Chad is a Central African nation located in the northern portion of the continent with a population of over 15 million people. The majority of the population is ethnically diverse, comprised of numerous indigenous tribes, with notable minorities of Arab and French-speaking people. Islam is the predominant religion, with over 50% of citizens identifying as Sunni Muslims while the remaining 50% are followers of other religious groups. The official language is French, but Arabic and numerous other Chadic languages are also commonly spoken. Most Chadian people live in rural areas and work in agriculture rather than industry or services. Poverty levels have been steadily increasing since 2010, with the unemployment rate currently at 8%. Check hyperrestaurant to learn more about Chad in 2009.
Social conditions
Chad is one of the world’s poorest countries. It is also a strongly segmented society, where the population feels greater affiliation with often antagonistic groups such as family, clan and ethnic group than with the country as a whole. Four out of five residents live in poverty (under US $ 2 per day). Only half of the population has access to clean water. Visit AbbreviationFinder to see the definitions of TCD and acronym for Chad.
Poverty and internal struggles throughout the period of independence have hardly improved social conditions. Illiteracy remains at a high level. Health care suffers from a severe lack of resources, and the general health situation is poor. Health care is poorly developed with only four hospital beds per 10,000 residents (2005) and four doctors per 100,000 (2004), and large sections of the population, mainly in rural areas, are entirely dependent on health care organizations. At just over every 10 births, qualified personnel are available. Malnutrition is common. More than 3 percent of the population aged 15-49 are estimated to be affected by HIV/AIDS. Gastrointestinal disorders as well as lung diseases, malaria and tuberculosis are other common causes of death. Of the state expenditure in 2009, 14 per cent went to health care. Check to see Chad population.
Chad is also a distinct patriarchal society, where women are strongly subordinate to men. Genital mutilation (female circumcision) has been banned since 2002, but the practice is still widespread, albeit to varying degrees among the various ethnic groups. The right to own something, for example land, is basically non-existent for women. The proportion of girls allowed to attend school is significantly lower than the proportion of boys. This applies not least to secondary school, which can to some extent be explained by the fact that many girls enter into marriage before the age of 16. Only 5% of the country’s MPs are women.
Demography and economic geography. – Internal state of north-central Africa. Between 2007 and 2014, the Chadian population grew, according to estimates, by 23%, reaching 13,211,146 residents. Although the fertility rate is very high (4.68 children per woman in 2014), population growth stands at 3% per year due to the very high incidence of infant mortality and women in childbirth. Moreover, Chad is the country with the lowest life expectancy in the world, also motivated by the difficulty of accessing water for 49% (2014) and health care for almost all Chadians. Three quarters of the population is employed in the primary sector, whose only crops not destined for self-consumption are cotton and sugar cane. Chad’s only significant progress depends on high oil prices,
History. – Elements of strong instability continued to characterize the political life of Chad whose leadership remained firmly in the hands of the Mouvement patriotique du salut and its leader Idriss Déby (in power since 1990 and reconfirmed once again president in the 2011 elections boycotted by the opposition). What made the situation particularly critical was the intensification of clashes with anti-government rebel groups (which met in 2009 in the Union des forces de la résistance), which threatened the capital on several occasions. Tensions with Sudan, held responsible for supporting the rebels, flared up and military activities on the border resumed. To protect civilians and thousands of refugees fleeing the war in Dārfūr in the region, in 2007 the UN authorized the sending of a peacekeeping mission which, however, obtained modest results and was completed in 2010. In the same year, a crack appeared in relations with Sudan and a joint force was established to monitor the situation along the common border. In reality the clashes continued and a latent state of tension remained. The strengthening of the army (to which a large part of the proceeds deriving from the export of oil was destined) and the crisis in Libya allowed Chad to assume a leading strategic role in the regional context, also thanks to the support of France interested in the maintaining balance in the area. Chadian troops flanked the contingent of the African Union and the French military sent to face the crises that broke out in Mali in 2012-13 and in the Central African Republic after the coup d’état of March 2013. In the framework of the renewed agreements with the Elysée, from summer 2014 the country hosted a new French military force dedicated to the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. The Chad also joined, together with Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, the initiative aimed at coordinating at the regional level the efforts to fight the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram. The country’s joint military offensive with Niger against terrorist bases in Nigeria in the early months of 2015 was part of this context.
Ndjamena
Ndjamena, formerly Fort Lamy, the capital of Chad in Central Africa; 1.6 million residents (2012). The town is located on the variable, partially dried-up Chad island and near the border with Cameroon. It was built in 1900 as a French military post; only after Chad’s independence in 1960 did real urban growth begin, and it is now the country’s dominant center, politically and economically. The civil war of the 1980’s caused great destruction and many of the residents fled across the Chari River to Cameroon. In 2006 and 2008, there was a battle over the city between rebels and government forces.