There is much to recommend in
Chad. Its capital,
N’Djamena, is a friendly and laid-back city with a wonderful
Central Market, where the whole experience of haggling for African produce is exceptionally good fun.
Lake Chad, once one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, is still a serene sight to behold, despite its
gradual shrinkage due to climate change and increased demands. It is still of huge economic importance, providing water to millions of people in surrounding countries. Indeed, Chad itself, although one of the poorest of Africa’s
nations, is still geographically staggering, ranging from
desert in the north to fertile
farmland in the south.
Chad was first defined as a national territory in 1910, as one of the four making up French Equatorial Africa. Chad achieved
independence in 1960 with François Tombalbaye, leader of the
Parti Progressiste Tchadien (PPT), as prime minister. Its history since then has been characterized by political instability and tensions, largely due to
religious and cultural divisions between the Muslim north and Christian/animist south - a pattern that may be found in many other African countries, including Nigeria and Sudan.
GeographyChad is situated in central Africa, bordered by Libya to the north, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon to the west, the Central African Republic to the south, and Sudan to the east. The topography ranges from equatorial forests to the driest of deserts. In the northeast lies Ennedi, and to the north the volcanic Tibesti range - largely sheer cliffs, ravines and canyons set among Saharan sand dunes.
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