Chad
Republic of Chad جمهورية تشاد République du Tchad | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Unité, Travail, Progrès (French: Unity, Work, Progress) | |
| Anthem: La Tchadienne | |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | N'Djamena |
| Official languages | French, Arabic |
| Government | Republic |
| Idriss Déby | |
| Pascal Yoadimnadji | |
| Independence From France | |
• Date | August 11, 1960 |
• Water (%) | 1.9% |
| Population | |
• 2005 estimate | 9,749,000 (82nd) |
• 1993 census | 6,279,921 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate |
• Total | $13.723 billion (128th) |
• Per capita | $1,519 (155th) |
| HDI (2003) | 0.341 low (173rd) |
| Currency | CFA franc (XAF) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (WAT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (not observed) |
| Calling code | 235 |
| ISO 3166 code | TD |
| Internet TLD | .td |
Chad (Arabic:تشاد , Sara; Tašād; French: Tchad), officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It borders 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. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "dead heart of Africa".[1] In the north, it contains the Tibesti Mountains, the largest mountain chain in the Sahara desert. Chad was formerly part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa.
History
The territory now known as Chad possesses some of the richest archaeological sites in Africa. A humanoid skull found in Borkou is more than 3 million years old. During the seventh millennium B.C., Chad was part of a broad expanse of land, stretching from the Indus River in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, in which ecological conditions favored early human settlement. Rock art of the "Round Head" style, found in the Ennedi region, pre-dates the seventh millennium B.C. The carving tools and the scenes depicted may represent the oldest evidence in the Sahara of Neolithic industries. Many of the pottery-making and Neolithic activities in Ennedi date back further than any of those of the Nile Valley.
In the prehistoric period, Chad was much wetter than it is today, as evidenced by large game animals depicted in rock paintings in the Tibesti and Borkou regions. Recent linguistic research suggests that all of Africa's languages south of the Sahara Desert (except Khoisan) originated in prehistoric times in a narrow band between Lake Chad and the Nile Valley. The origins of Chad's peoples, however, remain unclear to the world but studies prove that these people have ancestral traits to the ancient Egyptians and some migrated from Kush. Several of the known archaeological sites have been only partially studied and other sites of great potential have yet to be mapped. Later Muslims arrived in Chad initially as traders with the indigenous Chadian tribes. In 1900, after the battle of Kousséri, Chad became a part of France's colonial system.
In WWII, Chad ( sara people ) was the first French colony to join the Free French and the Allies, under the leadership of its Governor, Félix Éboué. In 1960, Chad became an independent country, with François Tombalbaye as its first President.
Chad's post-independence history has been marked by instability and violence stemming mostly from tensions between the mainly Muslim north and the predominantly animist and Christian south.
In 1965, Muslim Northerns dissatisfaction with President Tombalbaye—a Christian southerner—developed into a guerrilla war. This, combined with a severe drought, undermined his rule and, in 1975, President Tombalbaye was killed in a coup led by Noël Milarew Odingar, who immediately passed power to yet another southerner, general Félix Malloum. Malloum, too, failed to end the war, despite coopting insurgent Northerner leader Hissène Habré, the head of the Armed Forces of the North (FAN) as Prime Minister in 1978. In 1979, Malloum was replaced by a Libyan-backed northerner, Goukouni Oueddei, while the country precipitated in the most anarchic phase of the Chadian Civil War.
Libya invaded Chad in 1980 to help Oueddei remain in power and to forward an expansionist policy that projected to unify politically Libya and Chad. The Libyans had already occupied a narrow strip of land known as the Aouzou Strip in 1972–73.
