A landlocked nation in north central Africa, Chad consists of fertile lowlands in the south but is arid in the center and largely desert in the north. Since independence from France in 1960, Chad has suffered instability stemming mostly from tension between the African-Christian south and the Arab-Muslim north and east. A border dispute with Libya over the Aozou Strip went to the United Nation's International Court of Justice for arbitration; in 1994 the court ruled in favor of Chad. One of Africa's poorest countries, the start of large-scale oil production in 2004 helps the economy.