They frequently turn violent. Long-standing community culture is being eroded – and so are the livelihoods of many farmers.

President Idriss Déby's death on 20 April 2021 resulted in both the nation's National Assembly and government being dissolved and national leadership being replaced with a transitional military council consisting of military officers and led by his son Mahamat Déby. In October 2022, Déby extended the transitional period and was sworn in as transitional president after dissolving the Transitional Military Council. This caused the 2022 Chadian protests, which became one of the most violent in Chadian history and were suppressed by government forces. Following the adoption of a new constitution in December 2023, a presidential election was held in May 2024, in which Mahamat Déby was elected president, formally ending three years of transitional military rule. He subsequently appointed Allamaye Halina as prime minister in May 2024. According to the 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices, Chad was ranked the 16th lowest electoral democracy worldwide and 4th lowest in Africa.

Administrative divisions

Chad is divided into 23 provinces. Each province is headed by a presidentially appointed governor. Prefects administer the provinces' 120 departments, which are divided into 454 sub-prefectures.

The constitution provides for decentralised government to compel local populations to play an active role in their own development. To this end, the constitution declares that each administrative subdivision be governed by elected local assemblies.

Foreign relations and internal opposition

Chad's foreign relations historically featured strong ties with France, which maintained a troop presence in the country for decades. However, Franco-Chadian relations cooled, leading to the departure of the last French soldiers from Chad in early 2025, which ended France's direct military presence.

There have been numerous rebel groups throughout the last few decades. In 2007, a peace treaty was signed that integrated United Front for Democratic Change soldiers into the Chadian Army. The Movement for Justice and Democracy in Chad also clashed with government forces in 2003 in an attempt to overthrow President Idriss Déby. In addition, there have been various conflicts with Khartoum's Janjaweed rebels in eastern Chad, who killed civilians by use of helicopter gunships. Presently, the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) are a rebel group that continues to battle with the government. In 2010, the UFR reportedly had a force estimating 6,000 men and 300 vehicles.

The UAE foreign aid was inaugurated in Amdjarass on 3 August 2023. The UAE's continuous efforts to provide assistance to the Chadian people and support endeavours to provide humanitarian and relief aid through the UAE's humanitarian institutions to Sudanese refugees in Chad.

Military

As of 2024 Chad was estimated to have 33,250 active military personnel, including 27,500 in the Ground Forces, 350 in the Air Force, and 5,400 in the General Directorate of the Security Services of State Institutions. There are 4,500 in the National Gendarmerie and 7,400 in the National and Nomadic Guard. The Ground Forces are organised into seven military regions and twelve battalions, including one armoured, seven infantry, one artillery, and three logistical.

Chad is a member of the G5 Sahel and the Multinational Joint Task Force, which were formed to fight against Islamic insurgent groups in the region, and had contributed nearly 1,500 troops to the MINUSMA mission in Mali.

The CIA World Factbook estimates the military budget to be 4.2% of GDP as of 2006. Given the then GDP ($7.095 bln) of the country, military spending was estimated to be about $300 million. This estimate however dropped after the end of the civil war (2005–2010) to 2.0% as estimated by the World Bank for 2011.

Demographics

Chad's national statistical agency projected the country's 2015 population between 13,630,252 and 13,679,203, with 13,670,084 as its medium projection; based on the medium projection, 3,212,470 people lived in urban areas and 10,457,614 people lived in rural areas. The population is young: an estimated 47% is under 15. The birth rate is estimated at 42.35 births per 1,000 people, and the mortality rate at 16.69. The life expectancy is 52 years. The agency assessed the population as of 2026 at 20,031,602.

The population is unevenly distributed. Density is 0.1/km² (0.26/sq mi) in the Saharan Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region but 52.4/km² (136/sq mi) in the Logone Occidental Region. In the capital, it is even higher. About half of the population lives in the southern fifth of its territory.

