Map of Chad
Chad is a country in Africa with its capital at N'Djamena, home to about 21.00 million people across 1.28M km². The interactive map below plots 19 cities and towns, 6 rivers, 1 lakes and 2 mountain summits recorded for Chad in YearMaps.
- Population
- 21.00 million
- Area
- 1.28M km²
- Capital
- N'Djamena
- Continent
- Africa
Interactive Map of Chad
Centred on N'Djamena at 12.1150° N, 15.0472° E. Use the layer panel to switch on rivers, dams, ports, peaks and historical borders.
About Chad
Chad, 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 to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad), and Niger to the west. Chad has a population of 20 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N'Djamena. With a total area of around 1,300,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi), Chad is the fifth-largest country in Africa and the twentieth largest nation by area.
With over 200 ethnic and linguistic groups, the official languages are French and Arabic, with French being the lingua franca and language of government and education. Islam (55.1%) and Christianity (41.1%) are the main practiced religions.
Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, humans moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium AD, a series of states and empires had risen and fallen in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. The rebel commanders then fought amongst themselves until President Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. The Chadian–Libyan conflict erupted in 1978 which stopped in 1987 with a French military intervention. Habré was overthrown in turn in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. With French support, a modernisation of the Chadian National Army was initiated in 1991. From 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan spilled over the border and destabilised the nation. Already poor, the nation struggled to accommodate over a million Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
While many political parties participated in the National Assembly, power lay firmly in the hands of the Patriotic Salvation Movement during the presidency of Déby, whose rule was described as authoritarian. After Déby was killed by FACT rebels in April 2021, the Transitional Military Council led by his son Mahamat Déby assumed control of the government and dissolved the Assembly. One of the world's least developed countries, Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Chad (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Geography and Climate of Chad
Chad emerged from a collection of powerful states that controlled the Sahelian belt starting around the 9th century. These states focused on controlling trans-Saharan trade routes and profited mostly from the slave trade. The Kanem-Bornu Empire, centered around the Lake Chad Basin, existed between the 9th and 19th centuries, and at its peak, the empire controlled territory stretching from southern Chad to southern Libya and included portions of modern-day Algeria, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. The Sudanese warlord Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR used an army comprised largely of slaves to conquer the Kanem-Bornu Empire in the late 19th century. In southeastern Chad, the Bagirmi and Ouaddai (Wadai) kingdoms emerged in the 15th and 16th centuries and lasted until the arrival of the French in the 19th and 20th centuries. France began moving into the region in the late 1880s and defeated the Bagirmi kingdom in 1897, Rabih AZ-ZUBAYR in 1900, and the Ouddai kingdom in 1909. In the arid regions of northern Chad and southern Libya, an Islamic order called the Sanusiyya (Sanusi) relied heavily on the trans-Saharan slave trade and had upwards of 3 million followers by the 1880s. The French defeated the Sanusiyya in 1910 after years of intermittent war. By 1910, France had incorporated the northern arid region, the Lake Chad Basin, and southeastern Chad into French Equatorial Africa. Chad achieved its independence in 1960 and then saw three decades of instability, oppressive rule, civil war, and a Libyan invasion. With the help of the French military and several African countries, Chadian leaders expelled Libyan forces during the 1987 "Toyota War," so named for the use of Toyota pickup trucks as fighting vehicles. In 1990, Chadian general Idriss DEBY led a rebellion against President Hissene HABRE. Under DEBY, Chad approved a constitution and held elections in 1996. Shortly after DEBY was killed during a rebel incursion in 2021, a group of military officials -- led by DEBY’s son, Mahamat Idriss DEBY -- took control of the government. The military officials dismissed the National Assembly, suspended the Constitution, and formed a Transitional Military Council (TMC), while pledging to hold democratic elections by October 2022. A national dialogue in August-October 2022 culminated in decisions to extend the transition for up to two years, dissolve the TMC, and appoint Mahamat DEBY as Transitional President; the transitional authorities held a constitutional referendum in December 2023 and claimed 86 percent of votes were in favor of the new constitution. The transitional authorities have announced plans to hold elections by October 2024. Chad has faced widespread poverty, an economy severely weakened by volatile international oil prices, terrorist-led insurgencies in the Lake Chad Basin, and several waves of rebellions in northern and eastern Chad. In 2015, the government imposed a state of emergency in the Lake Chad Basin following multiple attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram, now known as ISIS-West Africa. The same year, Boko Haram conducted bombings in N'Djamena. In 2019, the Chadian government also declared a state of emergency in the Sila and Ouaddai regions bordering Sudan and in the Tibesti region bordering Niger, where rival ethnic groups are still fighting. The army has suffered heavy losses to Islamic terror groups in the Lake Chad Basin.
