| U.S. Department of State, January 2002 Background Notes: Chad PROFILE OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Chad Geography Area: 1,284,634 sq. km. (496,000 sq. mi.); about twice the size of Texas. Cities: CapitalN'Djamena (pop. 700,000 est.). Other major citiesMoundou, Abeche, Sarh. Terrain: Desert, mountainous north, large arid central plain, fertile lowlands in extreme southern region. Climate: Northern desertvery dry throughout the year; central plainhot and dry, with brief rainy season mid-June to mid-September; southern lowlandswarm and more humid with seasonal rains from late May to early October. People Nationality: Noun and adjectiveChadian(s). Population (2002 est.): 8.4 million. Annual growth rate: 3.13%. Density: 6.6 per sq. km. (17 per sq. mi.). Ethnic groups: 200 distinct groups. In the north and center, Gorane (Toubou, Daza, Kreda), Zaghawa, Kanembou, Ouaddai, Arabs, Baguirmi, Hadjerai, Fulbe, Kotoko, Hausa, Boulala, and Maba, most of whom are Muslim. In the south, Sara (Ngambaye, Mbaye, Goulaye), Moudang, Moussei, Massa, most of whom are Christian or animist. About 1,000 French citizens live in Chad. Religions: Muslim 55%, Christian 35%, indigenous beliefs (primarily animism). Languages: French and Arabic (official); more than 120 indigenous Chadian languages and dialects. Health: Life expectancy49. Infant mortality rate100/1,000. Education: Years compulsory6. Attendanceprimary school 68% (1998); secondary school 5.5% (1995); higher education n/a. Literacy (1998)40%. Health: Life expectancy (2001 est.)51. Infant mortality rate (2001 est.)95/1,000. Work force (approximately 49% of population): Agriculturemore than 80%. Government Type: Republic. Independence: August 11, 1960 (from France). Branches: ExecutivePresident (head of state), Prime Minister, Council of Ministers. LegislativeNational Assembly (unicameral). Judicial Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; criminal courts; magistrate courts president (head of state, president of the council of ministers), council of ministers. Major political parties: about 60, of which Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) is dominant. Other major parties include the Federation Action for the Republic (FAR); Party for Liberty and Development (PLD); Rally for Development and Progress (RNDP); Union for Democracy and the Republic (UDR); National Union for Development and Renewal (UNDR); Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP); Viva Rally for Development and Progress, or Viva RNDP. Suffrage: Universal over 18. Administrative subdivisions: 28 departments. Flag: Blue, yellow, and red vertical bands from left to right. Economy GDP (2000): $1.5 billion. Per capita income (2000): $188. Natural resources: Petroleum, natron (sodium carbonate), kaolin, gold, bauxite, tin, tungsten, titanium, iron ore. Agriculture (2000): 38% of GDP. Productscotton, gum arabic, livestock, fish, peanuts, millet, sorghum, rice, sweet potatoes, cassava, dates, manioc. Arable land - 30%. Industry (2000): 13% of GDP. Types meat packing, beer brewing, soap, cigarettes, construction, natron mining, soft drink bottling. Services (2000): 49% of GDP Trade: Exports$172 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.): cotton (31%), livestock, gum arabic. Major markets (1999)Portugal (38%), Germany (12%), Thailand, Costa Rica, South Africa, France. Imports$223 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.): petroleum products, machinery, foodstuffs, industrial goods, motor vehicles, textiles. Major suppliers (1999)France (40%); Cameroon (13%); Nigeria (12%); India (5%). Central government budget (2002): Revenues $454 million. Expenditures$505 million. Defense (1997): $43 million (3.9% of GDP). National holiday: Independence Day, August 11. Official exchange rate (2001 average): 741 Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) francs=US$1. Fiscal year: Calendar year. U.S. aid received (2001): Economic, food relief$11 million; $187 million from all sources. GEOGRAPHY Chad is a land-locked country in north central Africa measuring 1,284,000 square kilometers (496,000 sq. mi.), roughly three times the size of Texas. Most of its ethnically and linguistically diverse population lives in the south, with densities ranging from 54 persons per square kilometers in the Logone River basin to 0.1 persons in the northern B.E.T. desert region, which is larger than France. The capital city of N'Djaména, situated at the confluence of the Chari and Logone Rivers, is cosmopolitan in nature, with a current population in excess of 700,000 persons. Chad has four bioclimatic zones. The northernmost Saharan zone averages less than 200 mm (8") of rainfall annually. The sparse human population is largely nomadic, with some livestock, mostly small ruminants and camels. The central Sahelian zone receives between 200 and 600 mm (24") rainfall and has vegetation ranging from grass/shrub steppe to thorny, open savanna. The southern zone, often referred to as the Sudanian zone, receives between 600 and 1,000 mm (39"), with woodland savanna and deciduous forests for vegetation. Rainfall in the Guinea zone, located in Chad's southwestern tip, ranges between 1,000 and 1,200 mm (47"). The country's topography is generally flat, with the elevation gradually rising as one moves north and east away from Lake Chad. The highest point in Chad is Emi Koussi, a mountain that rises 3,100 meters (10,200 ft.) in the northern Tibesti Mountains. The Ennedi Plateau and the Ouaddaï highlands in the east complete