Chad is the largest country of former French Equatorial Africa. It is a landlocked country with one of the world’s lowest population densities. It is situated in the heart of Africa and has borders with Cameroon in the South-west, Niger and Nigeria in the West, the Central African Republic in the South, Libya in the North and Sudan in the East. Chad’s topography is generally flat except for a range of hills along the Eastern border and relatively high, barren mountains in the far North-west. Most of the country’s drainage system flows into Lake Chad which lacks an outlet. The climate is hot and arid in the Northern desert regions, and wet and tropical in the South.

The economy of Chad is dominated by agriculture which creates employment and generates most of the export revenues. Cotton and groundnuts are the two major crops. Other important crops are sorghum, millet, dry beans, sesame, potatoes, and rice. The industrial sector is small and its industrial production is limited and based on food processing, textiles, brewing and leather. There are significant reserves of uranium in the Aozou strip located in the extreme Northern desert area. However, the only minerals extracted are soda and rock salt.

GDP at Current Market Prices:	4028.31 million US$ (2004)
Per Capita GDP:	390.55 US$ (2004)
Share of Sectors in GDP:	29.91% Agriculture, 8.0% Industry, 28.0% Services, (2003)
Total Exports:	533.84 million US$ (2003)
Total Imports:	- million US$ (2004)
Major Exports Items:	Cotton, livestock, meat, hides, skin and textiles
Major Imports Items:	Machinery and transportation equipment, industrial goods and petroleum products
Major Trading Partners:	US, France, Portugal and Germany

 

Ministère du Plan, de la Coopération et du Développement

Ministère du Petrole du Tchad

Institut National de la Statistique

Banque des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale

L’Inspecteur Général de Finances du Tchad