Chad
Chad is a centralern African country of roughly 20.6M people, covering 1,284,000 km² with its capital at N'Djamena. Its economy is worth about $13B in nominal terms, anchored by oil, livestock, cotton.
- Population
- 20.6M
- Projected population, 2026
Source: UN World Population Prospects - Capital
- N'Djamena
- GDP
- $13B
- Area
- 1,284,000 km²
- Currency
- Central African CFA franc
Map
Overview
Chad is a centralern African country of roughly 20.6M people, covering 1,284,000 km² with its capital at N'Djamena. Its economy is worth about $13B in nominal terms, anchored by oil, livestock, cotton.
Government
Chad operates as a presidential republic. Independence: 1960. Executive, legislative and judicial functions are exercised from N'Djamena.
Economy
Nominal GDP is approximately $13B, or around $632 per capita. The currency in circulation is the Central African CFA franc. Leading sectors are oil, livestock, cotton.
Population
Chad has a projected population, 2026 of 20,582,855 people (United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, Online Edition — medium variant), a density of roughly 16 people per km². Values from 2024 onwards are medium-variant projections rather than live counts.
Cities
The largest urban centres are N'Djamena, Moundou, Sarh. N'Djamena serves as the seat of government.
History
Modern Chad took shape through pre-colonial states, the colonial partition of the late nineteenth century, and independence in 1960. Our History section covers each period in depth.
Languages
Widely used languages include French, Arabic. Official-language policy shapes schooling, courts and broadcasting.
Culture
Music, cuisine, film, textiles and sport in Chad form part of a fast-growing creative economy with an expanding export footprint.
Education
Primary enrolment is near-universal in most of the region; the constraints sit at secondary completion, technical training and higher-education funding.
Healthcare
Health spending across Africa averages about 5.7% of GDP. Chad's system combines public facilities, private providers and donor-funded programmes.
Business
Company registration, tax administration and access to finance are the practical determinants of doing business in Chad. See our Business section for sector reporting.
Investment
Investors typically look at oil, infrastructure and consumer services. Regulatory clarity and FX access are the recurring diligence questions.
Tourism
Visitors come for landscape, heritage and city life. Entry requirements, seasonality and internal transport are covered in our Travel guides.
Transportation
Road remains dominant; rail, ports and aviation capacity vary sharply and are the focus of most current infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure
Electricity access, broadband coverage and logistics quality are the three infrastructure metrics most closely tied to Chad's growth outlook.
Statistics
Full time series for population, GDP, trade, inflation, internet usage, education, health, tourism, agriculture and climate are published in The360Africa Data Center.
Frequently asked questions
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