- Location
- Central Africa, south of Libya.
- Climate
- Tropical in south, desert in north.
- Terrain
- Broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south.
- Highest point
- Emi Koussi 3,445 m.
- Lowest point
- Djourab 160 m.
- Coastline
- 0 km (landlocked)
- Land borders
- Total: 6,406 km; border countries: Cameroon 1,116 km; Central African Republic 1,556 km; Libya 1,050 km; Niger 1,196 km; Nigeria 85 km; Sudan 1,403 km.
- Major lakes
- Fresh water lake(s): Lake Chad (endorheic lake shared with Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon) - 10,360-25,900 sq km note - area varies by season and year to year.
- Natural resources
- Petroleum, uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad), gold, limestone, sand and gravel, salt.
- Land use
- Agricultural land: 40% (2023 est.); arable land: 4.2% (2023 est.); permanent crops: 0% (2023 est.); permanent pasture: 35.7% (2023 est.); forest: 3.1% (2023 est.); other: 57% (2023 est.)
- Natural hazards
- Hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; periodic droughts; locust plagues.
- Geographic note
- Note 1: Chad is the largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries note 2: a wide variety of animals lived in modern-day Chad during the African Humid Period, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, and antelope; the last remnant of this "Green Sahara" exists in the Lakes of Ounianga in northern Chad, a series of 18 interconnected freshwater, saline, and hypersaline lakes note 3: Lake Chad, the most significant water body in the Sahel, is a remnant of a former inland sea, paleolake Mega-Chad; at its greatest extent, sometime before 5000 B.C., Lake Mega-Chad was the largest of four Saharan paleolakes that existed during the African Humid Period; it covered an area of about 400,000 sq km (150,000 sq mi), roughly the size of today's Caspian Sea.
- Languages
- French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 languages and dialects.
- Religions
- Muslim 52.1%, Protestant 23.9%, Roman Catholic 20%, animist 0.3%, other Christian 0.2%, none 2.8%, unspecified 0.7% (2014-15 est.)
- Ethnic groups
- Sara (Ngambaye/Sara/Madjingaye/Mbaye) 30.5%, Kanembu/Bornu/Buduma 9.8%, Arab 9.7%, Wadai/Maba/Masalit/Mimi 7%, Gorane 5.8%, Masa/Musseye/Musgum 4.9%, Bulala/Medogo/Kuka 3.7%, Marba/Lele/Mesme 3.5%, Mundang 2.7%, Bidiyo/Migaama/Kenga/Dangleat 2.5%, Dadjo/Kibet/Muro 2.4%, Tupuri/Kera 2%, Gabri/Kabalaye/Nanchere/Somrai 2%, Fulani/Fulbe/Bodore 1.8%, Karo/Zime/Peve 1.3%, Baguirmi/Barma 1.2%, Zaghawa/Bideyat/Kobe 1.1%, Tama/Assongori/Mararit 1.1%, Mesmedje/Massalat/Kadjakse 0.8%, other 4.6%, unspecified 1.7% (2014-15 est.)
- Economy
- Oil-dependent economy challenged by market fluctuations, regional instability, refugee influx, and climate vulnerability; high levels of extreme poverty and food insecurity; recent growth driven by oil and agricultural recovery; debt-restructuring agreement under G20 Common Framework.
From the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived edition of 2026-01-22. The Factbook is no longer updated, so figures reflect that edition.
Chad in Numbers
- Population
- 21.00 million
- GDP
- US$21.5 billion
- GDP per person
- US$1,022
- Life expectancy
- 55.2 years
- Population growth
- 3.41% a year
- Population density
- 16 per km²
- Urban population
- 27.6%
- Surface area
- 1,284,000 km²
- Forest cover
- 3.0%
- Arable land
- 4.2%
- Access to electricity
- 13.4%
- Internet users
- 12.6%
Indicators from World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). The year under each figure is its reference year.