Urban life is concentrated in the capital, whose population is mostly engaged in commerce. The other major towns are Sarh, Moundou, Abéché and Doba, which are considerably smaller but growing rapidly in population and economic activity. Since 2003, 230,000 Sudanese refugees fled to eastern Chad from war-ridden Darfur. With the 172,600 Chadians displaced by the civil war in the east, this generated tensions in the communities. As of 2025, Chad hosts approximately 1.5 million refugees, of whom more than 1.3 million are Sudanese and 145,000 are Central African. Chad has the highest refugee population per capita of any African nation, with the number of Sudanese refugees having doubled since 2023. Border towns in eastern Chad, such as Adré, have received a large influx of refugees from Sudan.

Polygamy is common, with 39% of women living in such unions. This is sanctioned by law, which automatically permits polygamy unless spouses specify that this is unacceptable upon marriage. Although violence against women is prohibited, domestic violence is common. Female genital mutilation is also prohibited, but the practice is widespread and deeply rooted in tradition; 45% of women undergo the procedure, with the highest rates among Arabs, Hadjarai, and Ouaddaians (90% or more). Lower percentages were reported among the Sara (38%) and the Toubou (2%). Women lack equal opportunities in education and training, making it difficult for them to compete for the relatively few formal-sector jobs. Although property and inheritance laws based on the French code do not discriminate against women, local leaders adjudicate most inheritance cases in favour of men, according to traditional practice.

Cities, towns, and municipalities

In the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Chad ranks 125th out of the 127 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2024 GHI scores, having a score of 36.4.

Ethnic groups

The peoples of Chad carry significant ancestry from Eastern, Central, Western, and Northern Africa. Chad has more than 200 distinct ethnic groups, which create diverse social structures. The colonial administration and independent governments have attempted to impose a national society, but for most Chadians the local or regional society remains the most important influence outside the immediate family. Nevertheless, people may be classified according to the geographical region in which they live.

In the south live sedentary people such as the Sara, the nation's main ethnic group, whose essential social unit is the lineage. In the Sahel, sedentary peoples live side by side with nomadic ones, such as the Arabs, the country's second major ethnic group. The north is inhabited by nomads, mostly Toubous.

Languages

The official languages are French and Arabic, with over 100 regional languages being spoken in the country. The Chadic branch of the Afroasiatic language family gets its name from Chad and is represented by dozens of languages native to the country. Chad is also home to Central Sudanic, Maban, and several Niger-Congo languages. Nevertheless, French remains the lingua franca and language of the government and education.

Religion

Various estimates, including from Pew Research in 2010, find that 52–58% of the population was Muslim, while 39–44% were Christian (22% Catholic and 17% Protestant). According to a 2012 Pew Research survey, 48% of Muslims professed to be Sunni, 21% Shia, 4% Ahmadi and 23% non-denominational Muslim. Around 55% of Sunnis belong to Sufi orders, with 35% adhering to Tijaniyah which incorporates some local religious elements. In 2020, the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated the vast majority of Muslims were Tijaniyah Sunnis. A small minority of Muslims (5–10%) hold more fundamentalist practices, which in some cases may be associated with Saudi-oriented Wahhabism.

Catholics represent the largest Christian denomination. 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; 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 French and American missionaries; as with Islam, it syncretises aspects of pre-Christian religious beliefs.

Muslims are largely concentrated in northern and eastern Chad, and animists and Christians live primarily in southern Chad and Guéra. Many Muslims also reside in southern Chad, but the Christian presence in the north is minimal. The constitution provides for a secular state and guarantees religious freedom; different religious communities generally co-exist without problems.

Chad is home to foreign missionaries representing both Christian and Islamic groups. Itinerant Muslim preachers visit, primarily from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Saudi Arabian funding generally supports social and educational projects and extensive mosque construction.

Education

Educators face considerable challenges because of the dispersed population and a certain degree of reluctance on the part of parents to send their children to school. Although attendance is compulsory, only 68 percent of boys attend primary school, and at 33 percent, Chad has one of the lowest literacy rates of Sub-Saharan Africa. Higher education is provided at the University of N'Djamena.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor reported that school attendance of children aged 5 to 14 was as low as 39%. This can also be related to the issue of child labour as the report also stated that 53% of children aged 5 to 14 were working, and that 30% of children aged 7 to 14 combined work and school. The List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor cites cattle herding as a major agricultural activity that employed underage children.

