Chad

Chad

POPULATION 8,997,237
MUSLIM 40 percent
AFRICAN INDIGENOUS BELIEFS 30 percent
CHRISTIANITY 29.9 percent
OTHER (JEHOVAH'S WITNESS, BAHAI) 0.1 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Republic of Chad is a former French colony in north central Africa. Surrounded by Niger, Libya, The Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Nigeria, Chad has mountains in the east and north; from north to south it has areas of desert, semidesert (the Sahel), savanna, and tropical rain forest. The economy is based on cotton, livestock (cattle, goats, and sheep), corn, millet, cassava, and peanuts. Water scarcity has contributed to constant movement of livestock, migration, and conflict over wells and grazing land. In 2003 Chad began pumping oil from its southern lands and exporting it through Douala, Cameroon. The World Bank provided the funds for the pipeline project, and the international community hopes that revenues will change the living standards of Chadians, currently at absolute poverty level.

Prominent among Chad's more than 200 ethnicities and languages are Sara, Arab, Tubu, Moundang, Fulani, Maba, Mbum, Barma, Mubi, Hadjeray, Yedina, and Bedeyat. Chadians followed traditional African religions for centuries before the arrival of foreign faiths. Because of their proximity to Muslim communities, northern Chadians embraced Islam during the tenth century.

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