France and the United States responded by aiding Habré in an attempt to contain Libya's regional ambitions under Muammar al-Qaddafi. The civil war deepened and in December, 1980 Libya occupied all of northern Chad, but Habré defeated Libyan troops and drove them out in November, 1981. By this stage France and neighbouring Libya were intervening repeatedly to support one side against another. Habré in 1982 conquered the capital ousting President Oueddei, and assumed overall control of the state. His eight year reign led to immense political turmoil, with human rights organisations accusing him of having ordered the execution of thousands of political opponents and members of tribes thought hostile to his regime. In 1983, Qaddafi's troops occupied all of the country north of Koro Toro. The United States used a clandestine base in Chad to train captured Libyan soldiers, whom it tried to organize into an anti-Qaddafi force. Habré's aid from the United States and France helped him to win the war against Libya. The Libyan occupation of the north of Koro Toro ended when Habré defeated Qaddafi in 1987.
Despite this victory, Habré's government was weak, accused of brutality and corruption, and seemingly disliked by a majority of Chadians. He was deposed by Libyan-supported rebel leader Idriss Déby on December 1, 1990. Habré went into exile in Senegal. Déby installed himself as dictator. Soon after, a constitution was written. Popular support for Déby was apparently shown in an election in May 2001, where he defeated six other candidates with 67.3% of the vote. The election was described as being "reasonably fair", although there were some noted irregularities.
In 1998, an armed insurgency began in the north, led by President Déby's former defence chief, Youssouf Togoimi. A Libyan-brokered peace deal in 2002 failed to put an end to the fighting.
In 2003 and 2004, unrest in neighbouring Sudan's Darfur region spilled across the border, with many thousands of refugees crossing the border into Chad.
On December 23, 2005, Chad announced that it was in a "state of war" with Sudan.[2] The Organisation of the Islamic Conference(OIC) has urged Sudan and Chad to exercise self-restraint to defuse growing tension between the two neighboring countries.[3]
On February 8, 2006, Chad and Sudan signed the Tripoli Agreement, ending the Chadian-Sudanese conflict. This agreement prohibits either country from beginning media campaigns against one another, and also from interfering with the others internal affairs.[4]
On April 13, 2006, rebels invaded the capital, seeking to topple the Presidency of Idriss Déby. Government forces defeated them in the Battle of N'Djamena. Chad then accused Sudan of supporting and training the rebels, and severed diplomatic ties between the two countries.[5]
Politics
Template:Morepolitics Politics of Chad takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Chad is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The political system operates under a constitution established in 1996, but a strong executive branch headed by president Idriss Déby has held power since 1990.
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Regions of Chad, Departments of Chad
Since 2002, Chad has been divided into 18 regions, which are subdivided into 52 departments and further divided into 348 sub-prefectures. Implementation of the new plan has been slow on the ground, however. The regions approximately correspond with 14 prefectures which existed up to 1999.
The regions include: Batha, Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, Chari-Baguirmi, Guéra, Hadjer-Lamis (previously part of the Chari-Baguirmi Prefecture), Kanem, Lac, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Mandoul (previously part of the Moyen-Chari Prefecture), Mayo-Kebbi Est (previously part of Mayo-Kebbi), Mayo-Kebbi Ouest (previously part of Mayo-Kebbi), Moyen-Chari, Ndjamena, Ouaddaï, Salamat, Tandjilé, and Wadi Fira (previously Biltine).
Geography
At 495,722 mi² (1,284,000 km²[1]), Chad is the world's 21st-largest country (after Peru). It is comparable in size to Niger, and is nearly twice the size of the US state of Texas.
Chad is a landlocked country in north central Africa, lying south of Libya. The country shares 5,968 kilometers (3,708 mi) of border with Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. Chad has four climatic zones: it has broad, arid plains in the center, desert in the north, dry mountains in the northwest, and tropical lowlands in the south. Only 3% of Chad is arable land and none of it has permanent crops. Environmental hazards in Chad include hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds in the north, periodic droughts, and locust plagues. Lake Chad, which is in Chad and Cameroon, was once the second-largest lake in Africa but has shrunk dramatically during the last few decades and is now down to less than 10% of its former size. The people of Chad are known as Chadian.
