One of the world’s least developed countries and home to a fierce beauty pageant for men, these are the most interesting facts about Chad.
Fast facts
Official name: Republic of Chad
Population: 17.9 million
Area: 1.284 million sq km
Capital city: N’Djamena
Major languages: French, Arabic, Sara
Major religions: Muslim, Christian
Time zone: UTC+1 (West Africa Time)
– Source: CIA World Fact Book
Interesting facts about Chad
1. Chad is located in Central Africa and is bordered by Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan.
– Source: CIA World Fact Book
2. Chad and the surrounding region have been inhabited for approximately 9,000 years, since around 7000 BC.
– Source: Collelo et al. (1990) Chad: A Country Study. Library of Congress: Washington DC
3. Chad is a landlocked country: a country surrounded by land with no access to the sea. There are currently 45 such countries and five partially recognised states. Generally, landlocked countries suffer economically due to the drawbacks caused by a lack of access to the sea.
– Source: CIA World Fact Book, The Economist
4. Chad is the largest of Africa’s 16 landlocked countries.
– Source: CIA World Fact Book
5. By total surface area, Chad is Africa’s fifth-largest country and the world’s 20th largest.
– Source: World Bank
6. Chad was colonised by France during the early 20th century and became a colony within French Equatorial Africa in 1913.
– Source: BBC News
7. Chad gained independence from France in 1960 with Francois (later Ngarta) Tombalbaye as president.
– Source: BBC News
8. Since independence, Chad has been plagued by instability and war, which principally stems from tensions between the largely Arab-Muslim north and the predominantly Christian and animist south.
– Source: BBC News
9. Chad is rich in gold and uranium and is an oil-exporting country, but suffers from poor infrastructure, bouts of internal conflict and severe poverty.
– Source: BBC News
10. As such, Chad is one of the world’s least developed countries. In 2020, it was ranked as the third-least developed nation in the UN’s Human Development Index (HDI).
– Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
11. Chad has one of the world’s lowest life expectancies. As of 2020, it had the third-lowest life expectancy at just 54.0 years.
– Source: World Bank
12. Parts of Chad made up the Kanem Empire (c.700-1380) and its successor the Bornu Empire (circa 1380-1893).
– Source: CIA World Fact Book
13. More than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken in Chad. Additionally, one of its official languages, Arabic, is also spoken in various forms.
– Source: Britannica
14. Zakouma National Park in Chad is home to the “Big Five” game animals of rhino, lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo. Rhinos were introduced to the park in 2018, making Zakouma the closest “Big Five” destination to Europe.
– Source: The Telegraph
15. In 2002, French scientists discovered a human skull thought to be 6-7 million years old. Named Toumaï, it is believed to be the oldest fossil from a member of the human family.
– Source: Nature
16. In 2020, Chad was named the world’s hungriest country, one of three countries suffering from alarming levels of hunger.
– Source: Global Hunger Index
17. Chad’s flag is vertically striped with the colours blue, yellow and red. The blue stripe is said to stand for hope and the sky, yellow is for the sun and red is for the unity of the nation.
– Source: Britannica
18. Chad’s flag is almost identical to that of Romania’s. The only difference is that Romania’s has a darker shade of blue. Chad’s is also similar to Andorra’s and Moldova’s, both of which have a national coat of arms centred in the yellow stripe.
– Source: CIA World Fact Book
19. Chad has one of the world’s highest fertility rates. In 2020, Chad had the fifth-highest fertility rate of 5.7 children per woman.
– Source: World Bank
20. Chad takes its name from 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.
– Source: CIA World Factbook
21. Lake Chad has shrunk by 90% since the 1960s, due to climate change, an increase in the population and unplanned irrigation. It is a vital source of water for 20 to 30 million people in the region.
– Source: BBC News
22. Chad is the only country in the world whose name is composed of a single syllable with a single vowel.
– Source: CIA World Factbook
23. The UNESCO-listed Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape is a mountainous region home to unique natural sandstone formations and rock art dating back 7,000 years.
– Source: UNESCO, African Parks
24. The site is also home to a population of desert-adapted West African crocodiles, herds of Barbary sheep, as many as 525 plant species and at least 180 bird species.
– Source: UNESCO, African Parks
25. According to the UK Foreign Office, Chad is one of 17 countries deemed to be entirely unsafe for tourists to visit.
– Source: The Telegraph
26. Chad is part home to the world’s largest hot desert (excluding the Arctic and Antarctic deserts). The Sahara Desert, with a total area of 8,600,000sq km (3,320,000sq mi), covers much of North Africa.
– Source: Britannica
27. The UNESCO-listed Lakes of Ounianga are a series of 18 lakes in the Sahara Desert of Chad that survive despite receiving less than 2mm of rainfall per year.
– Source: UNESCO
28. Chad is home to the Gerewol festival, a beauty pageant where the men of a polygamous tribe called the Wodaabe battle it out to be selected as partners by unmarried women.
– Source: National Geographic
Every effort has been made to verify these facts about Chad. However, if you find an error or have any questions, please contact us.