Simple directory > Regional > Chad

Country : Chad Official name: République du Tchad (Republic of Chad) Head of State: President Colonel Idriss Déby (MPS) (since 1990; re-elected 21 May 2001) Head of government: Prime Minister Pascal Yoadimnadji (from 3 Feb 2005) Ruling party: Mouvement Patriotique du Salut (MPS) (Patriotic Movement for Salvation) (re-elected Apr 2002) Area: 1,284,000 square km Population: 8.21 million (2004) Capital: N'Djamena Official language: French and Arabic Currency: CFA franc (CFAf) = 100 centimes (Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) franc) Exchange rate: CFAf507.21 per US$ (Nov 2004); CFAf655.95 per euro (pegged from Jan 1999) GDP per capita: US$216 (2003) GDP real growth: 11.80% (2003) Inflation: 2.80% (2003) Oil production: 40,000 bpd (2003) Balance of trade: -US$690.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$1.10 billion (2003)

Historical profile

1900s France defeated the local ruler, Rabeh Zubeit, at a battle in Kousseri in 1916, and the territory of Chad was formed.

1929 A northern, Saharan, segment was added.

1946 Chad was granted status as a French overseas territory and gained its own regional assembly.

1960 Chad was granted independence. A one-party regime was imposed under President Francois Tombalbaye. A series of rebellions against Tombalbaye's rule were repressed.

1975 Tombalbaye was killed in a coup and replaced by Colonel Félix Malloum. Malloum agreed to share power with a rebel leader, Hissène Habré.

1979 Habré forced Malloum out of N'Djamena after a violent power struggle.

1980 A new alliance was formed between Habré and Goukouni Oueddei, which lasted until 1980 when Libya sided with Goukouni and Habré fled. Libyan troops and Chadian factions defeated Habré, at which point France intervened and the invading force was driven back from N'Djamena, leaving Habré in nominal control of the country.

1987 After several years of stalemate, an effort was made to resolve the conflict by President Mitterand of France and Colonel al Qadafi of Libya, who both agreed to withdraw their forces from Chad. The French troops withdrew but those of Libya did not. The French returned and pushed Libya back across the Chad-Libya border.

1989--90 A rebellion was launched by Idriss Déby, an army commander. Habré fled to Senegal and Déby proclaimed himself president.

1996 In Chad's first multi-party presidential elections, Idriss Déby was elected to remain as Chad's president.

1997 Legislative elections were won by the Mouvement Patriotique du Salut (MPS) (Patriotic Movement for Salvation).

2001 President Déby was re-elected. A peace agreement was signed in Libya between the Chadian government and the northern rebel movement, Mouvement pour la Démocratie et la Justice au Tchad (MDJT) (Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad).

2002 The ruling MPS won the parliamentary elections. Haroun Kabadi was appointed prime minister by the president after the resignation of Nagoum Yamassoum.

2003 In January, Chad and the Central African Republic began peace talks. Moussa Faki became prime minister on 24 June and formed his cabinet. Chad became an oil exporter, with the opening of a pipeline from its oil fields to Cameroon.

2004 Early in the year, thousands of Sudanese refugees arrived in Chad to escape unrest in the Darfur region of western Sudan; in April, the fighting spilled across the border and Chadian troops clashed with pro-Sudanese government militias.

2005 On 3 February, Prime Minister Moussa Faki resigned and was replaced by Pascal Yoadimnadji.

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