Africa
Page last updated: July 24, 2024
Chad emerged from a collection of powerful states that controlled the Sahelian belt starting around the 9th century. These states focused on controlling trans-Saharan trade routes and profited mostly from the slave trade. The Kanem-Bornu Empire, centered around the Lake Chad Basin, existed between the 9th and 19th centuries, and at its peak, the empire controlled territory stretching from southern Chad to southern Libya and included portions of modern-day Algeria, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. The Sudanese warlord Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR used an army comprised largely of slaves to conquer the Kanem-Bornu Empire in the late 19th century. In southeastern Chad, the Bagirmi and Ouaddai (Wadai) kingdoms emerged in the 15th and 16th centuries and lasted until the arrival of the French in the 19th and 20th centuries. France began moving into the region in the late 1880s and defeated the Bagirmi kingdom in 1897, Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR in 1900, and the Ouddai kingdom in 1909. In the arid regions of northern Chad and southern Libya, an Islamic order called the Sanusiyya (Sanusi) relied heavily on the trans-Saharan slave trade and had upwards of 3 million followers by the 1880s. The French defeated the Sanusiyya in 1910 after years of intermittent war. By 1910, France had incorporated the northern arid region, the Lake Chad Basin, and southeastern Chad into French Equatorial Africa.
Chad achieved its independence in 1960 and then saw three decades of instability, oppressive rule, civil war, and a Libyan invasion. With the help of the French military and several African countries, Chadian leaders expelled Libyan forces during the 1987 "Toyota War," so named for the use of Toyota pickup trucks as fighting vehicles. In 1990, Chadian general Idriss DEBY led a rebellion against President Hissene HABRE. Under DEBY, Chad approved a constitution and held elections in 1996. Shortly after DEBY was killed during a rebel incursion in 2021, a group of military officials -- led by DEBY’s son, Mahamat Idriss DEBY -- took control of the government. The military officials dismissed the National Assembly, suspended the Constitution, and formed a Transitional Military Council (TMC), while pledging to hold democratic elections by October 2022. A national dialogue in August-October 2022 culminated in decisions to extend the transition for up to two years, dissolve the TMC, and appoint Mahamat DEBY as Transitional President; the transitional authorities held a constitutional referendum in December 2023 and claimed 86 percent of votes were in favor of the new constitution. The transitional authorities have announced plans to hold elections by October 2024.
Chad has faced widespread poverty, an economy severely weakened by volatile international oil prices, terrorist-led insurgencies in the Lake Chad Basin, and several waves of rebellions in northern and eastern Chad. In 2015, the government imposed a state of emergency in the Lake Chad Basin following multiple attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram, now known as ISIS-West Africa. The same year, Boko Haram conducted bombings in N'Djamena. In 2019, the Chadian government also declared a state of emergency in the Sila and Ouaddai regions bordering Sudan and in the Tibesti region bordering Niger, where rival ethnic groups are still fighting. The army has suffered heavy losses to Islamic terror groups in the Lake Chad Basin.
Central Africa, south of Libya
15°00' N, 19°00' E
Africa
Total : 1.284 million km²
Land: 1,259,200 km²
Water: 24,800 km²
Almost nine times the size of New York state; slightly more than three times the size of California
Area comparison map:
Total: 6,406 km
Border countries (6): Cameroon 1,116 km; Central African Republic 1,556 km; Libya 1,050 km; Niger 1,196 km; Nigeria 85 km; Sudan 1,403 km
0 km (landlocked)
None (landlocked)
Tropical in south, desert in north
Broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south
Highest point: Emi Koussi 3,445 m
Lowest point: Djourab 160 m
Mean elevation: 543 m
Petroleum, uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad), gold, limestone, sand and gravel, salt
Agricultural land: 39.6% (2018 est.)
Arable land: 3.9% (2018 est.)
Permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
Permanent pasture: 35.7% (2018 est.)
Forest: 9.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 51.3% (2018 est.)
