formerly Fort-Lamy
City (pop., 1993: metro. area, 530,965), capital of Chad.
It lies adjacent to Cameroon on the eastern bank of the Chari River , where it joins the Logone River . Founded in 1900 as Fort-Lamy, it remained a small settlement until after Chad's independence in 1960. In 1973 its name was changed to N'Djamena. It was occupied by Libyan forces in 1980–81 during the civil war that began in the 1960s. It is an important marketplace for cotton, cattle, and fish. It is the site of the nation's only university, the University of Chad (founded 1971).