Chad | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

Infoplease has everything you need to know about Chad. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Chad's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

Facts & Figures

  • President: Idriss Déby (1990)

    Prime Minister: Albert Pahimi Padacke (2016)

    Land area: 486,178 sq mi (1,259,201 sq km); total area: 495,755 sq mi (1,284,000 sq km)

    Population (2014): 11,412,107 (growth rate: 1.92%); birth rate: 37.29/1000; infant mortality rate: 90.3/1000; life expectancy: 49.44.

    Capital and largest city (2011 est.): N'Djamena, 1.079

    Monetary unit: CFA Franc

    National name: République du Tchad

    Current Government Officials

    Languages: French, Arabic (both official); Sara; more than 120 languages and dialects

    Ethnicity/race: 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)

    National Holiday: Independence Day, August 11

    Religions: Muslim 53.1%, Catholic 20.1%, Protestant 14.2%, animist 7.3%, other 0.5%, unknown 1.7%, atheist 3.1% (1993 census)

    Literacy rate: 35.4% (2011 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.):$28 billion; per capita $2,500. Real growth rate: 3.9%. Inflation: 4.5%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 3.82%. Agriculture: cotton, sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca); cattle, sheep, goats, camels. Labor force: 4.293 million (2007); agriculture 80%; industry and services 20% (subsistence farming, herding, and fishing). Industries: oil, cotton textiles, meatpacking, beer brewing, natron (sodium carbonate), soap, cigarettes, construction materials. Natural resources: petroleum (unexploited but exploration under way), uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad), gold, limestone, sand and gravel, salt. Exports: $3.865 billion (2013 est.): cotton, cattle, gum arabic, oil. Imports: $2.701 billion (2013 est.): machinery and transportation equipment, industrial goods, foodstuffs, textiles. Major trading partners: U.S., Saudi Arabia, China, France, Cameroon (2012).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 29,900 (2012); mobile cellular: 4.2 million (2012). Broadcast media: 1 state-owned TV station; state-owned radio network, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne (RNT), operates national and regional stations; about 10 private radio stations; some stations rebroadcast programs from international broadcasters (2007). Internet hosts: 6 (2012) . Internet users: 168,100 (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 40,000 km (2011). Waterways: Chari and Legone rivers are navigable only in wet season (2012). Ports and harbors: none. Airports: 59 (2013).

    International disputes: since 2003, ad hoc armed militia groups and the Sudanese military have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into Chad; Chad wishes to be a helpful mediator in resolving the Darfur conflict, and in 2010 established a joint border monitoring force with Sudan, which has helped to reduce cross-border banditry and violence; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries.

    Major sources and definitions

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