Current Environmental Issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; improper waste disposal in rural areas contributes to soil and water pollution; desertification

Geography

Source: CIA

Location: Central Africa, south of Libya

Geographic Coordinates: 15 00 N, 19 00 E

Area:

total: 1.284 million sq km
land: 1,259,200 sq km
water: 24,800 sq km

Land Boundaries:

total: 5,968 km
border countries: Cameroon 1,094 km, Central African Republic 1,197 km, Libya 1,055 km, Niger 1,175 km, Nigeria 87 km, Sudan 1,360 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime Claims: None (landlocked)

Natural Hazards: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; periodic droughts; locust plagues

Terrain

Broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south

Elevation Extremes:

lowest point: Djourab Depression 160 m
highest point: Emi Koussi 3,415 m

Climate

Tropical in south, desert in north

Government

Government Type: Republic

Capital: N'Djamena

Independence Date: 11 August 1960 (from France)

Legal System: based on French civil law system and Chadian customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Agreement

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping

People and Society

Population: 10,111,337 (July 2008 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 47% (male 2,408,638/female 2,346,984)
15-64 years: 50.1% (male 2,317,406/female 2,746,104)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 123,561/female 168,644) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 2.195% (2008 est.)

Birthrate: 41.61 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 16.39 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: -3.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 47.43 years
male: 46.4 years
female: 48.5 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 5.43 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic
total population: 25.7%
male: 40.8%
female: 12.8% (2000 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 43 cu km (1987)

Freshwater Withdrawal:

total: 0.23 cu km/yr (17%/0%/83%)
per capita: 24 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: cotton, sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca); cattle, sheep, goats, camels

Irrigated Lands: 300 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: petroleum, uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad), gold, limestone, sand and gravel, salt

Land Use:

arable land: 2.8%
permanent crops: 0.02%
other: 97.18% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in adults: 4.8% (2003 est.)

Conflict

International Disputes:

Since 2003, Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into Chad; Chad remains an important mediator in the Sudanese civil conflict, reducing tensions with Sudan arising from cross-border banditry; Chadian Aozou rebels reside in southern Libya; 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

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons:

refugees (country of origin): 234,000 (Sudan); 54,200 (Central African Republic)
IDPs: 178,918 (2007)

Trafficking in Persons:

current situation: Chad is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of children are trafficked within Chad for involuntary domestic servitude, forced cattle herding, forced begging, forced labor in petty commerce or the fishing industry, or for commercial sexual exploitation; to a lesser extent, Chadian children are also trafficked to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria for cattle herding; children may also be trafficked from Cameroon and the Central African Republic to Chad's oil producing regions for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Chad is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking in 2007; Chad was destabilized during 2007 by civil conflict leading to a declared state of emergency in February 2008, and a steady influx of refugees fleeing Sudan and the Central African Republic; the government demonstrated insufficient overall efforts to combat trafficking; Chad has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

Economy

Chad's primarily agricultural economy will continue to be boosted by major foreign direct investment projects in the oil sector that began in 2000. At least 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood. Chad's economy has long been handicapped by its landlocked position, high energy costs, and a history of instability. Chad relies on foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private sector investment projects. A consortium led by two US companies has been investing $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves - estimated at 1 billion barrels - in southern Chad. Chinese companies are also expanding exploration efforts and plan to build a refinery. The nation's total oil reserves have been estimated to be 1.5 billion barrels. Oil production came on stream in late 2003. Chad began to export oil in 2004. Cotton, cattle, and gum arabic provide the bulk of Chad's non-oil export earnings.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $15.9 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $7.095 billion (2007 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 0.6% (2007 est.)

GDP-per capita (PPP): $1,700 (2007 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:

agriculture: 21.5%
industry: 47.8%
services: 30.6% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 80% (2001 est.)

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Industries: oil, cotton textiles, meatpacking, brewing, natron (sodium carbonate), soap, cigarettes, construction materials

Exports: oil, cattle, cotton, gum arabic

Export Partners: US 87.2%, Japan 3.6%, South Korea 2.8% (2006)

Imports: machinery and transportation equipment, industrial goods, foodstuffs, textiles

Import Partners: France 19.8%, Cameroon 15.7%, US 10.6%, China 9.2%, Germany 7.3%, Saudi Arabia 4.3% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: ODA, $379.8 million (2005)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF)

Communications

Telephones-main line in use: 13,000 (2006)

Telephones-mobile/cellular: 466,100 (2006)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 2, FM 4, shortwave 5 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (2001)

Internet Hosts: 72 (2007)

Internet Users: 60,000 (2006)

Transportation

Airports: 55 (2007)

Pipelines: oil 250 km (2007)

Roadways:

total: 33,400 km
paved: 267 km
unpaved: 33,133 km (2000)