About Chad

Explore this Chad map to learn everything you want to know about this country. Learn about Chad location on the world map, official symbol, flag, geography, climate, postal/area/zip codes, time zones, etc. Check out Chad history, significant states, provinces/districts, & cities, most popular travel destinations and attractions, the capital city’s location, facts and trivia, and many more.

Chad, a landlocked country in Northern Central Africa, was initially a province of French Equatorial Africa and gained its independence on August 11, 1960. The country got its name from the lake Chad, which lies on the western border with Niger and Nigeria.

Physical Map of Chad

Chad is dominated by the low-lying Chad Basin, which rises gradually to mountains and plateaus on the north, east, and south. In the east are the plateaus – Ennedi and Ouaddaí, which rise to more than 3,000 ft. The greatest elevations are reached in the Tibesti massif in the north, which touches 11,204 ft in height at Emi Koussi. The northern half of the republic lies in the Sahara. The important rivers are the Logone and Chari (Shari) which lie in the southwest and flow into Lake Chad. The lake doubles in size during the rain season.

Location of Chad

Chad is bound by Libya on the north; by Sudan on the east; by the Central African Republic on the south; and by Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger on the west.

Climate of Chad

While the northern portion of Chad is hot and arid, the central section has three seasons – hot summers from March to July; from July to October rain, measuring 250 to 750 mm are experienced while the remaining months experience cool weather. The southern section has similar seasons but receives about 1,145 mm of rain in the same four months.

Flag of Chad

The flag of Chad has three equal vertical bands of blue (towards the hoist side), yellow, and red. It is similar to the flag of Romania as well as the flags of Andorra and Moldova, both of which have a national coat of arms centered in the yellow band.

People of Chad

Chad is made up of numerous ethnic groups. While Arabs are important in the north and east, Africans dominate in the south. Muslims make up about 59 percent of the population. About 17 percent of the people are Christians while most of the remaining population adheres to traditional religions. The official languages are French and Arabic, but numerous other African languages are also spoken. Chadic languages, especially Hausa, are spoken in the Lake Chad area.

Economy of Chad

The economy of Chad is mainly governed by agriculture, which is practiced by some 83 percent of the labor force, who are also engaged in animal husbandry, forestry, and fishing. In 1992, national budget figures showed revenues of $120 million and expenditures of $363 million. In 2000 imports were $290 million, and exports were $183 million.