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Chad Country Guide

Explore Chad in Africa

Chad with the capital city N'Djamena is located in Africa (Central Africa, south of Libya). It covers some 1,284,000 square kilometres (slightly more than three times the size of California) with 10,111,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Chad

The topography includes broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south. The average density of population is approximately 8 per km². The notable climate conditions in Chad can be described as tropical in south, desert in north. Possible natural disasters include hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north or periodic droughts or locust plagues.

To reach someone in Chad dial +235 prior to a number. There are 13,000 installed telephones. And there are 2,686,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".td". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 220V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Chad

Chad Flag Icon

Three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the flag combines the blue and red French (former colonial) colors with the red and yellow of the Pan-African colors; blue symbolizes the sky, hope, and the south of the country, which is relatively well-watered; yellow represents the sun, as well as the desert in the north of the country; red stands for progress, unity, and sacrifice note: similar to the flag of Romania; also similar to the flags of Andorra and Moldova, both of which have a national coat of arms centered in the yellow band; design was based on the flag of France.


Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil warfare, as well as invasions by Libya, before a semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990. The government eventually drafted a democratic constitution and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which has sporadically flared up despite several peace agreements between the government and the insurgents. In 2005, new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and made probing attacks into eastern Chad despite signing peace agreements in December 2006 and October 2007. In June 2005, President Idriss DEBY held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits and won another controversial election in 2006. Sporadic rebel campaigns continued throughout 2006 and 2007. The capital experienced a significant insurrection in early 2008, but has had no significant rebel threats since then, in part due to Chad's 2010 rapprochement with Sudan, which previously used Chadian rebels as proxies. DEBY in 2011 was reelected to his fourth term in an election that international observers described as proceeding without incident. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority.



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Africa
Neighbours: Niger, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria
Capital: N'Djamena
Size1,284,000 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 495,755 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly more than three times the size of California
Population10,111,000
CurrencyName Franc, Currency Code:XAF
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).td
Telephone Country Prefix+235
Mobile Phone Connections2,686,000
Landline Phone Connections13,000

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area1,284,000 (sq km)21

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population11,193,452 74
Population growth rate1.95 (%)57
Birth rate37.99 (births/1,000 population)15
Death rate14.85 (deaths/1,000 population)4
Net migration rate-3.64 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)186
Maternal mortality rate1100.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)1
Infant mortality rate91.94 (deaths/1,000 live births)6
Life expectancy at birth49.07 (years)223
Total fertility rate4.80 (children born/woman)24
Health expenditures4.50 (% of GDP)153
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate3.40 (%)19
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS210,000 26
HIV/AIDS - deaths11,000 24
Obesity - adult prevalence rate2.70 (%)177
Children under the age of 5 years underweight33.90 (%)9
Education expenditures2.90 (% of GDP)146

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)21,000,000,000 129
GDP - real growth rate5.00 (%)62
GDP - per capita (PPP)2,000 194
Labor force4,293,000 89
Investment (gross fixed)26.80 (% of GDP)34
Taxes and other revenues26.20 (% of GDP)111
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-4.80 (% of GDP)154
Public debt36.90 (% of GDP)98
Inflation rate (consumer prices)5.00 (%)137
Central bank discount rate4.75 (%)78
Commercial bank prime lending rate15.00 (%)46
Stock of narrow money1,416,000,000 136
Stock of broad money1,642,000,000 156
Stock of domestic credit700,500,000 165
Industrial production growth rate3.00 (%)92
Current account balance-1,965,000,000 136
Exports4,951,000,000 114
Imports3,936,000,000 138
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold799,700,000 144
Debt - external1,749,000,000 144

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production95,000,000 (kWh)197
Electricity - consumption88,350,000 (kWh)198
Electricity - installed generating capacity31,000 (kW)191
Electricity - from fossil fuels100.00 (% of total installed capacity)10
Crude oil - production123,700 (bbl/day)47
Crude oil - exports115,000 (bbl/day)37
Crude oil - proved reserves1,500,000,000 (bbl)37
Refined petroleum products - consumption1,817 (bbl/day)191
Refined petroleum products - imports1,754 (bbl/day)182
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy290,900 (Mt)190

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use31,200 175
Telephones - mobile cellular3,666,000 119
Internet hosts6 230
Internet users168,100 145

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports58 83
Roadways40,000 (km)88

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures1.60 (% of GDP)89

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Lakes of Ounianga
The site includes eighteen interconnected lakes in the hyper arid Ennedi region of the Sahara desert covering an area of 62,808 ha. It constitutes an exceptional natural landscape of great beauty with striking colours and shapes. The saline, hyper sa ...
2012