the image of a gradually sloping basin, which descends towards Lake Chad. There are also central highlands in the Guera region rising to 1,500 meters (4,900 ft.). Lake Chad is the second-largest lake in west Africa and is one of the most important wetlands on the continent. Home to 120 species of fish and at least that many species of birds, the lake has shrunk dramatically in the last four decades due to the increased water use and low rainfall. Bordered by Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Lake Chad currently covers only 1,350 square kilometers, down from 25,000 square kilometers in 1963. The Chari and Logone Rivers, both of which originate in the Central African Republic and flow northward, provide most of the water entering Lake Chad. PEOPLE There are more than 200 ethnic groups in Chad. Those in the north and east are generally Muslim; most southerners are Christians or animists. Through their long religious and commercial relationships with Sudan and Egypt, many of the peoples in Chad's eastern and central regions have become more or less Arabized, speaking Arabic and engaging in many other Arab cultural practices as well. More than three-quarters of the Chadian population is rural. HISTORY Chad has a long and rich history. A humanoid skull found in Borkou is more than 3 million years old. Because in ancient times the Saharan area was not totally arid, Chad's population was more evenly distributed than it is today. For example, 7,000 years ago, the north central basin, now in the Sahara, was still filled with water, and people lived and farmed around its shores. The cliff paintings in Borkou and Ennedi depict elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, cattle, and camels; only camels survive there today. The region was known to traders and geographers from the late Middle Ages. Since then, Chad has served as a crossroads for the Muslim peoples of the desert and savanna regions, and the animist Bantu tribes of the tropical forests. Sao people lived along the Chari River for thousands of years, but their relatively weak chiefdoms were overtaken by the powerful chiefs of what were to become the Kanem-Bornu and Baguirmi kingdoms. At their peak, these two kingdoms and the kingdom of Ouaddai controlled a good part of what is now Chad, as well as parts of Nigeria and Sudan. From 1500 to 1900, Arab slave raids were widespread. The French first penetrated Chad in 1891, establishing their authority through military expeditions primarily against the Muslim kingdoms. The first major colonial battle for Chad was fought in 1900 between the French Major Lamy and the African leader Rabah, both of whom were killed in the battle. Although the French won that battle, they did not declare the territory pacified until 1911; armed clashes between colonial troops and local bands continued for many years thereafter. In 1905, administrative responsibility for Chad was placed under a governor general stationed at Brazzaville in what is now Congo. Although Chad joined the French colonies of Gabon, Oubangui-Charo, and Moyen Congo to form the Federation of French Equatorial Africa (AEF) in 1910, it did not have colonial status until 1920. The northern region of Chad was occupied by the French in 1914. In 1959, the territory of French Equatorial Africa was dissolved, and four statesGabon, the Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), and Chadbecame autonomous members of the French Community. On August 11, 1960 Chad became an independent nation under its first president, Francois Tombalbaye. A long civil war began as a tax revolt in 1965 and soon set the Muslim north and east against the southern-led government. Even with the help of French combat forces, the Tombalbaye government was never able to quell the insurgency. Tombalbaye's rule became more irrational and brutal, leading the military to carry out a coup in 1975 and to install Gen. Felix Malloum, a southerner, as head of state. In 1978, Malloum's government was broadened to include more northerners. Internal dissent within the government led the northern prime minister, Hissein Habre, to send his forces against the national army in the capital city of N'Djamena in February 1979. The resulting civil war amongst the 11 emergent factions was so widespread that it rendered the central government largely irrelevant. At that point, other African governments decided to intervene. A series of four international conferences held first under Nigerian and then Organization of African Unity (OAU) sponsorship attempted to bring the Chadian factions together. At the fourth conference, held in Lagos, Nigeria, in August 1979, the Lagos accord was signed. This accord established a transitional government pending national elections. In November 1979, the National Union Transition Government (GUNT) was created with a mandate to govern for 18 months. Goukouni Oueddei, a northerner, was named President; Colonel Kamougue, a southerner, Vice President; and Habre, Minister of Defense. This coalition proved fragile; in January 1980, fighting broke out again between Goukouni's and Habre's forces. With assistance from Libya, Goukouni regained control of the capital and other urban centers by year's end. However, Goukouni's January 1981 statement that Chad and Libya had agreed to work for the realization of complete unity between the two countries generated intense international pressure and Goukouni's subsequent call for the complete withdrawal of external forces. Libya's partial withdrawal to the Aozou