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Chad
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The Republic of Chad (Arabic: تشاد , Tašād; French:
Tchad) 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.' In the north, it
contains the Tibesti Mountains, the largest mountain chain
in the Sahara desert. Formerly part of the Federation of
French Equatorial Africa, the country shares a relationship
with Lake Chad.
History
Main article: History of Chad
Libya claimed and occupied the Aozou Strip (blue) from 1976
to 1987The area that today is Chad was once inhabited by a
group of politically disconnected tribes. Humanoid skulls
and cave paintings of great antiquity have been found there.
Gradually relatively weak local kingdoms developed; these
were later overtaken by the larger but still completely
African Kanem-Bornu Empire.
Later, foreigners came to have more influence in Chad.
Beginning in the Middle Ages, Chad became a crossroads for
Muslim traders and indigenous tribes. In 1891 Chad became a
part of France's colonial system.
In WWII, Chad 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 Arab-Muslim north and the predominantly
Christian and animist south.
In 1969 Muslim 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
another southerner, Félix Malloum. Mr Malloum, too, failed
to end the war, and in 1979 he was replaced by a
Libyan-backed northerner, Goukouni Oueddei.
By this stage France and neighbouring Libya were intervening
repeatedly to support one side against another. The leader
of the French-supported Northern rebel group FAN Forces
Armées du Nord, Hissène Habré, a former defence minister,
became prime minister in 1978. In 1982 he deposed President
Oueddei, and assumed overall control of the state,
abolishing the post of prime minister. 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.
Libya invaded Chad in July 1975, theoretically to drive
Habré from power. They occupied a narrow strip of land known
as the Aouzou Strip. France and the United States responded
by aiding Habré in an attempt to contain Libya's regional
ambitions under Muammar al-Qaddafi. Civil war deepened. In
December, 1980 Libya occupied all of northern Chad, but
Habré defeated Libyan troops and drove them out in November,
1981. 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 USA 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 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, along with many thousands
of refugees.
On December 23, 2005, Chad announced that it was in a "state
of war" with Sudan.[1] 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.[2]
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Background:
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The
former French colony of Ubangi-Shari became the
Central African Republic upon independence in 1960.
After three tumultuous decades of misrule - mostly
by military governments - a civilian government was
installed in 1993. |
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Location:
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Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the
Congo |
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Geographic coordinates:
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7 00
N, 21 00 E
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Map references:
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Africa |
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Area:
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total: 622,984 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 622,984 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Texas |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 5,203 km
border countries: Cameroon 797 km, Chad 1,197
km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,577 km,
Republic of the Congo 467 km, Sudan 1,165 km |
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Climate:
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tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers
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Terrain:
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vast,
flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills
in northeast and southwest |
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Nationality:
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noun: Central African(s)
adjective: Central African |
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Ethnic groups:
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Baya
33%, Banda 27%, Mandjia 13%, Sara 10%, Mboum 7%,
M'Baka 4%, Yakoma 4%, other 2% |
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Religions:
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indigenous beliefs 35%, Protestant 25%, Roman
Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%
note: animistic beliefs and practices
strongly influence the Christian majority |
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Languages:
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French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and
national language), tribal languages |
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Currency:
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Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note -
responsible authority is the Bank of the Central
African States |
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Currency code:
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XAF
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Exchange rates:
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Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US
dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001),
711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67
(1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is
pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro
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