Economy

The United Nations' Human Development Index ranks Chad as the seventh poorest country in the world, with 80% of the population living below the poverty line. The GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita was estimated as US$1,651 in 2009. Chad is part of the Bank of Central African States, the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa and the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).

Currency is the CFA franc. In the 1960s, the mining industry of Chad produced sodium carbonate, or natron. There have also been reports of gold-bearing quartz in the Biltine Prefecture. However, years of civil war have scared away foreign investors; those who left Chad between 1979 and 1982 have only recently begun to regain confidence in the country's future. In 2000, major direct foreign investment in the oil sector began, boosting economic prospects.

Uneven inclusion in the global political economy as a site for colonial resource extraction (primarily cotton and crude oil), a global economic system that does not promote nor encourage the development of Chadian industrialisation, and the failure to support local agricultural production has meant that the majority of Chadians live in daily uncertainty and hunger. Over 80% of the population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood. The crops grown and the locations of herds are determined by the local climate. In the southernmost 10% of the territory lies the most fertile cropland, with rich yields of sorghum and millet. In the Sahel only the hardier varieties of millet grow and with much lower yields than in the south. The Sahel is ideal pastureland for large herds of commercial cattle and for goats, sheep, donkeys and horses. The Sahara's scattered oases support only some dates and legumes. Cities face serious difficulties of municipal infrastructure; only 48% of urban residents have access to potable water and only 2% to basic sanitation.

Before the development of the oil industry, cotton dominated industry and the labour market accounted for approximately 80% of export earnings. Cotton remains a primary export. Rehabilitation of Cotontchad, a major cotton company weakened by a decline in world cotton prices, has been financed by France, the Netherlands, the European Union, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The parastatal is now expected to be privatised. Other than cotton, cattle, sesame, and gum arabic are dominant.

According to the United Nations, Chad has been affected by a humanitarian crisis since at least 2001. In February 2008 in the aftermath of the Battle of N'Djamena, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes expressed "extreme concern" that the crisis would have a negative effect on the ability of humanitarians to deliver life-saving assistance to half a million beneficiaries, most of whom – according to him – heavily rely on humanitarian aid for their survival. UN spokesperson Maurizio Giuliano stated to The Washington Post: "If we do not manage to provide aid at sufficient levels, the humanitarian crisis might become a humanitarian catastrophe". Organisations such as Save the Children suspended activities due to killings of aid workers.

Chad has made some progress in reducing poverty, as there was a decline in the national poverty rate from 55% to 47% between 2003 and 2011. However, the number of poor people increased from 4.7 million (2011) to 6.5 million (2019) in absolute numbers. By 2018, 4.2 out of 10 people live below the poverty line.

Infrastructure

Transport

Civil war crippled the development of transport infrastructure; in 1987, Chad had only 30 kilometres (19 mi) of paved roads. Successive road rehabilitation projects improved the network to 550 kilometres (340 mi) by 2004. Nevertheless, the road network is limited; roads are often unusable for several months of the year. With no railways of its own, Chad depends heavily on Cameroon's rail system for the transport of exports and imports to and from the seaport of Douala.

Three trans-African automobile routes pass through Chad: the Tripoli-Cape Town Highway; the Dakar-Ndjamena Highway; and the Ndjamena-Djibouti Highway. As of 2013 Chad had an estimated 59 airports, 9 of which had paved runways. The N'Djamena International Airport serves the capital and provides regular direct flights to Paris and several African cities.

Energy

Chad's energy sector has had years of mismanagement by the parastatal Chad Water and Electric Society which provides power for 15% of the capital's citizens and covers only 1.5% of the national population. Most Chadians burn biomass fuels such as wood and manure for power.

ExxonMobil leads a consortium of Chevron and Petronas that has invested $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves estimated at one billion barrels in southern Chad. Oil production began in 2003 with the completion of a pipeline (financed in part by the World Bank) that links the southern oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast of Cameroon. As a condition of its assistance, the World Bank insisted that 80% of oil revenues be spent on development projects. In January 2006 the World Bank suspended its loan programme when the Chadian government passed laws reducing this amount. In July 2006, the World Bank and Chad signed a memorandum of understanding under which the government commits 70% of its spending to priority poverty reduction programmes.

