Chad
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Chad is a landlocked nation in northern-central Africa
Chad's major environmental issues incude: inadequate supplies of potable water; improper waste disposal in rural areas contributes to soil and water pollution; desertification. It is susceptible to hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds in north; periodic droughts; and locust plagues.
Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil warfare as well as invasions by Libya before a semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990. The government eventually drafted a democratic constitution, and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which has sporadically flared up despite several peace agreements between the government and the rebels. In 2005, new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and made probing attacks into eastern Chad, despite signing peace agreements in December 2006 and October 2007. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority. In June 2005, President Idriss Deby held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits and won another controversial election in 2006. Sporadic rebel campaigns continued throughout 2006 and 2007, and the capital experienced a significant rebel threat in early 2008.
Geography
Location: Central Africa, south of Libya
Geographic Coordinates: 15 00 N, 19 00 E
Area: 1.284 million km2 (1,259,200 km2 land and 24,800 km2 water)
arable land: 2.8%
permanent crops: 0.02%
other: 97.18% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 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. Its lowest point is the Djourab Depression (160 metres) and its highest point is Emi Koussi (3,415 metres)
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.
Energy
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 95 million kWh (2005) | 88.35 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | |
| Oil | 176,700 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 1,350 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 170,000 bbl/day (2004) | 1,316 bbl/day (2004) | 1.5 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
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 (Country of origin): 234,000 (Sudan); 54,200 (Central African Republic). Internally Displaced Persons: 178,918 (2007)
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.)
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)
Further Reading