Chad in Depth
History
In the 7th millennium BC, ecological conditions in the northern half of Chadian territory favoured human settlement, and its population increased considerably. Some of the most important African archaeological sites are found in Chad, mainly in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region; some date to earlier than 2000 BC.
Kanem's expansion peaked during the long reign of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (c. 1221–1259), leaving the empire as the most powerful state in Central Africa by the time of his death. By the end of the 14th century, internal struggles and external attacks had torn Kanem apart. Finally, around 1396, the Bulala invaders forced Mai Umar Idrismi to relocate the imperial centre to Bornu.
Geography
Chad is a landlocked country spanning north-central Africa. It covers an area of 1,284,000 square kilometres (496,000 sq mi), lying between latitudes 7° and 24°N, and 13° and 24°E, and is the twentieth-largest country in the world. It is bounded to the north by Libya, to the east by Sudan, to the west by Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, and to the south by the Central African Republic. The capital is 1,060 kilometres (660 mi) from the nearest seaport, Douala, Cameroon. Because of this distance from the sea and the largely desert climate, Chad is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa".
Economy
The United Nations' Human Development Index ranks Chad as the seventh poorest country in the world, with 80% of the population living below the poverty line. The GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita was estimated as US$1,651 in 2009. Chad is part of the Bank of Central African States, the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa and the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).
Currency is the CFA franc. In the 1960s, the mining industry of Chad produced sodium carbonate, or natron. There have also been reports of gold-bearing quartz in the Biltine Prefecture. However, years of civil war have scared away foreign investors; those who left Chad between 1979 and 1982 have only recently begun to regain confidence in the country's future.
Demographics
Chad's national statistical agency projected the country's 2015 population between 13,630,252 and 13,679,203, with 13,670,084 as its medium projection; based on the medium projection, 3,212,470 people lived in urban areas and 10,457,614 people lived in rural areas. The population is young: an estimated 47% is under 15. The birth rate is estimated at 42.35 births per 1,000 people, and the mortality rate at 16.69. The life expectancy is 52 years. The agency assessed the population as of 2026 at 20,031,602.
The population is unevenly distributed. Density is 0.1/km2 (0.26/sq mi) in the Saharan Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region but 52.4/km2 (136/sq mi) in the Logone Occidental Region. In the capital, it is even higher.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Chad (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Chad: Key Facts
| Currency | Central African CFA franc |
|---|---|
| Official languages | French, Arabic |
| Head of state | Mahamat Déby |
| Head of government | Albert Pahimi Padacké |
| Calling code | +235 |
| Internet domain | .td |
| Highest point | Emi Koussi |
| Lowest point | Bodélé Depression |
| Established | 11 August 1960 |
Facts from Wikidata Q657 (CC0).
History of Chad: Empires and States
The atlas records 7 polities whose mapped territory included part of Chad, from Bornu Empire in 1579 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here | Extent |
|---|---|---|
| Bornu Empire | 1579–1894 CE | A large part |
| Wadai Empire | 1636–1910 CE | A large part |
| French Third Republic | 1900–1939 CE | Nearly all |
| French Africa | 1900–1957 CE | Nearly all |
| The French Colonial Empire | 1900–1957 CE | Nearly all |
| French Fourth Republic | 1945–1957 CE | Nearly all |
| Republic of Chad | 1961–2024 CE | Nearly all |
Historical Maps of Chad
Chad on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Visiting Chad
Chad (Arabic: تشاد, French: Tchad) is a landlocked country situated in the centre of Africa. Chad is home to more than 200 different ethnic groups (making it one of the most diverse countries in the world) and there are national parks, desert lakes, sand dunes, canyons and camel caravans that will interest the daring and adventurous.
Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Chad (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Largest Cities in Chad
19 cities recorded. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ndjamena | 989,000 | Hadjer-Lamis | National capital |
| 2 | Bongor | 193,941 | Mayo-Kebbi Est | Admin-1 capital |
| 3 | Sarh | 169,196 | Mandoul | Admin-1 capital |
| 4 | Abéché | 158,317 | Ouaddaï | Admin-1 capital |
| 5 | Moundou | 156,705 | Logone Oriental | Admin-1 capital |
| 6 | Kelo | 96,224 | Tandjilé | Populated place |
| 7 | Pala | 35,466 | Mayo-Kebbi Est | Populated place |
| 8 | Am Timan | 30,443 | Salamat | Admin-1 capital |
| 9 | Doba | 29,597 | Logone Oriental | Admin-1 capital |
| 10 | Mongo | 27,763 | Guéra | Admin-1 capital |
| 11 | Ati | 25,373 | Batha | Admin-1 capital |
| 12 | Laï | 19,382 | Tandjilé | Admin-1 capital |
| 13 | Oum Hadjer | 19,271 | Batha | Populated place |
| 14 | Mao | 18,031 | Kanem | Admin-1 capital |
| 15 | Faya Largeau | 13,400 | Bet | Admin-1 capital |
| 16 | Biltine | 11,000 | Wadi Fira | Admin-1 capital |
| 17 | Bol | 3,303 | Lac | Admin-1 capital |
| 18 | Fada | 448 | Bet | Populated place |
| 19 | Zouar | 204 | Bet | Populated place |
Highest Mountains in Chad
2 mountains recorded. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries.
| # | Name | Elevation | Feet | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emi Koussi | 3,415 m | 11,204 ft | Africa |
| 2 | Kegueur Terbi | 3,376 m | 11,076 ft | Africa |
Emi Koussi
Mountain · 3,415 m
Emi Koussi is a mountain rising to 3,415 metres (11,204 ft) in Chad, in the Africa region.
Emi Koussi (Arabic: إيمي كوسي, romanised: Īmī Kūsī), also known as Emi Koussou, is a high pyroclastic shield volcano that lies at the southeast end of the Tibesti Mountains in the central Sahara, in the northern Borkou Region of northern Chad. The highest mountain of the Sahara, the volcano is one of several in the Tibesti range, and reaches an elevation of 3,447 metres (11,309 ft), rising 3 km (1.9 mi) above the surrounding sandstone plains. The volcano is 60–70 kilometres (37–43 mi) wide and has a volume of 2,500 cubic kilometres (600 cu mi).
Two nested calderas cap the volcano, the outer one being about 15 by 11 kilometres (9.3 mi × 6.8 mi) in size. Within it on the southeast side is a smaller caldera known as Era Kohor, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide and 350 metres (1,150 ft) deep. Numerous lava domes, cinder cones, maars, and lava flows are found within the calderas and along the outer flanks of the shield. Era Kohor contains trona deposits, and Emi Koussi has been studied as an analogue of the Martian volcano Elysium Mons. Emi Koussi was active more than one million years ago, but some eruptions may be more recent, and there is ongoing fumarolic and hot spring activity.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Emi Koussi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Elevation
- 3,415 m (11,204 ft)
- Global rank
- #187 of 641 indexed
- Region
- Africa (#20)
- Country
- Chad
- Coordinates
- 19.7934°, 18.5518°
Of the 641 named summits indexed in YearMaps, Emi Koussi ranks #187 by elevation, below Crazy Peak (3,417 m) and above Muleta (3,405 m).
- Ranges:
- Marrah Mountains (Africa), Al Jabal al Akhdar (Africa)
- Neighbouring summits:
- Jabal Marrah (3,042 m), Tahat (2,908 m), Dimlang (2,042 m)
More about Emi Koussi
Geography and geomorphology
Emi Koussi lies in Chad, Africa, and is part of the Tibesti Mountains as well as its highest peak and thus of the Sahara; many peaks of the Tibesti exceed 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in height. These mountains are formed by a group of volcanoes that grew on top of a large dome of Earth's surface. Volcanism in this area is poorly studied; as the region is remote and access difficult for political reasons. Dirt roads cross the western and eastern margins of the summit caldera, and according to historical reports the Tibu people lived in its summit caldera and in artificial caves. In the Tedaga language, Emi means "mountains", "massif". The mountain has played an important role in the research and discovery history of the Tibesti.
Geology
Tectonic activity appears to have occurred in the Tibesti already between the Carboniferous and the Cretaceous, that is between 358.9 ± 0.4 and 66 million years ago. During the earliest stage of volcanism on Tibesti, alkali basalts formed large plateaus. Later, the central volcanoes developed on top of these plateaus. Volcanism in Tibesti has been explained with a mantle plume, as has been proposed for other African volcanoes, although recently tectonic effects of the collision between Africa and Europe and their effects at a distance have also been advanced as an explanation.
The oldest rocks below the Tibesti are Precambrian diorites, granites and schists, which are probably of Neoproterozoic age and are differentiated into two units.