Terrain
Chad's terrain is dominated by the low-lying Chad Basin (elevation about 250 m / 820 ft), which rises gradually to mountains and plateaus on the north, east, and south. In the east heights of more than 900 metres (3,000 ft) are attained in the Ennedi and Ouaddaï plateaus. The greatest elevations are reached in the Tibesti massif in the north, with a maximum height of 3,415 metres (11,204 ft) at Emi Koussi. The northern half of the republic lies in the Sahara. The only important rivers, the Logone and Chari (Shari), are located in the southwest and flow into Lake Chad. The lake doubles in size during the rainy season.
Economy
Chad's primarily agricultural economy is being boosted by major oilfield and pipeline developments that began in 2000. Over 80% of Chad's population continues to rely on subsistence farming and stock raising for its livelihood. Cotton, and, in a far lesser measure, cattle and gum arabic, have, until recently, provided the bulk of Chad's export earnings, but Chad began to export oil in 2003 from three oilfields near Doba. It has been estimated that income from oil increased Chad's per capita GDP by 40% in 2004, and may double it in 2005.
Chad's economy has long been handicapped by its landlocked position, poor internal communications, high energy costs, scarce water resources and a history of instability. Until now, Chad has relied on foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private sector investment projects but oil income will transform government finances.
A consortium, led by ExxonMobil (US), and with the participation of Chevron (US) and Petronas (Malaysia), invested $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves estimated at 1 billion barrels (0.2 km³) in southern Chad, and Chad became an oil-producing country in 2003, with the completion of a pipeline (financed in part by the World Bank) linking its southern oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast via neighbouring Cameroon. Chad hopes to avoid the waste and corruption experienced in some other African oil-producing countries; as a condition of its assistance, the World Bank has insisted on a new law which requires that 80% of oil revenues will be spent on development projects. However, in January 2006 the World Bank suspended its loan program to Chad, in reaction to the Chadian decision to "relax" laws governing the spending of oil money. Chad's response is that the World Bank is using Chad as a test subject for different management styles. This suspension of loans further exacerbated Chad's financial problems, which have seen multiple strikes by government workers, teachers and doctors, leading to drastically-shortened school years and a shortage of health care in recent years. In an attempt to address the problem, on July 14, 2006, representatives from the World Bank and the Government of Chad signed a memorandum of understanding under which the Government of Chad committed 70 percent of its budget spending to priority poverty reduction programs, and provided for long-term growth and opportunity by creating a stabilization fund. The government pledged to enhance transparency and accountability with a new pledge of support for the role of the Collège, Chad's independent oil revenue oversight authority.[6]
Provided stability is maintained, the outlook for Chad's economy is now better than it has ever been, although government corruption and continued lack of pay to government-employed fonctionnaires still pose significant obstacles to the country's development. It is known that further reserves of oil exist within the country, in addition to the oilfields that are already being exploited.
On August 26, 2006, Chad ordered two oil companies, US Chevron and Malaysia's Petronas which combined handle over 60 percent of Chad's oil, out of the country, claiming that they refused to pay their taxes, in the amount of 250 billion CFA Francs (450 million US dollars). [7] Chadian president, Idriss Déby, said that "Chad with Exxon will manage its oil while waiting to find a solution with the two other partners." A new Chadian national oil company was set to become a partner in the ExxonMobil-Chevron-Petronas consortium, with ExxonMobil's share at 40 percent, Petronas at 35 percent, Chevron at 25 percent and Chad at 12.5 percent (as well as taxes). [8] Chad's 12.5 percent share of its multibillion oil industry compares poorly with the 80 percent oil proceeds seen by countries such as Nigeria. [9] On August 28, Déby suspended Oil Minister Mahmat Hassan Nasser, Planning Minister Mahmat Ali Hassan and Livestock Minister Mockhtar Moussa for their involvement in negotiating the terms of the agreements with Chevron and Petronas. [10] Earlier in August, Chad broke its ties with Taiwan and established relations with the People's Republic of China, a move considered related to bringing investments from Chinese oil companies to the country. [11]
On September 12, Chevron has agreed to pay an additional tax in order to maintain its presence in Chad's oil industry. [12] On that day, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs Don Yamamoto met Prime Minister Pascal Yoadimnadji to discuss the oil dispute as well as the escalating Darfur conflict. [13]
Demographics
There are more than 200 ethnic groups in Chad. Those in the north and east are generally Muslim; most southerners are animists or Christians, although such a north/south division glosses over the complex and nuanced tribal and religious relationships in Chad. Through their long religious and commercial relationships with Sudan and Egypt, many of the peoples in Chad's eastern and central regions have become more or less Arabized, speaking Chadian Arabic (see below) (although typically not literary Arabic) and engaging in many other Arab cultural practices as well. More than three-quarters of the Chadian population is rural.