300 km² (2012)
Fresh water lake(s): Lake Chad (endorheic lake shared with Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon) - 10,360-25,900 km²
Note - area varies by season and year to year
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 km²)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 km²)
Lake Chad Basin, Nubian Aquifer System
The population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography; the highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south; the dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated as shown in this population distribution map
Hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; periodic droughts; locust plagues
Note 1: Chad is the largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries
Note 2: not long ago, geologically speaking, what is today the Sahara was green savannah teeming with wildlife; during the African Humid Period, roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, a vibrant animal community, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, and antelope lived there; the last remnant of the "Green Sahara" exists in the Lakes of Ounianga (oo-nee-ahn-ga) in northern Chad, a series of 18 interconnected freshwater, saline, and hypersaline lakes now protected as a World Heritage site
Note 3: Lake Chad, the most significant water body in the Sahel, is a remnant of a former inland sea, paleolake Mega-Chad; at its greatest extent, sometime before 5000 B.C., Lake Mega-Chad was the largest of four Saharan paleolakes that existed during the African Humid Period; it covered an area of about 400,000 km² (150,000 sq mi), roughly the size of today's Caspian Sea
Total: 19,093,595
Male: 9,464,699
Female: 9,628,896 (2024 est.)
Comparison rankings: female 65; male 65; total 65
Noun: Chadian(s)
Adjective: Chadian
Sara (Ngambaye/Sara/Madjingaye/Mbaye) 30.5%, Kanembu/Bornu/Buduma 9.8%, Arab 9.7%, Wadai/Maba/Masalit/Mimi 7%, Gorane 5.8%, Masa/Musseye/Musgum 4.9%, Bulala/Medogo/Kuka 3.7%, Marba/Lele/Mesme 3.5%, Mundang 2.7%, Bidiyo/Migaama/Kenga/Dangleat 2.5%, Dadjo/Kibet/Muro 2.4%, Tupuri/Kera 2%, Gabri/Kabalaye/Nanchere/Somrai 2%, Fulani/Fulbe/Bodore 1.8%, Karo/Zime/Peve 1.3%, Baguirmi/Barma 1.2%, Zaghawa/Bideyat/Kobe 1.1%, Tama/Assongori/Mararit 1.1%, Mesmedje/Massalat/Kadjakse 0.8%, other Chadian ethnicities 3.4%, Chadians of foreign ethnicities 0.9%, foreign nationals 0.3%, unspecified 1.7% (2014-15 est.)
French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects
Major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French)
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Muslim 52.1%, Protestant 23.9%, Roman Catholic 20%, animist 0.3%, other Christian 0.2%, none 2.8%, unspecified 0.7% (2014-15 est.)
Despite the start of oil production in 2003, around 40% of Chad’s population lived below the poverty line as of 2018. The population will continue to grow rapidly because of the country’s very high fertility rate and large youth cohort – more than 65% of the populace is under the age of 25 as of 2022 – although the mortality rate is high and life expectancy is low. Chad has the world’s second highest maternal mortality rate as of 2017. Among the primary risk factors are poverty, anemia, rural habitation, high fertility, poor education, and a lack of access to family planning and obstetric care. Impoverished, uneducated adolescents living in rural areas are most affected. To improve women’s reproductive health and reduce fertility, Chad will need to increase women’s educational attainment, job participation, and knowledge of and access to family planning. Less than a quarter of women are literate, less than 10% use contraceptives, and more than 40% undergo genital cutting.
As of December 2022, more than 403,000 refugees from Sudan and more than 120,000 from the Central African Republic strain Chad’s limited resources and create tensions in host communities. Thousands of new refugees fled to Chad in 2013 to escape worsening violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. The large refugee populations are hesitant to return to their home countries because of continued instability. Chad was relatively stable in 2012 in comparison to other states in the region, but past fighting between government forces and opposition groups and inter-communal violence have left more than 380,000 of its citizens displaced in the eastern part of the country as of 2022.
0-14 years: 45.8% (male 4,428,132/female 4,323,398)
15-64 years: 51.7% (male 4,831,744/female 5,031,383)
65 years and over: 2.5% (2024 est.) (male 204,823/female 274,115)
2023 population pyramid:
Total dependency ratio: 98.7
Youth dependency ratio: 94.7
Elderly dependency ratio: 4
Potential support ratio: 24.9 (2021 est.)
Total: 16.7 years (2024 est.)
Male: 16.3 years
Female: 17.2 years
3.01% (2024 est.)
39.2 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
-0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
The population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography; the highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south; the dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated as shown in this population distribution map
Urban population: 24.4% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 4.1% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030
1.592 million N'DJAMENA (capital) (2023)
At birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
18.1 years (2014/15 est.)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49
1,063 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Total: 62.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male: 68.1 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 56.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Total population: 60 years (2024 est.)
Male: 58.1 years
Female: 62 years
5.24 children born/woman (2024 est.)
2.57 (2024 est.)