Eruptive history
Emi Koussi erupted between 2.4 and 1.3 million years ago; it is considered to be of Pliocene-Quaternary age. The volcano was constructed mainly during the Miocene within about one million years. Radiometric dating has yielded ages of 2.42 ± 0.03 - 2.33 ± 0.09 million years ago for the oldest Emi Koussi stage. The third stage has yielded ages of 1.4 ± 0.3 - 1.32 ± 0.2 million years ago; formerly Era Kohor was considered to be a Holocene centre.
During the first stage, Emi Koussi erupted trachytes and trachyandesites in the form of ignimbrites and basaltic lapilli. This was followed in the second stage by trachytic, green or grey ignimbrites, trachytic and phonolitic lava domes and additional basaltic lava flows.
Climate and vegetation
The Tibesti mountains feature a desert mountain climate. There are no weather stations close to Emi Koussi and the stations at lower elevations likely underestimate precipitation at higher elevations, but based on cloud cover data, a yearly precipitation of 80–120 millimetres (3.1–4.7 in) has been estimated for Emi Koussi. Precipitation was higher in the past, when the African monsoon expanded over the Sahara and drew moisture from the Mediterranean Sea to the Tibesti, The climate reflects both northerly and southerly influences and is distinct from that of the surrounding deserts.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Emi Koussi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Emi Koussi: Key Facts
| Topographic prominence | 2,934 m |
|---|---|
| Mountain range | Tibesti Mountains |
Facts from Wikidata Q257441 (CC0).
Largest Lakes in Chad
1 lake recorded. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake.
| # | Name | Surface Area | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Chad | 1,293 km² | Lake |
Lake Chad
Lake · 1,293 km²
Lake Chad is a lake in Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, with a mapped surface area of about 1,293 km². About 73% of its surface lies in Chad, and the rest in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.
Lake Chad (Arabic: بحيرة تشاد, Kanuri: Sádǝ, French: Lac Tchad) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi). It is an important wetland ecosystem in West-Central Africa. The lake is rich in aquatic resources and is one of the important freshwater fish- producing areas in Africa.
Lake Chad is divided into deeper southern parts and shallower northern parts. The lake's main source of water is the Chari River which has many tributaries. The water level varies greatly seasonally, and the area of the lake also changes dramatically. In the 19th century, it still had an area of 28,000 km2 (11,000 sq mi). However, due to climate change and human water diversion, the lake shrunk significantly between 1960 and 1990, the open water area decreasing from 25,000 km2 in 1960 to just 2000 km2 in 1980. The lake is now no longer estimated to be shrinking, as rainfall recovery has partially occurred. Despite the stabilisation of the lake's water volume, Lake Chad is still under threat from climate change.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Lake Chad (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Surface area
- 1,293 km²
- Area rank
- #156 of 756 indexed
- Type
- Lake
- Countries
- Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger
- Coordinates
- 13.1037°, 14.5204°
Among the 756 water bodies with a mapped extent in YearMaps, Lake Chad ranks #156 by surface area, after Lake Bienville (1,303 km²) and ahead of Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir (1,293 km²). Areas are computed from the mapped outline and are approximate.
- Watercourses:
- Komadugu Yobe (River), Chari (River)
More about Lake Chad
Geography
The Chad Basin includes Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Sudan, and the Central African Republic. It is an extensional fault depression type rift basin, which can be divided into four secondary structural units: southern depression, northern depression, central uplift, and eastern slope. The southern depression of the basin is characterized by an asymmetric fault depression composite rift with steep slopes in the east and gentle slopes in the west on the profile, and is distributed in an NNW direction on the plane. There are two large basin‐bounding normal faults developed on both sides of the basin, with a graben style fault and depression in the middle. The east and west sides are outward dipping low angle gentle slope areas.
Hydrology
The Chad Basin covers an area of about 1×10^6 km2 (390,000 sq mi), and is injected by the Chari, Logone, and Yobe Rivers. The water supply of the lake is seasonal. Most of the precipitation comes from the Adamawa Plateau in the south of the basin, which is transported to the lake basin through the Chari River and the Logone River. The two contribute 95% of the total inflow of Lake Chad, while the Yobe River only contributes less than 2.5%. The lake seeps through the underground to the lowest point of the Chad Basin, the Bodélé Depression, approximately 480 km (300 mi) northeast of Lake Chad, with the deepest point reaching an elevation of only 155 m (509 ft) above sea level. This takes away most of the salinity and maintains the low salinity of Lake Chad.