Strip in northern Chad cleared the way for Habre's forces to enter N'Djamena in June. French troops and an OAU peacekeeping force of 3,500 Nigerian, Senegalese, and Zairian troops (partially funded by the United States) remained neutral during the conflict. Habre continued to face armed opposition on various fronts, and was brutal in his repression of suspected opponents, massacring and torturing many during his rule. In the summer of 1983, GUNT forces launched an offensive against government positions in northern and eastern Chad with Libyan support. In response to Libya's direct intervention, French and Zairian forces intervened to defend Habre, pushing Libyan and rebel forces north of the 16th parallel. In September 1984, the French and the Libyan governments announced an agreement for the mutual withdrawal of their forces from Chad. By the end of the year, all French and Zairian troops were withdrawn. Libya did not honor the withdrawal accord, and its forces continued to occupy the northern third of Chad. Southern rebel commando groups (CODO) in southern Chad were broken up by government massacres in 1984. In 1985 Habre briefly reconciled with some of his most powerful opponents including the Chadian Democratic Front and the Coordinating Action Committee of the Democratic Revolutionary Council. Goukouni also began to rally toward Habre, and with his support Habre successfully expelled Libyan forces from most of Chadian territory. A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s. In April 1989, Idriss Deby, one of Habre's leading generals and a Zaghawa, defected and fled to Darfur in Sudan, from which he mounted a Zaghawa-supported series of attacks on Habre (a Gorane). In December 1990, with Libyan assistance and no opposition from French troops stationed in Chad, Deby's forces successfully marched on N'Djamena. After 3 months of provisional government, Deby's Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) approved a national charter on February 28, 1991, with Deby as president. In the next 2 years, Deby faced at least two coup attempts. Government forces clashed violently with rebel forces (including the Movement for Democracy and Development, MDD, National Revival Committee for Peace and Democracy (CSNPD), Chadian national Front (FNT) and the Western Armed Forces, FAO) near Lake Chad and in southern regions of the country. Earlier French demands for the country to hold a National Conference resulted in the gathering of 750 delegates representing political parties (legalized in 1992), the government, trade unions and the army to discuss creation of a pluralist democratic regime. However unrest continued, sparked in part by large-scale killings of civilians in southern Chad. The CSNPD, led by Kette Moise and other southern groups entered into a peace agreement with government forces in 1994, which later broke down. Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated MDD clashed with government forces 1994-95. Talks with political opponents in early 1996 did not go well, but Deby announced his intent to hold presidential elections in June. Deby won the country's first multi-party presidential elections with support in the second round from opposition leader Kebzabo, defeating General Kamougue (leader of the 1975 coup against Tombalbaye). Deby's MPS party won 63 of 125 seats in the January 1997 legislative elections. International observers noted numerous serious irregularities in presidential and legislative election proceedings. By mid-1997 the government signed peace deals with FARF and the MDD leadership and succeeded in cutting off the groups from their rear bases in the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Agreements also were struck with rebels from the National Front of Chad (FNT) and Movement for Social Justice and Democracy in October 1997. However, peace was short-lived, as FARF rebels clashed with government soldiers, finally surrendering to government forces in May 1998. Barde was killed in the fighting, as were hundreds of other southerners, most civilians. Since October 1998 Chadian Movement for Justice and Democracy (MDJT) rebels, led by Youssuf Togoimi, have skirmished with government troops in the Tibesti region, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government, and rebel casualties, but little ground won or lost. No active armed opposition has emerged in other parts of Chad, although Kette Moise, following senior postings at the Ministry of Interior, mounted a smallscale local operation near Moundou which was quickly and violently suppressed by government forces in late 2000. Deby, in the mid-1990s, gradually restored basic functions of government and entered into agreements with the World Bank and IMF to carry out substantial economic reforms. Oil exploitation in the southern Doba region began in June 2000, with World Bank Board approval to finance a small portion of a project aimed at transport of Chadian crude through a 1000-km. buried pipeline through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea. The project establishes unique mechanisms for World Bank, private sector, government, and civil society collaboration to guarantee that future oil revenues benefit local populations and result in poverty alleviation. Success of the project will depend on intensive monitoring efforts to ensure that all parties keep their commitments. Debt relief was accorded to Chad in May 2001. Deby won a flawed 63% first-round victory in May 2001 presidential elections after legislative elections were postponed until spring 2002. Six opposition leaders were arrested (twice) and one opposition party activist was killed following the announcement of election results. However, despite claims of government corruption, favoritism of Zaghawas, and security forces abuses, opposition party and labor union calls for general strikes and more active demonstrations against the government have been unsuccessful. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS A strong executive branch headed by President Deby dominates the Chadian political system. Following his military overthrow of Habre in December 1990, Deby won presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. The constitutional basis for the government is the 1996 constitution, under which the president is limited to two terms of office. The president has the power to appoint the prime minister and the Council of State (or cabinet), and exercises considerable influence over appointments of judges, generals, provincial officials and heads of Chad's parastatal firms. In cases of grave and immediate threat, the president, in consultation with the National Assembly President and Council of State, may declare a state of emergency. Most of the Deby's key advisors are members of the Zaghawa clan, although some southern and opposition personalities are represented in his government. According to the 1996 constitution, National Assembly deputies are elected by universal suffrage for 4-year terms. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2002. The Assembly holds regular sessions twice a year, starting in March and October, and can hold special sessions as necessary and called by the prime minister. Deputies elect a president of the National Assembly every 2 years. Assembly deputies or members of the executive branch may introduce legislation; once passed by the Assembly, the president must take action to either sign or reject the law within 15 days. The National Assembly must approve the prime minister's plan of government and may force the prime minister to resign through a majority vote of no-confidence. However, if the National Assembly rejects the executive branch's program twice in one year, the president may disband the Assembly and call for new legislative elections. In practice, the president exercises considerable influence over the National Assembly through the MPS party structure. Despite the constitution's guarantee of judicial independence from the executive branch, the president names most key judicial officials. The Supreme Court is made up of a chief justice, named by the president, and 15 councilors chosen by the president and National Assembly; appointments are for life. The Constitutional Council, with nine judges elected to 9-year terms, has the power to review all legislation, treaties and international agreements prior to their adoption. The constitution recognizes customary and traditional law in locales where it is recognized and to the extent it does not interfere with public order or constitutional guarantees of equality for all citizens. Principal Government Officials PresidentIdriss Deby Prime MinisterNagoum Yamassoum Minister of Foreign AffairsMahamat Saleh Annadif Minister of the InteriorAbderahman Moussa Minister of DefenseMahamat Nouri President of the National AssemblyWadal Abdelkader Kamougue Ambassador to U.S.Hassaballah Abdelhadi Ahmat Soubiane The Republic of Chad maintains an embassy in the United States at 2002 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009 (tel: 202-462-4009; fax 202-265-1937). DEFENSE Under President Hissein Habre, members of Gourane, Zaghawa, Kanembou, Hadjerai, and Massa ethnic groups dominated the military. Idriss Deby, a member of the minority Zaghawa-related Bidyate clan and a top military commander, revolted and fled to the Sudan, taking with him many Zaghawa and Hadjerai soldiers in 1989. The forces that Deby led into N'Djamena on December 1, 1990 to oust President Habre were mainly Zaghawa (including a large number of Sudanese), many of whom were recruited while Deby was in the bush. Deby's coalition also included a small number of Hadjerais and southerners. Chad's armed forces numbered about 36,000 at the end of the Habre regime but swelled to an estimated 50,000 in the early days of Idriss Deby. With French support, a reorganization of the armed forces was initiated early in 1991 with the goal is to reducing the armed forces to 25,000. An essential element of this effort was to make the ethnic composition of the armed forces reflective of the country as a whole. Neither of these goals was achieved. The military still numbers at least 30,000 men and is dominated by the Zaghawa. War and rebellions have continued to plague Chad in recent years, as they have since 1965. Following Idriss Deby's rise to power, Habre loyalists continued to fight government troops and rob civilians around Lake Chad. There were numerous small rebellions in Eastern Chad, even among the Zaghawa. In the mid- and late-1990s, a rebellion in the south by the FARF delayed the promised oil development until crushed by government forces. Most recently, Youssouf Togoimi and his Movement for Democracy and Justice in Tchad (MDJT) launched the most serious threat to Deby's hold on power. Since 1998, government and rebel forces have fought with little progress on either side. In January 2002, the government and the MDJT signed a formal peace accord, although its provisions have not yet been implemented. | |
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