Chad History, Geography, Economy and Important Events

France conquered the region by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad gained independence under the leadership of François Tomblé. The prolonged civil war in 1965 brought an end to the resentment of his policies in the Muslim North. In 1979, the rebels conquered the capital and ended the hegemony of the South. In 1990, Hisain Habe was overthrown by his general, Idris Debbie. With French support, the modernization of the Chadian Armed Forces was initiated in 1991. Since 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spread across the border and destabilized the nation. The poor, already, nation and people struggled to accommodate the thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.

At 1,284,000 square kilometers, Chad is the 20th largest country in the world. It is slightly smaller than Peru and slightly larger than South Africa. Chad is bounded on the north by Libya, on the east by Sudan, on the west by Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, and on the south by the Central African Republic. The country's nearest capital, Doula, is 1,060 kilometers from Cameroon. Because of this distance from the sea and the country's largely desert climate, Chad is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa". The region's long grass and extensive marshes are suited to birds, reptiles and large mammals. The major rivers of Chad - Chari, Logon and their tributaries - flow from the south to the lake flowing southward.

The United Nations' Human Development Index ranks Chad as the seventh poorest country in the world, with 80% of its population living below the poverty line. In 2009, per capita gross domestic product (purchasing power parity) was estimated as US $ 1,651. Chad is a part of the Bank of Central African States, the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC) and the Organization of Business of Harmonization of Business Law of Africa. As of 2013, Chad had 59 airports, of which only 9 had runways. Is an international airport serving the capital and Paris and regular nonstop flights to several African cities.

The official languages of Chad are Arabic and French, but more than 100 languages and dialects are spoken. Due to the important role played by itinerant Arab traders and merchants settled in local communities, Chadian Arabic has become a lingua franca.

Cameroon [L] , Central African Republic [L] , Libya [L] , Niger [L] , Nigeria [L] , Sudan [L] ,
Definition of international border: L = Land Border | M = Maritime Border