Embassy of Chad Logo
herosection
Chad - Land of welcome and diversity

  • The first population census took place in 1993. It estimated the total population of Chad at 6,280,000 individuals, of whom 5.7% were nomads (in the strict sense), the remainder being sedentary, semi-sedentary or transhumant. The second census in Chad's history, the most recent, was carried out more than fifteen years later, in 2009. Here are some key figures from this enumeration: the total population is 11.03 million inhabitants (it is estimated at 12.8 million in 2016), of whom 50.6% are under 15 years old and 50.7% are women. The urban population is 22%, making Chad a predominantly rural country. This census highlights the very unequal geographical distribution of the population, with more than half concentrated in the southernmost 10% of the country. Thus, in Chad there are enormous density disparities, ranging from 52.4 inhabitants/km² in Western Logone to 0.1 inhabitants/km² in the Borkou, Ennedi and Tibesti regions, where the population barely exceeds 300,000 individuals in the three regions combined; it is worth noting the extreme disparity between N'Djamena, with nearly 1 million inhabitants, and the Tibesti region, with 25,000 inhabitants!
  • The most densely populated regions are Eastern Logone and Western Logone, Mayo Kebbi East and West and Tandjilé, all located in the southwest, and Ouaddaï (721,000 inhabitants) in the east of the country. The Chadian population is young (half are under 15), poorly educated (illiteracy rate of 65%, schooling rate of 75% in the South, against less than 8% in the North). It subsists thanks to agriculture (83% of the active population depends on the primary sector). Living conditions are precarious: 88.6% of homes are still built with traditional materials, 76.4% of inhabitants consume unsafe water (pond or undeveloped well); 79% of Chadians do not use latrines, 1% of households have access to electricity, and 99.5% only use wood or charcoal as an energy source for cooking food.
  • Furthermore, Chad, due to its geographical location, is a true crossroads between the Arab world and the sub-Saharan world. Ancestral trans-Saharan trade relations, successive waves of migration of populations from the north and east, the rivalries that followed with indigenous peoples and traditional slave raids have led these two worlds to coexist and intermingle, in a mix of colors and features, customs and religions. Chad is therefore a true ethnic kaleidoscope. When in 1968 the project of a linguistic map of the Atlas of Chad was presented to the Minister of National Education, he examined it at length before sighing: “And to think that we must make a nation out of it!”.
image on the left
image on the right 1
image on the right 2
Key Figures
History
Geography

Geography

  • A bridge between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, a crossroads of trans-Saharan caravans and the cradle of nomadic civilizations, Chad embodies the contrasts between the northern desert and the southern savannah, between ascetic Muslim traditions and elaborate animist or Christian rituals, between nomadic populations living from their camels and pastures, and sedentary farmers shaping the land and giving it a human face.
  • Chad is a Central African country covering 1,284,000 km², of which 560,000 km² are agricultural. Ranked 20th in the world by area, Chad is the fifth largest country in Africa after Sudan, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya.
  • It is a vast country (twice the size of France), but landlocked and far from the sea. It is 1,700 km from Douala (Cameroon) and 2,400 km from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Relief

  • Chad's relief is basin-shaped, bordered by two mountain ranges and plateaus: to the north by the Tibesti massif (3,415 m at the Emi Koussi volcano) and to the east by the sandstone plateau of Ouaddaï (1,360 m) sloping towards the southwest. The lowest point is Lake Chad, a basin fed by the floodplains of the Chari and Logone rivers.
  • These two rivers form the only permanent hydrographic network: the Chari flows for 1,200 km from the Central African Republic and the Logone, its main tributary, originates in Cameroon for more than 1,000 km. They meet near the capital. They are partially navigable four months a year. There are five main lakes: Chad, Fitri, Iro, Léré and Tekem.

Climate and Vegetation

  • The south benefits from a humid tropical climate (Sudanian zone, the wettest and most populated), with wooded savannas and sparse forests near villages due to excessive wood cutting. The central zone has a Sahelian climate with thorny steppe and a longer dry season than rainy season. The northern region, under a Saharan desert climate, covers half of the country with striking landscapes.
  • The harmattan, a dry and hot continental wind, blows from the east and northwest. The monsoon, equatorial, humid and cool, comes from the southwest and marks the transition between the dry and rainy seasons.
  • Chad has 600,000 hectares of classified forests and 400,000 hectares of national parks. The two most important parks are Zakouma National Park in Salamat and Manda Park in the Sarh region, known for their biodiversity.