8.1% (2019)
Improved: urban: 90.2% of population
Rural: 51.9% of population
Total: 60.9% of population
Unimproved: urban: 9.8% of population
Rural: 48.1% of population
Total: 39.1% of population (2020 est.)
5.4% of GDP (2020)
0.06 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
Improved: urban: 57.5% of population
Rural: 4.9% of population
Total: 17.3% of population
Unimproved: urban: 42.5% of population
Rural: 95.1% of population
Total: 82.7% of population (2020 est.)
Degree of risk: very high (2023)
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and sexually transmitted diseases: hepatitis B (2024)
Water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
Animal contact diseases: rabies
Respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
Note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Chad is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
6.1% (2016)
Total: 0.55 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer: 0.37 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine: 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits: 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols: 0.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Total: 8.3% (2020 est.)
Male: 13.8% (2020 est.)
Female: 2.7% (2020 est.)
18.9% (2022)
70.6% (2023 est.)
Women married by age 15: 24.2%
Women married by age 18: 60.6%
Men married by age 18: 8.1% (2019 est.)
2.9% of GDP (2021 est.)
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic
Total population: 26.8%
Male: 35.4%
Female: 18.2% (2021)
Total: 7 years
Male: 9 years
Female: 6 years (2015)
Inadequate supplies of potable water; improper waste disposal in rural areas and poor farming practices contribute to soil and water pollution; desertification
Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
Signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Convention
Tropical in south, desert in north
Agricultural land: 39.6% (2018 est.)
Arable land: 3.9% (2018 est.)
Permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
Permanent pasture: 35.7% (2018 est.)
Forest: 9.1% (2018 est.)
Other: 51.3% (2018 est.)
Urban population: 24.4% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 4.1% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030
Widespread lack of access: due to civil insecurity and shortfall in cereal production - according to the latest analysis, about 1.86 million people are projected to experience acute food insecurity during the June to August 2023 lean season period; this would be an improvement compared to the previous year, mostly due to the higher year-on-year cereal output in 2022 after the below average 2021 production; acute food insecurity is underpinned by persisting insecurity in the Lac and Tibesti regions, which had displaced over 380 000 people by April 2023; furthermore, elevated food prices due to high fuel costs and localized crop losses during the 2022 floods are aggravating food insecurity (2023)
3.81% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
Particulate matter emissions: 41.15 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 1.02 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 30.69 megatons (2020 est.)
Municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,358,851 tons (2010 est.)
Fresh water lake(s): Lake Chad (endorheic lake shared with Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon) - 10,360-25,900 km²
Note - area varies by season and year to year
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 km²)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 km²)
Lake Chad Basin, Nubian Aquifer System
Municipal: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 670 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
45.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Conventional long form: Republic of Chad
Conventional short form: Chad
Local long form: Republique du Tchad/Jumhuriyat Tshad
Local short form: Tchad/Tshad
Etymology: named for Lake Chad, which lies along the country's western border; the word "tsade" means "large body of water" or "lake" in several local native languages
Note: the only country whose name is composed of a single syllable with a single vowel
Presidential republic
Name: N'Djamena
Geographic coordinates: 12 06 N, 15 02 E
Time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: name taken from the Arab name of a nearby village, Nijamina, meaning "place of rest"
23 provinces (provinces, singular - province); Barh-El-Gazel, Batha, Borkou, Chari-Baguirmi, Ennedi-Est, Ennedi-Ouest, Guera, Hadjer-Lamis, Kanem, Lac, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Mandoul, Mayo-Kebbi-Est, Mayo-Kebbi-Ouest, Moyen-Chari, N'Djamena, Ouaddai, Salamat, Sila, Tandjile, Tibesti, Wadi-Fira
11 August 1960 (from France)
Independence Day, 11 August (1960)
History: several previous; latest adopted by National Transitional Council 27 June 2023, approved by referendum 17 December, verified by Chad Supreme Court 28 December, promulgated 1 January 2024
Amendments: previous process: proposed as a revision by the president of the republic after a Council of Ministers (cabinet) decision or by the National Assembly; approval for consideration of a revision requires at least three-fifths majority vote by the Assembly; passage requires approval by referendum or at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly
Mixed legal system of civil and customary law
Has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: both parents must be citizens of Chad
