Chad officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west.
Chad is divided into multiple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanesesavanna zone in the south.
France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979, the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south’s hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Since 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.
While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d’état. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most inhabitants live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003, crude oil has become the country’s primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. Chad is considered a failed state by the Fund for Peace.
Capital: N’Djamena
Population: 10,975,648 (July 2012 est.)
People groups Sara 27.7%, Arab 12.3%, Mayo-Kebbi 11.5%, Kanem-Bornou 9%, Ouaddai 8.7%, Hadjarai 6.7%, Tandjile 6.5%, Gorane 6.3%, Fitri-Batha 4.7%, other 6.4%, unknown 0.3% (1993 census)
Languages: French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects.
Religions: Muslim 53.1%, Catholic 20.1%, Protestant 14.2%, animist 7.3%, other 0.5%, unknown 1.7%, atheist 3.1% (1993 census)
Chad is a religiously diverse country. The 1993 census found that 54% of Chadians were Muslim, 20% Roman Catholic, 14% Protestant, 10% animist, and 3% atheist. None of these religious traditions are monolithic. Animism includes a variety of ancestor and place-oriented religions whose expression is highly specific. Islam is expressed in diverse ways. Christianity arrived in Chad with the French and American missionaries; as with Chadian Islam, it syncretises aspects of pre-Christian religious beliefs. Muslims are largely concentrated in northern and eastern Chad, and animists and Christians live primarily in southern Chad and Guéra. The constitution provides for a secular state and guarantees religious freedom; different religious communities generally co-exist without problems.
The vast majority of Muslims in the country are adherents of a moderate branch of mystical Islam (Sufism) known locally as Tijaniyah, which incorporates some local African religious elements. A small minority of the country’s Muslims hold more fundamentalist practices, which, in some cases, may be associated with Saudi-oriented Salafi-movement.
Roman Catholics represent the largest Christian denomination in the country. Most Protestants, including the Nigeria-based “Winners Chapel,” are affiliated with various evangelical Christian groups. Members of the Bahá’í and Jehovah’s Witnesses religious communities also are present in the country. Both faiths were introduced after independence in 1960 and therefore are considered to be “new” religions in the country.
Chad is home to foreign missionaries representing both Christian and Islamic groups. Itinerant Muslim preachers primarily from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, also visit. Saudi Arabian funding generally supports social and educational projects and extensive mosque construction.
Living conditions: Maternal deaths: 1,100 deaths/100,000 live births (2010) (high rate in the world), infant mortality: total: 93.61 deaths/1,000 live births, male: 99.39, deaths 1,000 live births , female: 87.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.) life expectancy: 48.69 years. Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic
total population: 34.5%, male: 45%, female: 24.2% (2010 est.)
Government: Republic
Executive: chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Idriss DEBY Itno (since 4 December 1990)
head of government: Prime Minister Emmanuel NADINGAR (since 5 March 2010)
cabinet: Council of State; members are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
Legislative: unicameral National Assembly (188 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Judicial: Supreme Court; Constitutional Council; High Court of Justice; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts; Magistrate Courts
pray for:
- People to start seeking after a real answer to their misery.
- Workers to proclaim and demonstrate the true Christian gospel.
- Men of peace to provide a point of entry for the gospel.
- The result to be a rise in the living standard in this nation.