Culture
Chad is a very culturally diverse nation. Among the manifestations of this diversity is the extremely large number of languages spoken there. Although the only official languages in Chad are Arabic and French, there are also more than 100 tribal languages spoken and a dialect of Arabic known as Chadian Arabic is the closest thing the country has to a national trade language. Chadian Arabic is a mix of "literary" Arabic, French and local dialects. It differs from the country's official language, literary Arabic, and, while literary Arabic speakers can often understand Chad Arabic, the inverse is not true. Government schools are taught in the official languages, with French typically the language of instruction. Few Chadians other than the educated/traveled elite speak literary Arabic.
The largest ethnic group in Chad, the Christian/animist Sara peoples living in the south, only makes up 20% of the population. In central Chad, people are mostly nomadic and pastoralist. The mountainous north has a sparse, mostly Muslim population of mixed backgrounds. Each society in Chad (smaller than the groups described above) has developed their own religion, music, and folklore.
The largest Christian churches are the Roman Catholic Church, the Assemblées Chrétiennes du Tchad, the Eglise Baptiste du Tchad and the Eglises Evangeliques au Tchad.
List of writers from Chad, Day (language)
Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in Chad
- Fédération du Scoutisme Tchadien
- Foreign relations of Chad
- Holidays in Chad
- Islam in Chad
- Languages of Chad
- Military of Chad
- Roman Catholicism in Chad
- Transport in Chad
References
 |
- ^ Diercke Landerlexicon, 1983
- ^ Hancock, Stephanie (December 23, 2005). "Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan". BBC.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Call to ease Sudan-Chad tension". BBC. December 25, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Chad and Sudan agree to end tension". Reuters. February 8, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Lacey, Marc (April 15 2006). "After Battle in Capital, Chad Threatens to Expel Sudanese". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "World Bank Press Release No:2007/19/EXC". July 14 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Chad orders foreign oil firms out", BBC, August 26, 2006
- ^ "Chad president orders Chevron, Petronas to leave", Reuters, August 26, 2006
- ^ "Chad eyes bigger share of its oil profits", Christian Science Monitor, September 5, 2006
- ^ "Chad tightens grip on oil resources", Reuters, August 28, 2006
- ^ "Fate of Chevron, Petronas in Chad still unclear", Reuters, August 28, 2006
- ^ "Chevron to pay additional tax to maintain presence in Chad", People's Daily, September 12, 2006
- ^ "U.S. envoy in Chad talks on democracy, oil and Darfur", Reuters, September 12, 2006
External links
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
Government
- Official site of the government (in French)
News
- AllAfrica.com—Chad news headline links
- News and links
Overviews
- BBC News country profile—Chad
- Encyclopaedia Britannica's Chad country page
- CIA World Factbook—Chad
- US State Department—Chad includes background notes, country study, and major reports
- World Bank—Chad summary data, statistics and sources
- World Bank—Chad data profile
Directories
- Columbia University Libraries—Chad directory category of the WWW-VL
- Open Directory Project—Chad directory category
- Stanford University—Africa South of the Sahara: Chad directory category
- Yahoo!—Chad directory category
Tourism
Other
- Ryan Spencer Reed - photojournalist's images of Sudan's displaced in Eastern Chad
- Chad Travel Blog - penetrating narrative of travel through Chad
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