Dual citizenship recognized: Chadian law does not address dual citizenship
Residency requirement for naturalization: 15 years
18 years of age; universal
Chief of state: President Mahamat Idriss DÉBY (since 6 May 2024)
Head of government: Prime Minister Allamaye HALINA (since 23 May 2024)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers
Elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 6 May 2024 (next to be held NA)
Election results:
2024: Mahamat Idriss DÉBY elected president; percent of vote - Mahamat Idriss DÉBY (MPS) 61%, Succes MASRA (Transformers) 18.5%, Albert PADACKE 16.9%, other 3.6%
2021: Lt. Gen. Idriss DÉBY reelected transitional president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Idriss DÉBY (MPS) 79.3%, Pahimi PADACKET Albert (RNDT) 10.3%, Lydie BEASSEMDA (Party for Democracy and Independence) 3.2%, other 7.2%
Note: on 20 April 2021; President Idriss DÉBY died of injuries sustained following clashes between government forces and insurgents in northern Chad; following his death, Mahamat Idriss DÉBY , his son, took control of the country, established a Transitional Military Council which was dissolved in October 2022, and was elected president by popular vote in May 2024
Description: bicameral Parliament to replace unicameral National Assembly and to consist of:
Senate - representing the Autonomous Communities - NA seats (members indirectly elected by electoral college of provincial and communal councilors for 6-year renewable terms)
National Assembly NA seats (members directly elected by popular vote to serve 5-year renewable terms)
Elections: last held for National Assembly on 6 May 2011 (first elections for new Parliament expected in October 2024)
Election results: 6 May 2011: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - men 64, women 29, percent of women 31.2%
Note: the Transitional Military Council, which dissolved the National Assembly in September 2021, was replaced by the National Transitional Council (CNT) in October 2022; the CNT, led by Prime Minister Allamaye HALINA, serves as an interim parliament for the country in its transition to democracy and tasked with preparations for elections, which are expected in October 2024
Highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice, 3 chamber presidents, and 12 judges or councilors and divided into 3 chambers); Supreme Council of the Judiciary (consists of the Judiciary president, vice president and 13 members)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice selected by the president; councilors - 8 designated by the president and 7 by the speaker of the National Assembly; chief justice and councilors appointed for life; Supreme Council of the Judiciary - with the exception of the Judiciary president and vice president, members are elected for single renewable 4-year terms
Subordinate courts: High Court of Justice; Courts of Appeal; tribunals; justices of the peace
Chadian Convention for Peace and Development or CTPD [Laoukein Kourayo MEDARD]
Federation Action for the Republic or FAR [Ngarledjy YORONGAR]
National Rally for Development and Progress or Viva-RNDP [Dr. Nouradine Delwa Kassire COUMAKOYE]
National Union for Democracy and Renewal or UNDR [Saleh KEBZABO]
Party for Unity and Reconstruction or PUR
Patriotic Salvation Movement or MPS [formerly Idriss DEBY]
Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [Mahamat Allahou TAHER]
Rally of Chadian Nationalists/Awakening or RNDT/Le Reveil [Albert Pahimi PADACKE]
Social Democratic Party for a Change-over of Power or PDSA [Malloum YOBODA]
Union for Democracy and the Republic or UDR
Union for Renewal and Democracy or URD [Felix Romadoumngar NIALBE]
Transformers [Succès MASRA]
Note 1: 19 additional parties each contributed one member
Note 2: on 5 October 2021, Interim President Mahamat Idriss DEBY appointed 93 members to the interim National Transitional Council (NTC); 30% of the NTC members were retained from parties previously represented in the National Assembly
ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, EITI (compliant country), FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LCBC, MIGA, MNJTF, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold, and red; the flag combines the blue and red French (former colonial) colors with the red and yellow (gold) of the Pan-African colors; blue symbolizes the sky, hope, and the south of the country, which is relatively well-watered; gold represents the sun, as well as the desert in the north of the country; red stands for progress, unity, and sacrifice
Note: almost identical to the flag of Romania but with a darker shade of blue; also similar to the flags of Andorra and Moldova, both of which have a national coat of arms centered in the yellow band; design based on the flag of France
Goat (north), lion (south); national colors: blue, yellow, red
Name: "La Tchadienne" (The Chadian)
Lyrics/music: Louis GIDROL and his students/Paul VILLARD
Note: adopted 1960
Total World Heritage Sites: 2 (1 natural, 1 mixed)
Selected World Heritage Site locales: Lakes of Ounianga (n); Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape (m)
Primarily oil-based economy, vulnerable to regional competition and international price shocks; increasing extreme poverty and minimal human capital capacities; one of the most environmentally disrupted economies; high maternal and infant mortality rates destabilizing labor force potentials
$32.446 billion (2023 est.)