Prehistory and history
The Chad Basin was formed by the depression of the African Shield. The floor of the basin is made of Precambrian bedrock covered by more than 3,600 m (11,800 ft) of sedimentary deposits. For most of the Quaternary, the basin had abundant water sources. Towards the end of this period, the climate became drier. Around 20,000–40,000 years ago, eolianite sand dunes began to form in the north of the basin. The area of Lake Chad experienced four heydays between 39,000 BC and 300 BC, leaving thick diatomaceous earth and lacustrine deposits in the strata. This has been called Mega-Chad.
Ecology
Part of the Chad Basin is located within the Chad Basin National Park in Nigeria, and the country and Cameroon have established the Lake Chad Ramsar Wetland with a total area of 8,225 km2 (3,176 sq mi).
The wetland plants in the south mainly include cyperus papyrus, etc. Reeds mainly grow in the north where the salinity is high, and the floating plant pistia sometimes covers large areas of open water. Changing patterns of land use and progressive degradation have reduced diversity and resulted in a more open woodland increasingly composed of species adapted to reduced moisture. Plants such as hyparrhenia rufa grow on the shores of lakes with long floods in the south.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Lake Chad (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Lake Chad: Key Facts
| Surface area | 1,540 km² |
|---|---|
| Maximum depth | 10.5 m |
| Volume | 6.3 km³ |
| Surface elevation | 100 m |
| Inflows | Chari River, Yobe River, Ngadda River |
| Drainage system | Chad Basin |
Facts from Wikidata Q125309 (CC0).
Rivers in Chad
6 rivers recorded. Listed alphabetically. A river is listed where its mapped reach lies, so long rivers appear under more than one country.
| Name | Type | Also Flows Through |
|---|---|---|
| Aoukalé | River | Central African Republic |
| Bahr Aouk | River | Central African Republic |
| Chari | River | Cameroon, Nigeria |
| Komadugu Yobe | River | Nigeria, Niger |
| Logone | River | Cameroon |
| Ouham | River | Central African Republic |
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Chad
2 World Heritage Sites recorded. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each.
| # | Name | Inscribed | Type | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakes of Ounianga | 2012 | Natural | (vii) |
| 2 | Ennedi Plateau | 2016 | Mixed | (iii) (vii) (ix) |
Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Chad
9 mountain ranges, deserts and other landforms recorded. Ranked by mapped area. Covers mountain ranges, deserts, plateaus, named glaciers, plains, basins, peninsulas and capes. One that crosses a border is listed under every country it lies in, with the area of the whole feature.
| # | Name | Area | Type | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Africa | 29.41M km² | Continent | Africa |
| 2 | Sahara | 4.73M km² | Desert | Africa |
| 3 | Sahel | 1.02M km² | Plain | Africa |
| 4 | Ténéré | 348,246 km² | Desert | Africa |
| 5 | TIBESTI Mountains | 123,521 km² | Range/mtn | Africa |
| 6 | Chaîne des Mongos | 88,668 km² | Range/mtn | Africa |
| 7 | Bodélé Depression | 75,419 km² | Depression | Africa |
| 8 | Ennedi Plat | 58,024 km² | Plateau | Africa |
| 9 | Mbang Mountains | 95 km² | Range/mtn | Africa |
Countries Bordering Chad
Land and maritime neighbours.
More Maps in Africa
Chad: Quick Answers
- What is the capital of Chad?
- The capital of Chad is N'Djamena.
- What is the population of Chad?
- Chad has a population of about 21.00 million, the #64 largest of 225 countries in YearMaps. Source: World Bank, 2025.
- How big is Chad?
- Chad covers 1.28M km², ranking #22 by area, with about 16 people per square kilometre.
- Which continent is Chad in?
- Chad is in Africa.
- Which countries border Chad?
- Chad shares a land or maritime border with Central African Republic, Cameroon, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan.
- What is the largest city in Chad?
- Ndjamena is the largest city in Chad, with a metropolitan population of about 989,000.
- What is the highest mountain in Chad?
- The highest summit recorded for Chad in YearMaps is Emi Koussi at 3,415 m (11,204 ft). Summits on a border are counted for both countries.
- What is the largest lake in Chad?
- The largest lake recorded in or bordering Chad is Lake Chad, at roughly 1,293 km².