Chad
Name
| Official name | Republic of Chad — République du Tchad; Jumhūriyyat Tshād (جمهورية تشاد) |
|---|---|
| Former name | Chad — Tchad — the French colony, 1920–1960; part of French Equatorial Africa |
| Demonym | Chadian |
| Meaning of the name | From Lake Chad — tsade, "lake" or "large expanse of water" in Kanuri |
| Motto | "Unité – Travail – Progrès" — unity, work, progress |
Quick facts
| Capital | N'Djamena — Fort-Lamy until 1973; on the Chari; about 1.5 million |
|---|---|
| Other cities | Moundou, Sarh, Abéché, Kélo, Koumra, Faya-Largeau in the desert |
| Official languages | French and Arabic — Chadian Arabic the lingua franca of the north and the markets; some 120 languages, Sara the largest in the south |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc — ISO code XAF, F CFA; 655.957 to the euro |
| Time zone | West Africa Time, UTC+1, all year |
| Calling code | +235 |
| Internet domain | .td |
| ISO 3166 codes | TD · TCD · 148 |
| Vehicle registration code | TCH |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 220 V, 50 Hz; plug types C, D, E and F |
| Independence | 11 August 1960, from France — the national day |
| National days | 11 August, Independence Day; 28 November, Republic Day, for the republic proclaimed within the French Community in 1958; 1 December, Freedom and Democracy Day, for the entry of Idriss Déby in 1990 |
| Constitution | 29 December 2023 — the Fifth Republic, adopted by the referendum of 17 December 2023; revised 3 October 2025 to give the president seven-year terms without limit |
| Population | 11,039,873 at the census of 2009; about 20 million (UN and CIA World Factbook, 2025 est.) |
| Area | 1,284,000 km² (495,800 sq mi) — land 1,259,200 km², water 24,800 km²; the fifth-largest country in Africa; landlocked |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A vertical tricolor of blue, yellow and red — the sky and hope, the sun and the desert, and the blood of the nation; the French tricolor's pattern in pan-African colors, adopted 6 November 1959, and the twin of Romania's flag.Flag of Chad |
|---|---|
| Coat of arms | A shield of wavy blue and gold lines for Lake Chad, supported by a goat of the north and a lion of the south under the rising sun, with the medal of the National Order and the motto — adopted 1970 |
| National anthem | "La Tchadienne" — words by Louis Gidrol and his students, music by Paul Villard; adopted 1960 |
| National motto | "Unité – Travail – Progrès" |
| National colors | Blue, yellow and red |
| National animal | None designated — the lion and the goat of the arms; the elephants of Zakouma and the Kouri cattle of the lake widely cited |
| National dish | Boule — a paste of millet or sorghum — with sauces; kisser, the sorghum flatbread; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, anthem, motto and arms are fixed by the Constitution; the animal and dish are widely cited, none designated |
Geography
| Location | North-central Africa — the Sahara in the north, the Sahel in the middle, the Sudanian savanna in the south; landlocked, its nearest coast about 1,000 km away |
|---|---|
| Land borders | 6,406 km (3,981 mi) with six countries |
| Border with the Central African Republic | 1,556 km (967 mi) |
| Border with Sudan | 1,403 km (872 mi) |
| Border with Niger | 1,196 km (743 mi) |
| Border with Cameroon | 1,116 km (693 mi) |
| Border with Libya | 1,050 km (652 mi) — the Aouzou Strip, awarded to Chad by the International Court of Justice in 1994 |
| Border with Nigeria | 85 km (53 mi) — across Lake Chad |
| Coastline | None — landlocked |
| Highest point | Emi Koussi, 3,415 m (11,204 ft), a shield volcano in the Tibesti — the highest point of the Sahara |
| Lowest point | The Bodélé Depression, 160 m (525 ft) — the dry bed of Lake Mega-Chad; the largest source of dust on earth |
| Mean elevation | 543 m (1,781 ft) |
| Lake Chad | Shared with Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon — some 25,000 km² in the 1960s, about 1,500 km² now, after drought and irrigation; the Lake Chad Basin Commission since 1964 |
| Major rivers | The Chari, about 1,400 km, and the Logone, which join at N'Djamena and feed the lake — nearly all the water of the country; the Salamat; the wadis of the north |
| Terrain | The Tibesti and the Ennedi in the Saharan north; the Bodélé and the dunes; the Sahel; the flat southern plains; the Ouaddaï highlands on the Sudanese border |
| Climate | Desert in the north, with among the highest temperatures on earth; Sahelian in the middle; tropical with a summer rainy season in the south — N'Djamena often above 45°C in April |
| Natural hazards | Drought and desertification; the harmattan; locusts; floods on the Chari — the floods of 2024 affected some two million people |
| Natural resources | Oil at Doba since 2003; uranium, natron, kaolin, gold; fish from the lake |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 40%, most of it pasture; forest about 9% |
| National parks | Zakouma — the elephants and the largest population of Kordofan giraffes; Manda; Sena Oura; Siniaka-Minia |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 2 — the Lakes of Ounianga (2012), eighteen lakes in the Sahara fed by fossil water; the Ennedi Massif (2016), with its arches and rock art |
| Administrative divisions | 23 provinces since 2018 — N'Djamena a province of its own — divided into departments and communes |