$31.161 billion (2022 est.)
$30.311 billion (2021 est.)
Note: data in 2021 dollars
4.12% (2023 est.)
2.8% (2022 est.)
-1.17% (2021 est.)
Note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency
$1,800 (2023 est.)
$1,800 (2022 est.)
$1,800 (2021 est.)
Note: data in 2021 dollars
$13.149 billion (2023 est.)
Note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate
10.84% (2023 est.)
5.79% (2022 est.)
-0.77% (2021 est.)
Note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Agriculture: 52.3% (2017 est.)
Industry: 14.7% (2017 est.)
Services: 33.1% (2017 est.)
Comparison rankings: services 221; industry 184; agriculture 3
Household consumption: 75.1% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 4.4% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 24.1% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 35.1% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -39.4% (2017 est.)
Sorghum, groundnuts, millet, cereals, beef, sugarcane, yams, maize, cassava, milk (2022)
Note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
Oil, cotton textiles, brewing, natron (sodium carbonate), soap, cigarettes, construction materials
3.27% (2023 est.)
Note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency
5.806 million (2023 est.)
Note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
1.08% (2023 est.)
1.1% (2022 est.)
1.51% (2021 est.)
Note: % of labor force seeking employment
Total: 2.4% (2021 est.)
Male: 3.3%
Female: 1.4%
42.3% (2018 est.)
Note: % of population with income below national poverty line
37.4 (2022 est.)
Note: index (0-100) of income distribution; higher values represent greater inequality
Lowest 10%: 2.8% (2022 est.)
Highest 10%: 29.6% (2022 est.)
Note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population
0% of GDP (2023 est.)
0% of GDP (2022 est.)
0% of GDP (2021 est.)
Revenues: $2.29 billion (2020 est.)
Expenditures: $2.12 billion (2020 est.)
-1.5% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
52.5% of GDP (2017 est.)
52.4% of GDP (2016 est.)
13.5% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
-$558 million (2017 est.)
-$926 million (2016 est.)
$6.503 billion (2022 est.)
$4.565 billion (2021 est.)
$2.863 billion (2020 est.)
Note: GDP expenditure basis - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Germany 25%, China 21%, UAE 20%, Taiwan 12%, France 10% (2022)
Note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
Crude petroleum, gold, oil seeds, gum resins, cotton (2022)
Note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
$5.028 billion (2022 est.)
$5.211 billion (2021 est.)
$4.502 billion (2020 est.)
Note: GDP expenditure basis - imports of goods and services in current dollars
China 25%, UAE 20%, France 7%, US 7%, Belgium 7% (2022)
Note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
Vaccines, jewelry, electric generating sets, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicine (2022)
Note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
$211.591 million (2021 est.)
$390.675 million (2020 est.)
$310.032 million (2019 est.)
Note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
$1.724 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$1.281 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale francs (XAF) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
606.57 (2023 est.)
623.76 (2022 est.)
554.531 (2021 est.)
575.586 (2020 est.)
585.911 (2019 est.)
Electrification - total population: 11.7% (2022 est.)
Electrification - urban areas: 46.3%
Electrification - rural areas: 1.3%
Installed generating capacity: 90,000 kW (2022 est.)
Consumption: 301.523 million kWh (2022 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 48.261 million kWh (2022 est.)
Comparison rankings: transmission/distribution losses 38; consumption 186; installed generating capacity 188
Fossil fuels: 94.5% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)
Wind: 2.6% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)
Biomass and waste: 2.9% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)
Total petroleum production: 124,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 15,000 bbl/day (2022 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 1.5 billion barrels (2021 est.)
2.064 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 2.064 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)
1.649 million Btu/person (2022 est.)
Total subscriptions: 5,000 (2022 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2022 est.) less than 1
Total subscriptions: 12.087 million (2022 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 68 (2022 est.)
General assessment: the telecom infrastructure is particularly poor; fixed, mobile and internet is well below African averages; Chad’s telecom market offers some potential for investors to develop services given the low starting base; the country’s first 3G/LTE mobile license was awarded in April 2014; Chad finally gained access to international fiber bandwidth in 2012 its national backbone infrastructure remains underdeveloped; the World Bank-funded Central African Backbone (CAB) project takes in Chad, while the country is also party to a Trans-Saharan Backbone project which will link a fiber cable to Nigeria and Algeria (2022)
Domestic: fixed-line connections less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership base of about 60 per 100 persons (2021)
International: country code - 235; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
1 state-owned TV station; 2 privately-owned TV stations; state-owned radio network, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne (RNT), operates national and regional stations; over 10 private radio stations; some stations rebroadcast programs from international broadcasters (2017)
.td
Total: 3.06 million (2021 est.)
Percent of population: 18% (2021 est.)
Total: (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2020 est.)
Number of registered air carriers: 2 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 3
TT
42 (2024)
582 km oil (2013)
Total: 40,000 km (2018)
Note: consists of 25,000 km of national and regional roads and 15,000 km of local roads; 206 km of urban roads are paved
12,400 km (2022) (Chari and Logone Rivers are navigable only in wet season) Chari is 11,400 km Legone is 1,000 km
Chadian National Army (Armee Nationale du Tchad, ANT): Land Forces (l'Armee de Terre, AdT), Chadian Air Force (l'Armee de l'Air Tchadienne, AAT), General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions (Direction Generale des Services de Securite des Institutions de l'Etat, GDSSIE); National Gendarmerie; Ministry of Public Security and Immigration: National Nomadic Guard of Chad (GNNT) (2023)
Note 1: the GDSSIE, formerly known as the Republican Guard, is the presidential guard force and is considered to be Chad's elite military unit; it is reportedly a division-sized force with infantry, armor, and special forces/anti-terrorism regiments (known as the Special Anti-Terrorist Group or SATG, aka Division of Special Anti-Terrorist Groups or DGSAT)
Note 2: the Chadian National Police are under the Ministry of Public Security and Immigration; border security duties are shared by the Army, Customs (Ministry of Public Security and Immigration), the Gendarmerie, and the GNNT
2.9% of GDP (2023 est.)
2.6% of GDP (2022 est.)
2.5% of GDP (2021 est.)
2.9% of GDP (2020 est.)
2% of GDP (2019 est.)
Limited and varied information; estimated to have up to 40,000 active ANT personnel (approximately 30-35,000 Ground Forces, 5,000 GDSSIE, and a few hundred Air Force); approximately 5,000 National Gendarmerie; approximately 3,000 Nomadic Guard (2023)
The ANT is mostly armed with older or secondhand equipment from Belgium, France, Russia, and the former Soviet Union; in recent years it has received equipment, including donations, from other countries, including China, Turkey, and the US (2023)
20 is the legal minimum age for compulsory military service for men with an 18-36 month service obligation (information varies); women are subject to 12 months of compulsory military or civic service at age 21; 18-35 for voluntary service; soldiers released from active duty are in the reserves until the age of 50 (2023)
Chad has committed approximately 1,000-1,500 troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the general area of the Lake Chad Basin and along Nigeria's northeast border; national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own territories, although cross‐border operations are conducted periodically (2024)
The ANT has considerable combat experience against insurgents and terrorist groups; it also has a tradition of deep involvement in domestic politics; over the past decade, the ANT has received substantial foreign military assistance, particularly from France, which maintains a military base in N’Djamena; the ANT's current operational focus is on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations; it is engaged with the Boko Haram and Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in West Africa terrorist groups in the Lake Chad Basin area; in addition, the ANT conducts frequent operations against internal anti-government militias and armed dissident groups
Several rebel groups operate in northern Chad from bases in southern Libya, including the FACT (Front pour le Changement et la Concorde au Tchad), the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic le Conseil de Commandement Militaire pour le salut de la République or CCSMR), the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (le Union des Forces pour la Démocratie et le Développement or UFDD), and the Union of Resistance Forces (le Union des Forces de la Résistance UFR); former Chadian President Idriss DEBY was killed in April 2021 during fighting in the northern part of the country between the FACT and the Chadian Army; some armed groups, including the UFDD and UFR, signed an accord in August 2022 in return for the release of prisoners, amnesty, and an end to hostilities between the Chadian Government and these armed factions; however, other armed groups, including the FACT and CCSMR, refused to join the accord (2023)
Terrorist group(s): Boko Haram; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham - West Africa (ISIS-WA)
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide
Refugees (country of origin): 694,569 (Sudan) (includes refugees since 15 April 2023), 26,692 (Cameroon) (2023); 134,015 (Central African Republic), 21,381 (Nigeria) (2024)
IDPs: 215,918 (majority are in the east) (2023)
Tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — update pending (2024)
NA