Map of Chad | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: After enduring decades of civil warfare among ethnic groups as well as invasions by Libya, Chad got started toward a more stable state with the seizure of the government in early December 1990 by former northern guerrilla leader Idress DEBY. His transitional government is suppressing armed rebellion.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 5,968 km total; Cameroon 1,094 km, Central African Republic 1,197 km, Libya 1,055 km, Niger 1,175 km, Nigeria 87 km, Sudan 1,360 km

Coastline: none--landlocked

Maritime claims: none--landlocked

Climate: tropical in south, desert in north

Terrain: broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south

Elevation

Natural resources: small quantities of crude oil (unexploited but exploration beginning), uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad)

Land use: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 36% meadows and pastures; 11% forest and woodland; 51% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: landlocked; Lake Chad is the most significant water body in the Sahel


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Population: 5,017,431 (July 1990), growth rate 2.1% (1990)

Nationality: noun--Chadian(s; adjective--Chadian

Ethnic groups: some 200 distinct ethnic groups, most of whom are Muslims (Arabs, Toubou, Fulbe, Kotoko, Hausa, Kanembou, Baguirmi, Boulala, and Maba) in the north and center and non-Muslims (Sara, Ngambaye, Mbaye, Goulaye, Moudang, Moussei, Massa) in the south; some 150,000 nonindigenous, of whom 1,000 are French

Languages: French and Arabic (official; Sara and Sango in south; more than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken

Religions: 44% Muslim, 33% Christian, 23% indigenous beliefs, animism

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 42 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 22 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; drought and desertification adversely affecting south; subject to plagues of locusts

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 136 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 38 years male, 40 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 5.3 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 25.3%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Chad

Government type: republic

Capital: N'Djamena

Administrative divisions: 14 prefectures (prefectures, singular--prefecture; Batha, Biltine, Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, Chari-Baguirmi, Guera, Kanem, Lac, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Mayo-Kebbi, Moyen-Chari, Ouaddai, Salamat, Tandjile

Dependent areas

Independence: 11 August 1960 (from France)

National holiday: National Day (founding of the Third Republic), 7 June (1982)

Constitution: 22 December 1989

Legal system: based on French civil law system and Chadian customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age NA

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Hissein HABRE (since 19 June 1982)

Legislative branch: Army, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie, Presidential Guard

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, CEAO, Conference of East and Central African States, EAMA, ECA, EC (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, Lake Chad Basin Commission, NAM, OAU, OCAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Mahamat Ali ADOUM; Chancery at 2002 R Steet NW, Washington DC 20,009; telephone (202) 462-4,009; US--Ambassador-designate Richard W. BOGOSIAN; Charge d'Affaires, Julius WALKER; Embassy at Avenue Felix Eboue, N'Djamena (mailing address is B. P. 413, N'Djamena; telephone p235o (51) 32-69 or 35-13, 28-62, 23-29, 32-29, 30-94, 28-47

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; similar to the flag of Andorra which has a national coat of arms featuring a quartered shield centered in the yellow band; also similar to the flag of Romania which has a national coat of arms featuring a mountain landscape centered in the yellow band; design was based on the flag of France

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The climate, geographic location, and lack of infrastructure and natural resources potential make Chad one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. Its economy is slowly recovering from the ravaging effects of prolonged civil war, conflict with Libya, drought, and food shortages. In 1986 real GDP returned to its 1977 level, with cotton, the major cash crop, accounting for 43% of exports. Over 80% of the work force is employed in subsistence farming and fishing. Industry is based almost entirely on the processing of agricultural products, including cotton, sugarcane, and cattle. Chad is still highly dependent on foreign aid, with its economy in trouble and many regions suffering from shortages.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 45% of GDP; largely subsistence farming; cotton most important cash crop; food crops include sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes, manioc; livestock--cattle, sheep, goats, camels; self-sufficient in food in years of adequate rainfall

Industries: cotton textile mills, slaughterhouses, brewery, natron (sodium carbonate)

Industrial production growth rate: - 7.0% (1986)

Labor force: NA; 85% agriculture (engaged in unpaid subsistence farming, herding, and fishing)

Unemployment rate: NA

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $61 million; expenditures $85 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1988 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $432 million (f.o.b., 1988)
Commodities: cotton 43%, cattle 35%, textiles 5%, fish
Partners: France, Nigeria, Cameroon

Imports: $214 million (c.i.f., 1988)
Commodities: machinery and transportation equipment 39%, industrial goods 20%, petroleum products 13%, foodstuffs 9%
Partners: US, France

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $360 million (December 1989)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 38,000 kW capacity; 70 million kWh produced, 14 kWh per capita (1989)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 3.5% of GDP (1987)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 71 total, 55 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 24 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 2,000 km navigable

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Libya claims and occupies a small portion of the Aozou Strip in far north; exact locations of the Chad-Niger-Nigeria and Cameroon-Chad-Nigeria tripoints in Lake Chad have not been determined--since the boundary has not been demarcated, border incidents have resulted

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs