Chad
I | INTRODUCTION |
Chad, republic in north central Africa. Chad is
bounded on the north by Libya; on the east by Sudan; on the south by the Central
African Republic; and on the west by Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. The
landlocked country has an area of 1,284,000 sq km (495,755 sq mi). N’Djamena is
the capital and largest city.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Chad’s terrain is dominated by the low-lying
Chad Basin (elevation about 250 m/820 ft), which rises gradually to mountains
and plateaus on the north, east, and south. In the east heights of more than 900
m (more than 3,000 ft) are attained in the Ennedi and Ouaddaï plateaus. The
greatest elevations are reached in the Tibesti massif in the north, with a
maximum height of 3,415 m (11,204 ft) at Emi Koussi. The northern half of the
republic lies in the Sahara. The only important rivers, the Logone and Chari
(Shari), are located in the southwest and flow into Lake Chad. The lake doubles
in size during the rainy season.
A | Climate |
The northern portion of Chad is hot and
arid. The central section has three seasons: hot from March to July; rainy from
July to October, with rainfall averaging from about 250 to 750 mm (about 10 to
30 in); and cool during the remaining months. The southern section has similar
seasons but receives about 1,145 mm (about 45 in) of rain in the same four
months.
B | Natural Resources |
Although only 3 percent of Chad’s land is
cultivated, the country’s agricultural resources have long held primary
importance in food production. Extensive fish resources in Lake Chad and the
Chari River are also of vital importance. Southern Chad contains significant
deposits of petroleum and gold that have begun to be exploited since 2000.
Natron (a sodium carbonate that occurs naturally in lake beds) has been
extracted from the shores of Lake Chad for centuries for use as salt and for the
production of soap and glass. The country also contains largely untapped
deposits of uranium, tungsten, tin, bauxite, iron ore, and titanium.
III | POPULATION |
The population of Chad consists of numerous
ethnic groups. Arab peoples are important in the north and east, and black
African peoples dominate in the south.
A | Population Characteristics |
The estimated population of Chad in 2008
was 10,111,337. The overall population density is 8 persons per sq km (21 per sq
mi). Some 74 percent of the people live in rural areas, and most of the
population is concentrated in the south. The population may be divided into two
main groups: a Muslim population in the northern and eastern portions of the
country and the non-Muslims of black African origin in the southern regions. The
Muslim population includes both nomadic Arabs and sedentary non-Arab peoples.
The largest group among the non-Muslims is the Sara tribe. Chad culture draws
most heavily on the ethnic heritage of its black peoples, but Islamic and French
influences are much in evidence.
B | Political Divisions and Principal Cities |
Chad is divided into 14 prefectures.
N’Djamena (formerly Fort-Lamy), is the capital and largest city. Other important
cities include Sarh, formerly Fort-Archambault, Moundou, and Abéché.
C | Language and Religion |
The official languages of Chad are French
and Arabic, but numerous African languages are spoken. Chadic languages,
especially Hausa, are spoken in the Lake Chad area. Muslims make up about 59
percent of the population. About 17 percent of the people are Christians. Most
of the remaining population adheres to traditional religions.
D | Education |
In 2000 Chad had a literacy rate of 54
percent. School attendance in the 2000 school year was 984,224 primary and
123,408 secondary students. During this period there were 4,028 primary schools.
In the mid-1990s about 3,000 people attended institutions of higher education,
including the country’s one university, the University of Chad (founded in
1971).
IV | ECONOMY |
The economy of Chad is based largely on
subsistence agriculture; some 83 percent of the labor force is engaged in
farming, animal husbandry, forestry, and fishing. In 1992 national budget
figures showed revenues of $120 million and expenditures of $363 million. Chad’s
economic prospects have been boosted by the development of oil wells since 2000
and the 2003 completion of a 1,000-km-long (600-mi-long) oil pipeline through
Cameroon to the Atlantic coast.
The currency is the CFA franc,
consisting of 100 centimes (522.90 CFA francs equal U.S.$1; 2006
average). An exchange rate of 50 CFA francs equal to 1 French franc was in force
until 1994, when the CFA franc was devalued by 50 percent. In 2000 imports were
$290 million, and exports were $183 million.
A | Agriculture |
Cotton and livestock are the most
important agricultural products of Chad, accounting for about 70 percent of
earnings. Production in 2006 was 86,000 metric tons of cotton. The rice crop is
becoming increasingly important. Millet, potatoes, squash, beans, peanuts, and
other vegetables are grown for local consumption. Livestock raising is important
in the central region and in areas of the north. In 2006 the country’s livestock
population included 6.5 million head of cattle, 2.6 million sheep, 5.8 million
goats, 740,000 camels, and 275,000 horses. About one-third of the land is used
for grazing.
B | Industries |
The processing of cotton and cottonseed
oil and the manufacturing of peanut oil are major industries in Chad. Modern
meatpacking plants have been established in N’Djamena and Sarh. The fishing
industry furnishes fresh, dried, and smoked fish for domestic use and export.
