Chad ( French : Tchad ) Officially the Republic of Chad , is a landlocked country in Central Africa . It is bordered by Libya to the north , Sudan to the east , the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon, Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. It is the fifth largest country in Africa by area.Chad is divided into several regions: a desert region in the north, a belt of the arid Sahel region in the center and the most fertile Sudanese savannah in the south. Lake Chad , dubbed the country, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest wetland in Africa . The capital, N'Djamena , is the largest city in Chad.

The official languages ​​of Chad are Arabic and French . Chad is home to more than 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The religions of Chad are Islam (55%), followed by Christianity (40%).

At the beginning of the 7th millennium BC, human congregations in the Chad basin moved in large numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in the coastal strip of Chad, all focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France occupied territory by 1920 and was incorporated as part of French Equatorial Africa . In 1960, Chad gained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbay . Extreme discontent with his policies in the Muslim north triggered a protracted civil war in 1965. In 1979, the rebels invaded the capital and put an end to southern hegemony. However, rebel commanders fought among themselves until Hussein Habré defeated his rivals. But it was overthrown in 1990 by Idriss Deby . Since 2003, the spread of the Darfur crisis in Sudan across the border has destabilized the country and displaced hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees into Chad living in and around camps in eastern Chad.

While many active political parties, energy lies firmly in the hands of President Deby and his political party, the National Salvation Movement. Chad continues to suffer from frequent political violence and attempted coups. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most of the population lives in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003, crude oil has become the main source of export revenue in the country, replacing the traditional cotton industry.