Chad Facts, Chad Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 9,657,000
Capital:: N'Djamena; 797,000
Area:: 1,284,000 square kilometers (495,755 square miles)
Language:: French, Arabic, Sara, Sango, more than 120 different languages and dialects
Religion:: Muslim, Christian, animist
Currency:: CFA franc
Life Expectancy:: 49
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $1,000
Literacy Percent:: 48

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.

ECONOMY

Industry: Oil, cotton textiles, meatpacking, beer brewing, natron (sodium carbonate)
Agriculture: Cotton, sorghum, millet, peanuts; cattle
Exports: Cotton, cattle, gum arabic

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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