Background: Chad, part of French possessions in Africa until 1960, experienced three decades of ethnic conflict and the Libyan invasion before some semblance of peace was established in 1990. The interim government gradually suppressed or came to terms with most military-political factions, settled the territorial dispute with Libya on favorable terms for Chad, and held multi-party presidential and National Assembly elections in 1996 and 1997, respectively. In 1998, a new uprising began in northern Chad, which continued to gain strength during 1999-2000. Although there has been a movement towards democratization, power remains in the hands of the northern ethnic oligarchy. See areacodesexplorer.com to know more about Chad History.
Geography
Location: Central Africa, south of Libya.
Geographic coordinates: 15° 00′ N. latitude, 19° 00′ E
Reference map: Africa.
Area: total: 1.284 million square kilometers; land surface area: 1,259,200 km2; water surface area: 24,800 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than three times the area of the state of California.
Land borders: total: 5,968 km; with neighboring states: with Cameroon 1,094 km, with the Central African Republic 1,197 km, with Libya 1,055 km, with Niger 1,175 km, with Nigeria 87 km, with Sudan 1,360 km.
Coastline: 0 km (no access to the sea).
Maritime claims: none (no access to the sea).
Climate: tropical in the south, desert in the north.
Terrain: wide desert plains in the center, deserts in the north, mountains in the northwest, lowlands in the south.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Jurab lowland 160 m; highest point: Mt. Emi Koussi 3,415 m.
Natural resources: oil (not mined, but should start), uranium, sodium, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad).
Land use: arable land: 3%; cultivated land: 0%; pastures: 36%; forests and plantations: 26%; others: 35% (1993 est.).
Irrigated land: 140 km2 (1993 est.).
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds in the north; periodic droughts; locust invasions.
Current environmental problems: insufficient supplies of drinking water, agricultural waste pollutes soil and water, desertification.
International environmental agreements: member: Biodiversity, Climate change, Desertification, Endangered species, Nuclear test ban, Ozone layer protection, Wetlands. signed but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Pollution of the sea.
Note to the section “Geography”: no access to the sea; Lake Chad is the most significant body of water in the Sahel.
Population
Population: 8,707,078 (July 2001 est.).
Age structure: under 14: 47.73% (male 2,091,724; female 2,064,514); 15 to 64 years old: 49.46% (male 2,035,099; female 2,271,389); over 65: 2.81% (male 101,579; female 142,773) (2001 est.)
Population growth: 3.29% (2001 est.).
Birth rate: 48.28 newborns / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Mortality: 15.4 deaths / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Migration: 0 people /1000 people (2001 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male/female; under 15: 1.01 male/female; from 15 to 64 years: 0.9 male/female; over 65: 0.71 male/female; for the general population: 0.71 male/female (2001 est.);
Child mortality: 95.06 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.).
Life expectancy: for the general population: 50.88 years; men: 48.86 years; women: 52.98 years (2001 est.).
Total fertility rate: 6.56 children/wives. (2001 est.).
Proportion of adults infected with HIV: 2.69% (1999 est.).
Number of people infected with HIV: 92,000 (1999 est.).
AIDS deaths: 10,000 (1999 est.).
Nationality: noun: resident of Chad; adjective: Chadic.
Ethnic groups: Muslims, commonly referred to as “Northerners” or “gorane” (Arabs, Tubu, Hadzherai, Fulbe, Kotoko, Kanembu, Baguirmi, Boulala, Zaghava, Maba); non-Muslims, commonly referred to as “Southerners” (Sera, Ngambaye, Mbaye, Goulaye, Moundang, Moussai, Massa), including 150,000 non-natives (of which 1,000 are French); note: ethnicity and region of origin are more commonly used to distinguish between Chadians than religious affiliation.
Believers: Muslims 50%, Christians 25%, adherents of local beliefs (mostly animistic) 25%.
Language(s): French (official), Arabic (official), Sera and Sanga (in the south), over 100 different languages and dialects.
Literacy: definition: persons 15 years of age or older who can read and write French or Arabic; for the general population: 48.1%; men: 62.1%; women: 34.7% (1995 est.).
Politics
conventional long form: Republic of Chad;
conventional short form: Chad; local long form: Republique du Tchad; ‘ local short form: Tchad. G
State structure: republic.
Capital: N’Djamena.
Administrative divisions: 14 prefectures: Bata, Biltin, Borku-Ennedi-Tibesti, Wadda, Guera, Kanem, Lak, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Mayo-Kebbi, Moyen-Shari, Salamat, Tanjile, Shari-Baguirmi.
Dependent territories:
Independence: August 11, 1960 (until 1960 – a colony of France).
National holiday: Independence Day, August 11 (1960).
Constitution: Adopted by referendum on March 31, 1995
Legal system: based on French civil law and local customary law; does not accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
Suffrage: from the age of 18, universal.
chief of state: President Lieutenant General IdrissDEBY (since 4 December 1990);
head of government: Prime Minister Nagdum YAMASSOUM (since 13 December 1999)
government: state council, members appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister; elections: the president is elected by popular vote for a 5-year term; if no candidate receives 50%, the two candidates with the highest number of votes run in the second round; elections last held 20 May 2001 (next to be held in 2006); the prime minister is appointed by the president; election results: Idris DEBY 63%, Ngarlegy YORONGAR 16%, Saleh KEBZABO 7%; note: government coalition: MPS, UNDRnURD.
Legislature: unicameral National Assembly (125 seats; members are elected by popular vote for 4 years); replaced the Supreme Provisional Council; elections: last held in two rounds on 5 January and 23 February 1997 (next to be held in 2001); several candidates participate in the first round, if no candidate receives 50%, the two candidates with the highest number of votes participate in the second round; election results: distribution of votes between parties: no data; distribution of seats among parties: MPS 65, URD 29, UNDR 15, RDP3, others 13.
Judiciary: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; criminal courts; world courts.
Political parties and leaders: National Union for Development and Renewal (UNDR) (Saleh QEBZABO); Save the Fatherland Movement (MPS) (Mahamat Saleh AHMAT, Chairman), formerly in opposition but now the ruling presidential party; Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) (Lal Mahamat CHOUA); Union for Renewal and Democracy (URD) (General Wadal Abdelkader KA-MOUGUE).
Political influence groups and their leaders:
Participation in international organizations: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, CEMAS, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO.
Diplomatic representation in the USA: Head of Mission: Ambassador Hassaballah Abdelhadi Ahmat SOU-BIANE; office: 2002 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009; phone: [1] (202) 462-4009; fax: [\] (202) 265-1937.
US Mission: Head of Mission: Ambassador Christopher GOLDTHWAIT; embassy: Avenue Felix Eboue, N’Djamena; postal address: W. R. 413, N’Djamena; phone: [235] (51) 70-09, 90-52, 92-33; fax: [235] (51) 56-54.
Description of the flag: three vertical stripes of blue (left), yellow and red; similar to the flag of Romania, as well as the flags of Andorra and Moldova, the last two have the national coat of arms in the center of the yellow stripe; The flag of France was taken as a sample.
