Chad is landlocked and shares borders with Sudan in the east, the Central African Republic in the south, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger in the west and Libya in the north. The geography consists of deserts and mountains in the north, broad arid plains in the central region and wetter lowlands and wooded savannas in the south. Lake Chad dominates the landscape in the southwest.
The first records of settlement in what is now Chad go back 2,500 years, when the Sao people migrated from Egypt. Living in walled cities, they became known for fine pottery and bronze goods. The area soon became a crossroads for two caravan routes carrying minerals and slaves, which brought new cultures and influences into Chad. The growing influence of Islam, which first appeared in the area in the AD 1200s, set the stage for a cultural division that has pitted nomadic Arab speakers from the north against the south's sedentary Sara people. The dominant northern cultures used to sell the Sara into slavery, and the two groups are still hostile to each other.
When French colonizers arrived at the end of the 19th century, the southerners welcomed them as liberators. That changed, however, as the French began to impose high taxes and force southern farmers to grow cotton, which the French cotton monopoly then purchased at artificially low prices (a practice that continues today).
The country's independence, granted in 1960, revived tensions between the south (which controlled the presidency and a majority of positions in the new government) and the north. The country quickly slipped into civil war. The situation was exacerbated when neighboring Libya joined the fighting, hoping to capture the uranium-rich northern border area, called the Aouzou Strip. As the civil war continued into the 1980s, the situation became so bad that 11- and 12-year-olds were conscripted into the army. Finally, in 1989, the north and south joined to drive the Libyans out.
From 1992 to 1993 there were five attempted coups and a number of government crackdowns. During this time, some 15,000 civilians fled across the Central African Republic's border following massacres allegedly orchestrated by government troops.
Since then Chad has moved toward democracy, though the situation is far from peaceful. Insurgent groups continue to operate, especially in the northwest, and violent clashes erupt sporadically. Despite peace agreements signed in 2002 and 2003 between the government and rebel groups, the rebels still control the Tibesti region and raids are common. In 2003 and 2004, more than 200,000 Sudanese refugees poured across Chad's northern border following the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
One hopeful sign is the new oil pipeline that will allow Chad to harvest its petroleum reserves. Nonetheless, Chad is a very poor country that's heavily reliant on foreign, especially French, aid. Fishing, subsistence farming and cotton cultivation are the main economic pursuits.
The foremost attractions of Chad are Zakouma Game Park, camels, desert, Lake Chad and totally uncommercialized cultures. There are, however, other Saharan destinations where conditions for travel are safer and easier.
In recent years, Chad's desert has offered up several important skeletons belonging to prehistoric humans. A skull, found in 2002 and estimated to be 7 million years old, has been the most important find thus far, giving scientists a better understanding of mankind's distant ancestors.
Police forces in Chad were so strapped for funds during the early 1990s that officers had to purchase their own uniforms.
During the war with Libya, Chadian troops fought heroically against their better-equipped enemies. During one 1987 battle, Libyan soldiers were driven back by Chadian riflemen firing from the beds of attacking pick-up trucks.
In Chad's presidential elections, mobile polling stations are dispatched to cruise the deserts of northern Chad searching for nomadic voters.
Lions and panthers can sometimes be found on the southern Chad savannas.
International Women's Day (8 March) is almost always accompanied by festivities, parades, speeches, rallies and the tradition of cross-dressing.
Average life expectancy in Chad is 48 for men, 52 for women.
In Chad it is customary to shake hands. However, the left hand should never be used for offering or accepting food, nor should the sole of the foot be exposed in the presence of a Muslim.
