Country profilesChad

Humanitarian profile

Political instability, violence and displacement have turned the poor central African nation into a major humanitarian emergency. Attacks by rebel groups have displaced tens of thousands of Chadians near the border with Sudan, and a constant influx of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighbouring countries has made it very difficult for aid agencies to carry out relief operations.

Country snapshot

Landlocked Chad is one of the world's poorest countries marked by persistent instability, caused largely by fighting for power and resources between ethnic groups or rival clans within a group.

It has struck oil and started exporting, but with little sign so far that this will improve the lives of ordinary people. Four fifths of the population live below $2 a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

Relations are good with the West - particularly France which still plays a key role in the country's affairs - but are difficult with its big eastern neighbour Sudan over claims and counter-claims of rebel incursions in the border regions that include Sudan's troubled Darfur.

Northern Chad is predominantly Arab and Muslim, and the south is African and Christian or animist.

Government

Lieutenant General Idriss Deby came to power in a coup two decades ago and won subsequent presidential elections in 1996, 2001 and most recently in 2006 when he gathered 65 percent of the vote.

In 2005, a referendum approved a change in the constitution to remove any limits to how many five-year terms a president can serve.

The president appoints the prime minister, who since March 2010 has been Emmanuel Nadingar.

Deby's party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement or MPS, was the sole legal party until 1992 and still dominates political life.

It holds two thirds of the 155 seats in the one-house National Assembly, which is meant to be elected for four years - but political delays and rebel incursions mean the election due in 2006 has still not taken place.

The president has the power to call a state of emergency in consultation with parliament.

Most of the Deby's key advisers are members of his minority Zaghawa clan.

Economy

Chad is a desperately poor, largely arid and landlocked country. Africa's fifth-largest state has struck oil, but even the revenues from that show little sign so far of improving life for its 10 million people.

The vast majority live on a dollar a day, while the richest 10 percent own a third of the country's wealth. Only 40 percent of men and 13 percent of women can read.

Infrastructure is poor. In a country twice as big as France, only 1,160 km of road have been paved.

Foreign aid, from France and the European Union, is important in this highly corrupt country.

A consortium led by two U.S. companies invested some $3.7 billion over the last decade to develop oil reserves, and Chinese companies have also got involved.

The World Bank helped fund oil exploration on condition that four-fifths of revenue would to go help education and health development.

Chad started to export oil in 2004 - via a 1,000 km pipeline to the coast in Cameroon - but later President Deby used his powers under a state of emergency to let him spend the money however he wanted.

The fall of oil prices in 2008 and 2009 badly hit expected earnings.

Lake Chad, the second-largest lake in west Africa and a vital water source, has shrunk dramatically in the last four decades due to increased water use and low rainfall.

Since 1995, most state enterprises, including those in the important cotton production sector, have been partially or completely privatised.

History

Chad's modern history has been shaped by continuing French influence, disputes with its neighbours Libya and Sudan, and above all by domestic clan rivalries. Its low point was arguably the rule of Hissene Habre, who was accused of mass killings.

Centuries ago parts of Chad were on the crossroads of ancient trade routes that brought Muslim desert peoples in touch with black Africans from the tropical forests.

In a country with some 200 ethnic groups, many people in the north and east became Arabised through long contact with Sudan and Egypt.

Arab slave raids were a threat before the French arrived in the late 19th century, establishing colonial control in the early 20th century.

Independence in 1960 has been followed by decades of instability and coups, one-party rule and in recent years some steps towards democracy.

The first president, a southern Christian, banned political parties, triggering an armed revolt in the Muslim north that lingered on for years with Libyan support, despite French backing for the government.

A series of coups and uprisings followed in the 1970s, and in 1982 Hissene Habre took power.

With French and American support he drove Libyan forces out of most of the country and fought off Libyan-allied rivals until he was toppled in 1990 by his former ally Deby.

Habre was accused of mass political killings during his rule and later sentenced to death in absentia. He lives under house arrest in Senegal.

Deby led a transition to democracy. Deby and his party have won all subsequent elections which were marred by claims of irregularities.

In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad which continues to flare sporadically, despite peace deals.

Instability in Sudan's Darfur region has spilled over into Chad, which accused Khartoum of arming rebels who attacked the capital N'Djamena in 2006. Deby survived the coup attempt but hundreds of people were killed.

Sudan counters that Chad has been aiding Darfur rebels, many of whom share clan links with Deby.

Rebels attacked the capital again in 2008 and surrounded the presidential palace, but were repelled, partly thanks to French military help.

Rebel fighting, attacks by armed Sudanese groups, and bandits have displaced tens of thousands of Chadians in the east.

Chad is also home to tens of thousands of refugees - the majority from Darfur, and some from Central African Republic.

Legal snapshot

Chad's legal system is based on French civil law but also recognises customary and traditional law where this does not interfere with public order or constitutional guarantees of equality.

Chad recognises the authority of the International Criminal Court, but has not accepted compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice - even though this body ruled in its favour in 1994 in a dispute over a strip of land Libya had seized in 1977.

Despite a guarantee of judicial independence in the constitution, the president names most key judicial officials.

The Supreme Court is made up of a chief justice and 15 councillors chosen for life by the president and the National Assembly.

Chad ranks near the bottom of Transparency International's annual index measuring perceived levels of public-sector corruption.