Chad

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

Civil air

3 major transport aircraft

Highways

31,322 km total; 32 km bituminous; 7,300 km gravel and laterite; remainder unimproved

Inland waterways

2,000 km navigable

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

Branches

Patriotic Salvation Force (FPS; Army, Air Force), paramilitary Gendarmerie, National Police

Defense expenditures

$39 million, 4.3% of GDP (1988)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 1,188,222; 616,932 fit for military service; 51,713 reach military age (20) annually

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

Budget

revenues $78 million; expenditures $127 million, not including capital expenditures that are mostly financed by foreign aid donors (1989 est.)

Currency

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

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

Electricity

38,000 kW capacity; 70 million kWh produced, 14 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Exports

$174 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--cotton 48%, cattle 35%, textiles 5%, fish; partners--France, Nigeria, Cameroon

External debt

$530 million (December 1990 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$1,015 million, per capita $205; real growth rate 0.9% (1989 est.)

Imports

$264 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--machinery and transportation equipment 39%, industrial goods 20%, petroleum products 13%, foodstuffs 9%; note--excludes military equipment; partners--US, France, Nigeria, Cameroon

Industrial production

growth rate 12.9% (1989 est.); accounts for nearly 15% of GDP

Industries

cotton textile mills, slaughterhouses, brewery, natron (sodium carbonate), soap, cigarettes

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

- 4.9% (1989)

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.

Unemployment rate

NA

Climate

tropical in south, desert in north

Coastline

none--landlocked

Comparative area

slightly more than three times the size of California

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

Environment

hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; drought and desertification adversely affecting south; subject to plagues of locusts

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

Land use

arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 36%; forest and woodland 11%; other 51%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Maritime claims

none--landlocked

Natural resources

crude oil (unexploited but exploration beginning), uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad)

Note

landlocked; Lake Chad is the most significant water body in the Sahel

Terrain

broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south

Total area

1,284,000 km2; land area: 1,259,200 km2

Administrative divisions

14 prefectures (prefectures, singular--prefecture); Batha, Biltine, Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, Chari-Baguirmi, Guera, Kanem, Lac, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Mayo-Kebbi, Moyen-Chari, Ouaddai, Salamat, Tandjile

Capital

N'Djamena

Communists

no front organizations or underground party; probably a few Communists and some sympathizers

Constitution

22 December 1989, suspended 3 December 1990; Provisional National Charter 1 March 1991

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

Executive branch

president, Council of State (cabinet)

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

Independence

11 August 1960 (from France)

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal Chief of State--Col. Idriss DEBY (since 4 December 1990); Head of Government--Prime Minister Jean LINGUE Bawoyeu (since 8 March 1991)

Legal system

based on French civil law system and Chadian customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

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

Long-form name

Republic of Chad

Member of

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

NA

Other political or pressure groups

NA

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 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

Type

republic

Birth rate

42 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

22 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

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

Infant mortality rate

134 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

NA; agriculture (engaged in unpaid subsistence farming, herding, and fishing) 85%

Language

French and Arabic (official); Sara and Sango in south; more than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken

Life expectancy at birth

39 years male, 41 years female (1991)

Literacy

30% (male 42%, female 18%) age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Chadian(s); adjective--Chadian

Net migration rate

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

about 20% of wage labor force

Population

5,122,467 (July 1991), growth rate 2.1% (1991)

Religion

Muslim 44%, Christian 33%, indigenous beliefs, animism 23%

Total fertility rate

5.3 children born/woman (1991)