Telecommunications

The telecommunication system is basic and expensive, with fixed telephone services provided by the state telephone company SotelTchad. In 2000, there were 14 fixed telephone lines per 10,000 inhabitants in the country, one of the lowest telephone densities in the world. Gateway Communications, a pan-African wholesale connectivity and telecommunications provider, has a presence in Chad. In 2013, the Ministry for Posts and Information & Communication Technologies announced that the country would be seeking a partner for fibre optic technology. Chad is investing over €175 million to roll out a major 1,200-kilometre national fibre-optic backbone.

Chad is ranked last in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index – an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. In 2010 the mobile phone penetration rate was estimated at 24.3% over a population estimate of 10.7 million.

Culture

Because of its great social diversity, Chad possesses a rich cultural heritage. The government has actively promoted culture and traditions by opening the Chad National Museum and the Chad Cultural Centre. Six national holidays are observed throughout the year, and additional holidays include the Christian holiday of Easter Monday and the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Mawlid.

Literature

As in other Sahelian countries, literature in Chad has seen an economic, political and spiritual drought that has affected its best known writers. Many Chadian authors have been forced to write in exile, which generates literature dominated by themes of political oppression and historical discourse. Since 1962, 20 Chadian authors have written some 60 works of fiction. Among the most internationally renowned writers are Joseph Brahim Seïd, Baba Moustapha, Antoine Bangui and Koulsy Lamko. In 2003 Chad's sole literary critic, Ahmat Taboye, published his Anthologie de la littérature tchadienne to further knowledge of Chad's literature.

Music

Chadian music employs instruments such as the kinde, a type of bow harp; the kakaki, a long tin horn; and the hu hu, a stringed instrument that uses calabashes as resonators. Other instruments and their combinations are more linked to specific ethnic groups: the Sara prefer whistles, balafons, harps and kodjo drums; and the Kanembu combine the sounds of drums with those of flute-like instruments.

The music group Chari Jazz formed in 1964 and initiated Chad's modern music scene. Later, more renowned groups such as African Melody and International Challal attempted to mix modernity and tradition. Popular groups such as Tibesti have clung faster to their heritage by drawing on sai, a traditional style of music from southern Chad. The people of Chad have customarily disdained modern music. Piracy and a lack of legal protections for artists' rights remain problems to further development of the music industry.

Media and cinema

Like many North African nations, the media industry has been stifled by chronic instability and government interference. Chad's television audience is limited to N'Djamena. The only television station is the state-owned Télé Tchad. Radio has a far greater reach, with 13 private radio stations. Newspapers are limited in quantity and distribution, and circulation figures are small because of transportation costs, low literacy rates, and poverty. While the constitution defends liberty of expression, the government has regularly restricted this right. In 2006 the government began to enact a system of censorship on the media.

The development of a Chadian film industry, which began with the short films of Edouard Sailly in the 1960s, was hampered by the civil wars and the lack of cinemas. Currently there is only one cinema in the country, reflecting the struggling media industry. The feature film industry began growing again in the 1990s, with the work of directors Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Issa Serge Coelo and Abakar Chene Massar. Haroun's film Abouna was critically acclaimed, and his Daratt won the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival. The 2010 feature film A Screaming Man won the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, making Haroun the first Chadian director to enter, as well as win, an award in the main Cannes competition. Issa Serge Coelo directed the films Daresalam and DP75: Tartina City.

Cuisine

Millet is the staple food of Chadian cuisine. It is used to make balls of paste that are dipped in sauces. It is known as alysh in the north and as biya in the south. 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. Southern Chadians drink millet beer, such as billi-billi made from red millet and coshate made from white millet.

Sports

Football is Chad's most popular sport. The national team is closely followed during international competitions, and Chadian footballers have played for European teams. In recent years many footballers such as Franck Tchaouna, Bertrand Mani and Ahmad Ngouyamsa have played in recognized UEFA leagues. Basketball and freestyle wrestling are widely practiced, the latter in a form in which the wrestlers put on traditional animal hides and cover themselves with dust.