People
| Population | 11,039,873 (census of 2009); about 20 million (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 15 per km² (40 per sq mi) — the north almost empty, the south peopled |
| Population growth | About 3% a year |
| Median age | About 16 years — among the youngest in the world |
| Life expectancy | About 54 years — among the lowest in the world |
| Fertility rate | About 6 births per woman — among the three highest |
| Urban population | About 24% |
| Adult literacy | About 27% — among the lowest in the world |
| Ethnic groups | Some 200 — the Sara about 30% in the south; Arabs about 12%; the Kanembu, Ouaddaï, Gorane and Toubou of the north; the Masalit, Hadjarai, Fulani; the Zaghawa, the Débys' people, about 2% |
| Languages | Chadian Arabic by about half; French in government and school; Sara, Kanembu, Ngambay, Masalit, Toubou and some 120 more |
| Religion | Muslim about 55%; Christian about 40% — Catholic about 20%, Protestant about 18%; traditional beliefs — the north Muslim, the south Christian and animist |
| Refugees | More than 1.3 million refugees, mostly Sudanese from Darfur since April 2023 — the most of any country in the region relative to its means — in camps along the eastern border; some 200,000 Chadians displaced by Boko Haram around the lake |
| Human Development Index | 0.416 (2023 data, 2025 report) — low; 190th of 193 |
| Sport | Football — the Sao; wrestling; the marathon runner in the desert |
| Diaspora | In Cameroon, Nigeria, Sudan, Libya, France and Saudi Arabia |
Government
| Form of government | Presidential republic under the Constitution of 2023 as revised in 2025 — a seven-year presidency without term limits |
|---|---|
| President | Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno (Patriotic Salvation Movement), since 20 April 2021 — as president of the Transitional Military Council on his father's death, transitional president from 10 October 2022, and elected president since 23 May 2024; a marshal, born 4 April 1984 |
| The 2024 election | Held 6 May 2024: Déby 61.3% in the first round, his prime minister Succès Masra 18.5% — Masra claimed victory and later resigned; the opposition leader Yaya Dillo had been killed by security forces in February 2024; Masra was arrested in May 2025 and sentenced to 20 years in August 2025 |
| The constitution revised | On 3 October 2025 the National Assembly, under an expedited procedure, lengthened the presidential term from five to seven years and removed the limit on re-election; promulgated 8 October 2025 |
| Prime Minister | Allamaye Halina (independent), since 23 May 2024 — a career diplomat, ambassador to China before |
| Parliament | The National Assembly — 188 members elected 29 December 2024, the first legislative election since 2011, the MPS 124; the Senate — 69 members, two-thirds elected by local councils on 25 February 2025, a third appointed |
| The next election | The presidential election due in 2031 under the seven-year term |
| Legal system | Civil law on the French model, with customary and Islamic law; the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council |
| Provinces | 23, each under a governor appointed by the president |
| Security | Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province around Lake Chad since 2015; rebel groups in the north and from Libya — the incursion that killed Idriss Déby in April 2021; the Sudanese war on the eastern border since 2023 |
| Foreign forces | France's 1976 defense agreement ended 28 November 2024 and the last French troops left in January 2025, after 48 years; the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram; ties with the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Russia |
| United Nations | Member since 20 September 1960 |
| Regional memberships | The African Union; CEMAC and the Economic Community of Central African States; the Lake Chad Basin Commission; the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie; the Arab League as an observer |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$13 billion (2025, IMF) |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$700 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$1,800 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 3–4% a year (2024–25) |
| Economy by sector | Agriculture about 45% of GDP and about 75% of employment; industry about 25%, oil most of it; services about 30% |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (XAF), fixed to the euro |
| Oil | Pumped at Doba since 2003 and sent 1,070 km by pipeline to Kribi in Cameroon — about 85% of exports; the state took over ExxonMobil's fields in 2023 |
| Livestock | Some 100 million head of cattle, camels, sheep and goats — the second export, driven to Nigeria |
| Cotton and gum arabic | Cotton from the south — CotonTchad; gum arabic, of which Chad is the second producer in the world after Sudan |
| Food crops | Millet, sorghum, groundnuts, maize; fish from the lake and the Chari |
| Public finances | Oil revenue the mainstay; debt relief in 2022 under the G20 common framework |
| Income classification | Low income (World Bank); a least developed country |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | N'Djamena International Airport; Abéché, Moundou, Faya-Largeau |
