CHAD
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,284,000 km2; land area: 1,259,200 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than three times the size of
California
Land boundaries: 5,968 km total; 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: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Disputes: Libya claims and occupies the 100,000 km2 Aozou
Strip in the far north; demarcation of international boundaries in
Lake Chad, the lack of which has led to border incidents in the past,
is completed and awaiting ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and
Nigeria
Climate: tropical in south, desert in north
Terrain: broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains
in northwest, lowlands in south
Natural resources: crude oil (unexploited but exploration
beginning), uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad)
Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 36%; forest and woodland 11%; other 51%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north;
drought and desertification adversely affecting south; subject to plagues
of locusts
Note: landlocked; Lake Chad is the most significant water body
in the Sahel
PEOPLE
Population: 5,122,467 (July 1991), growth rate 2.1% (1991)
Birth rate: 42 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 22 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 134 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 39 years male, 41 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 5.3 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Chadian(s); adjective--Chadian
Ethnic divisions: some 200 distinct ethnic groups, most of whom are
Muslims (Arabs, Toubou, Hadjerai, Fulbe, Kotoko, Kanembou, Baguirmi,
Boulala, Zaghawa, and Maba) in the north and center and non-Muslims
(Sara, Ngambaye, Mbaye, Goulaye, Moundang, Moussei, Massa) in the south;
some 150,000 nonindigenous, of whom 1,000 are French
Religion: Muslim 44%, Christian 33%, indigenous beliefs, animism
23%
Language: French and Arabic (official); Sara and Sango in south;
more than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken
Literacy: 30% (male 42%, female 18%) age 15 and over can
read and write French or Arabic (1990 est.)
Labor force: NA; agriculture (engaged in unpaid subsistence
farming, herding, and fishing) 85%
Organized labor: about 20% of wage labor force
Constitution: 22 December 1989, suspended 3 December 1990;
Provisional National Charter 1 March 1991
Legal system: based on French civil law system and Chadian
customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: NA
Executive branch: president, Council of State (cabinet)
Legislative branch: the National Consultative Council (Conseil
National Consultatif) was disbanded 3 December 1990 and replaced by
the Provisional Council of the Republic; 30 members appointed by
President DEBY on 8 March 1991
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State--Col. Idriss DEBY (since 4 December 1990);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Jean LINGUE Bawoyeu
(since 8 March 1991)
Political parties and leaders: Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS;
former dissident group), Idriss DEBY, chairman; President DEBY has
promised political pluralism, a new constitution, and free elections by
September 1993; numerous dissident groups
Suffrage: universal at age NA
Elections:
President--last held 10 December 1989 (next to be held NA);
results--President Hissein HABRE was elected without opposition;
note--the government of then President HABRE fell on 1 December 1990
and Idriss DEBY seized power on 3 December 1990;
National Consultative Council--last held 8 July 1990;
disbanded 3 December 1990
Communists: no front organizations or underground party; probably a
few Communists and some sympathizers
Other political or pressure groups: NA
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Mahamat Ali ADOUM; Chancery
at 2002 R Steet NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 462-4009;
US--Ambassador Richard W. BOGOSIAN; Embassy at Avenue Felix
Eboue, N'Djamena (mailing address is B. P. 413, N'Djamena); telephone
235 (51) 62-18, 40-09
Flag: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and
red; similar to the flag of Romania; also similar to the flag of Andorra
which has a national coat of arms featuring a quartered shield centered
in the yellow band; design was based on the flag of France
ECONOMY
Overview: The climate, geographic location, and lack of
infrastructure and natural resources potential make Chad one of the most
underdeveloped countries in the world. Its economy is burdened by
the ravages of civil war, conflict with Libya, drought, and food
shortages. In 1986 real GDP returned to its 1977 level, with cotton,
the major cash crop, accounting for 48% of exports. Over 80%
of the work force is employed in subsistence farming and fishing.
Industry is based almost entirely on the processing of agricultural
products, including cotton, sugarcane, and cattle. Chad is highly
dependent on foreign aid, with its economy in trouble and many regions
suffering from shortages. Oil companies are exploring areas north of
Lake Chad and in the Doba basin in the south.
GDP: $1,015 million, per capita $205; real growth rate 0.9% (1989
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 4.9% (1989)
Unemployment rate: NA
Budget: revenues $78 million; expenditures $127 million, not
including capital expenditures that are mostly financed by foreign
aid donors (1989 est.)
Agriculture: accounts for about 45% of GDP; largely subsistence
farming; cotton most important cash crop; food crops include sorghum,
millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes, manioc; livestock--cattle, sheep, goats,
camels; self-sufficient in food in years of adequate rainfall
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $198
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.3 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $28 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $80 million
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 31,322 km total; 32 km bituminous; 7,300 km gravel and
laterite; remainder unimproved
Inland waterways: 2,000 km navigable
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
Airports: 70 total, 54 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system of radiocommunication stations for
intercity links; 5,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, 1 FM, limited TV
service; many facilities are inoperative; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth
station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Patriotic Salvation Force (FPS; Army, Air Force),
paramilitary Gendarmerie, National Police
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,188,222; 616,932 fit for
military service; 51,713 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $39 million, 4.3% of GDP (1988)
