n.
French Tchad
Country, north-central Africa.
Area: 495,752 sq mi (1,283,998 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 8,997,000. Capital: N'Djamena . The Sara are the largest ethnic group, comprising about one-fourth of the total population; other groups include the Kebbi, Kanem-Bornu, Tangale, Fulani, and Gorane. Arabs, composed of a number of peoples, represent a single ethnic group. Languages: French, Arabic (both official), Fula, Sara. Religions: Islam, traditional religions, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism. Currency: CFA franc. The landlocked country's terrain is a shallow basin that rises gradually from 750 ft (228 m) above sea level at Lake Chad . The basin is rimmed by mountains, including the volcanic Tibesti Massif to the north, rising to 11,204 ft (3,415 m) at Mount Koussi. The lowest elevation, 573 ft (175 m), is in the Djourab Depression. Chad's river network is limited to the Chari and Logone rivers and their tributaries, which flow from the southeast into Lake Chad. The economy is agricultural; gold, uranium, and petroleum have not been fully exploited. Chad is a republic with one legislative body; its chief of state is the president, its head of government the prime minister. About AD 800 the kingdom of Kanem was founded, and by the early 1200s its borders had expanded to form a new kingdom, Kanem-Bornu , in the north. Its power peaked in the 16th century with its command of the southern terminus of the trans-Sahara trade route to Tripoli . About this time the rival kingdoms of Baguirmi and Wadai evolved in the south. In the years 188393 all three kingdoms fell to the Sudanese adventurer Rabih al-Zubayr, who was in turn pushed out by the French in 1891. Extending their power, the French in 1910 made Chad a part of French Equatorial Africa . Chad became a separate colony in 1920 and was made an overseas territory in 1946. The country achieved independence in 1960 but has had decades of civil war, resulting in political instability and a lack of economic development. Although France and Libya frequently intervened in Chad, a lasting peace has proved elusive.