Petroleum mining and processing are increasingly important industries in Chad.
Gold and natron, a mineral used to make soap, glass, paper, and medicines, are
also mined. Forestry is important in the south. The output of electricity in
2003 was 120 million kilowatt-hours.
C | Transportation and Communications |
Of a road network of 33,400 km (20,754
mi), only about one-quarter are all-weather. Chad has no railroads. The main
airport at N’Djamena can accommodate large jets, and about 55 other airports
serve smaller craft. The radio station in N’Djamena is government-owned and
broadcasts programs in French, Arabic, and eight African languages. In 1997
there were an average 236 radio receivers and 1.4 television sets for every
1,000 inhabitants.
V | GOVERNMENT |
Political instability plagued Chad throughout
the 1970s and 1980s. In 1989 a new constitution providing for an elected
president and parliament came into effect. This constitution was suspended, and
parliament dissolved, after an insurgent group, the Patriotic Salvation
Movement, took power in December 1990. Chad was then ruled by an interim
government consisting of a 33-member state council headed by a president. After
internal pressure for elections mounted, a democratic constitution was approved
by public referendum in March 1996. Under this (subsequently amended)
constitution, the head of state is the president, who is popularly elected to a
five-year term. A popularly elected, 155-seat National Assembly serves as the
country’s legislature. Its members serve four-year terms. The constitution also
allows for the optional creation of a popularly elected Senate to serve as the
upper house of the legislature.
In 2004 Chad maintained an army of 25,000
members and an air force of 350. The country has signed defense agreements with
France, which gives Chad’s army technical and other aid.
VI | HISTORY |
Cave paintings indicate that Chad was a
fertile and populous country in ancient times. By the 9th century ad, the kingdom of Kanem (see
Kanem-Bornu Empire) was established in what is now western Chad, with its
capital at Njimi, near Mao. Its rulers adopted Islam in the 11th century. Kanem
was subjected to neighboring Bornu in the 16th century, and in the succeeding
period the chief powers were the sultanates of Baguirmi and Wadai in the south.
The export of slaves to North Africa was an important sector of the economy of
these states.
In the late 19th century the area was
subdued by the Sudanese conqueror Rabih al-Zubayr, and it was taken over by the
French on his death. In 1910 Chad became a part of the French Equatorial
Federation, with headquarters in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, about
2,400 km (about 1,500 mi) away. The change to colonial status resulted in little
interference in the way of life of the indigenous peoples and little development
beyond the establishment of cotton plantations in the south.
In 1960 Chad, like other French colonies in
Africa, became independent. Desperately poor, the governments of President
François Tombalbaye, a southerner, were supported by French aid. The
dissatisfaction of northern Muslims first surfaced in 1963 and forced some
changes in the Bantu-dominated one-party government. This, however, was not
enough to satisfy them, and in 1969 Muslim guerrillas began to operate in the
north. With support from neighboring Libya, their attacks escalated during the
following years. Despite military aid from France, Tombalbaye’s situation was
made totally untenable by the drought of the early 1970s. He was assassinated in
1975.
Tombalbaye’s successor, General Félix
Malloum, was not able to end the civil strife. By 1979 the war had engulfed the
south, Malloum was overthrown, and a northerner, Goukouni Oueddei, emerged as
president. In 1980 Libya intervened to support Oueddei against rebels under
former defense minister Hissène Habré, who was backed by Sudan and Egypt. After
the Libyan forces withdrew late in 1981 at Oueddei’s request, Habré renewed his
offensive, and his troops captured N’Djamena in June 1982. In 1983 the ousted
Oueddei formed a rival government in the north. In the continued civil strife,
Oueddei had the backing of Libyan troops, while France sent troops and supplies
to keep Habré in power. By the end of 1988, Libyan forces had been driven out of
Chad, and the two nations had normalized diplomatic relations. In December 1990,
however, Habré was ousted by an insurgent group, the Patriotic Salvation
Movement, which had Libyan support. The rebel leader, General Idriss Deby, then
assumed the presidency. In January 1992 the Deby government claimed to have
crushed a rebellion by forces loyal to Habré, and France sent more troops as a
safeguard. In the early 1990s Chad continued to suffer from widespread political
and ethnic unrest, including the massacre of 82 civilians by President Deby’s
private guard in August 1993.
In 1994, however, the government reached a
cease-fire agreement with the rebel group Comité de Sursaut National pour la
Paix et la Démocratie (CSNPD); the CSNPD committed to withdraw troops from
southern Chad, and the government agreed to appoint members of the CSNPD to the
national army. In addition, a 20-year territorial dispute with Libya came to an
end when the International Court of Justice ruled that Chad had sovereignty over
the Aozou Strip, a stretch of land along the Libyan border covering about
115,000 sq km (45,000 sq mi). In June and July 1996, under a new, democratic
constitution, Deby was popularly elected president in the nation’s first
presidential elections. Deby was reelected in May 2001.
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