|---|---|
| Airline | Tchadia Airlines, the national carrier, 2018–2022; regional carriers since |
| Railways | None — a line to Cameroon's Ngaoundéré long planned |
| Roads | About 40,000 km (25,000 mi), a few thousand paved; the road to Douala through Cameroon the outlet to the sea |
| Ports | None — trade through Douala, 1,700 km away |
| The Chari | Navigable to N'Djamena in the rains; the Trans-Saharan road to Libya |
History in dates
| c. 7 million years ago | Toumaï — Sahelanthropus tchadensis — in the Djurab desert; found 2001 |
|---|---|
| c. 500 BC | The Sao culture around the lake |
| c. 700 | The Kanem Empire founded — Kanem-Bornu, a power of the Sahara for a thousand years |
| 16th–17th century | The kingdoms of Baguirmi and Wadai |
| 1900 | The Battle of Kousséri, 22 April — the French defeat Rabih az-Zubayr; Fort-Lamy founded |
| 1920 | The colony of Chad, part of French Equatorial Africa |
| 1960 | Independence, 11 August — François Tombalbaye president |
| 1965 | The revolt in the north begins — FROLINAT from 1966; civil war to 1990 |
| 1975 | Tombalbaye killed in a coup, 13 April |
| 1982 | Hissène Habré takes N'Djamena |
| 1987 | The Toyota War — Libya driven from the north |
| 1990 | Idriss Déby takes N'Djamena, 1 December |
| 2003 | The first oil flows at Doba |
| 2008 | The Battle of N'Djamena, February — the rebels reach the palace |
| 2016 | Habré convicted in Dakar of crimes against humanity, 30 May |
| 2021 | Idriss Déby killed at the front, 20 April; his son takes power |
| 2023 | The referendum on the Fifth Republic, 17 December |
| 2024 | Mahamat Déby elected, 6 May; the legislative election, 29 December |
| 2025 | The French withdrawal, January; the presidential term made seven years without limit, 3 October |
Records & firsts
| Toumaï | A seven-million-year-old skull — among the oldest known ancestors of humans, 2001 |
|---|---|
| The highest point of the Sahara | Emi Koussi, 3,415 m |
| The dustiest place on earth | The Bodélé Depression — the dust that feeds the Amazon |
| The lakes in the desert | Ounianga — eighteen lakes in the Sahara, UNESCO 2012 |
| The shrinking lake | Lake Chad, some 90% smaller than in 1963 |
| A twin flag | Chad's and Romania's — the same three colors, distinguished by a shade of blue |
| The first conviction of a former head of state by another state's court | Hissène Habré, Dakar, 2016 |
| The largest refugee host of the Sudan war | More than a million from Darfur |
| The Ennedi arches | The Aloba Arch, about 120 m high — among the largest on earth |
| Among the youngest populations | A median age of about 16 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Chad?
The Republic of Chad — République du Tchad in French, Jumhūriyyat Tshād in Arabic — since independence on 11 August 1960. The country is named for Lake Chad on its western border, from the Kanuri word tsade, "lake"; the French spelled it Tchad.
What is the capital of Chad?
N'Djamena, on the Chari River at its meeting with the Logone, across from Cameroon — founded by the French as Fort-Lamy in 1900 and renamed in 1973, with about 1.5 million people; one of the hottest capitals on earth. Moundou, the cotton and brewing town of the south, Sarh and Abéché in the east are the next cities.
How big is Chad, and how many people live there?
About 1,284,000 km² (495,800 sq mi) — the fifth-largest country in Africa, three times the size of California — landlocked from the deep Sahara to the savanna of the south. The census of 2009 counted 11.0 million people; the UN and the CIA World Factbook estimate about 20 million for 2025, growing at about 3 percent a year with one of the highest birth rates in the world and a median age of about 16.
What are the highest and lowest points of Chad?
Emi Koussi, 3,415 m (11,204 ft), a volcano in the Tibesti Mountains of the far north — the highest point in the Sahara — and the Bodélé Depression, 160 m (525 ft), the dry bed of the ancient Lake Mega-Chad, whose dust storms are the largest single source of dust on earth and fertilize the Amazon. Lake Chad itself, once among the largest lakes in Africa, has shrunk by some 90 percent since the 1960s.
What currency does Chad use?
The Central African CFA franc (ISO code XAF), shared with Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and fixed at 655.957 to the euro, issued by the Bank of Central African States. Clocks keep West Africa Time, UTC+1, all year.
Who governs Chad?
President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno — head of state since his father Idriss Déby was killed at the front on 20 April 2021, first as head of a military council, then elected on 6 May 2024 with 61.3 percent of the vote against his own prime minister, Succès Masra, who claimed victory and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison. On 3 October 2025 parliament lengthened the presidential term to seven years and removed the term limit. Allamaye Halina, a career diplomat, has been prime minister since 23 May 2024. The Patriotic Salvation Movement, the Débys' party, holds most seats in the National Assembly elected in December 2024 and in the Senate seated in 2025. French troops, in the country since 1976, withdrew in January 2025.
World knowledge, A to Z — the flags of every country, the sciences, places, people and more.
We Value Your Opinion Comments