The capital of N'Djamena, founded in 1900 by the French as a military stronghold of Fort Lamy, is the University, National Museum.
- A unique natural monument is the Tibesti Highland, a grandiose rise of ancient crystalline rocks, the top of which is crowned with numerous volcanic cones, among which is the highest point of Chad - Mount Amy-Kusi (3415 m) with a huge (13 km across and 300 m deep) crater. There are hot springs on the slopes, and numerous drawings of prehistoric man have been found in the rocks, many of which depict flora and fauna that has not existed in these parts for many thousands of years - giraffes, elephants, crocodiles, etc. The rocks themselves, rugged with erosion, create a unique labyrinth of gorges, caves, and canyons that form into various stone "sculptures", depending on the imagination of the observer and the angle of incidence of sunlight, giving them an incredible variety of color shades.
- Lake Chad is also unique, the only large water body in this anhydrous area. Drainageless weakly saline lake with the area from 10 to 26 thousand square kilometers. (depending on the season) and the depth of only 4-11 meters constantly changes its shape depending on the season. The shores of Lake Chad in the west and south are swamped and covered with herbaceous vegetation, which serves as a haven for thousands and thousands of animals and birds, while in the north they are very rugged and very picturesque. Lake Chad is exceptionally rich in birds, including flamingos and pelicans, coming here for the winter from all over Europe and Western Asia. The lake attracts constant interest among tourists and as a place of great sport fishing, unlikely anywhere else in the region.
- The export and import of foreign currency is not limited, national - not more than 50 thousand francs. Import of weapons (hunting - declared), drugs and drugs is prohibited. Export of ivory, skins of animals, rare plants, antique coins, applied art from bronze, rare birds is prohibited.
The 'unit of money' is the 'Central African franc
Chad is a very expensive country! The food and everything else is very expensive! Even the fruits are expensive, imported from Cameroon.
There are no ATMs in the country, but money can be sent here via Western Union.
Arabic (a special dialect), some speak French. Northern
half of them are Muslims.
Geography
- The Republic is located in Central Africa, equidistant from all ocean coasts and occupies an area of 1,284,000 square kilometers. It borders Libya in the north, Niger, Nigeria (on Lake Chad) and Cameroon in the west, CAR in the south and Sudan in the east. The major part of the territory is a flat desert plain, in the north - the Tibesti highlands (height up to 3415 m). The northern part of the country lies within the Sahara Desert, the southern part covers the Sahel (semi-deserts and desert savannahs of the transition zone) and part of the Sudanese natural area. The river is small, the main one - the Shari (with a tributary of the Logone) flows in the south of the country and flows into Lake Chad, the rest of the rivers exist almost only after the rains and represent dry wadi beds for the rest of the time
- Chad is home to more than 140 ethnic groups: Sarah, Bagirmi, Kreish, Arabs, Toubou, Kanouri, Zaghawa and others.
- Sarah is the most numerous people. They have developed agriculture (cultivation of millet, sorghum, corn, legumes, root vegetables) and goat and sheep breeding. Women's Sarahs have unusual ornaments: they insert wooden, bone or metal plates with a diameter of up to 30 - 40 cm into their lips. This custom dates back to slave-holding times when women were mutilated to save them from slavery. Over time, the plates have become a kind of decoration that is still widespread today. Scarring stripes are also applied to the forehead and whiskey as a sharp piece of jewelry.
- In the north and east of the country, there are Arabs, the second largest people in Chad. They breed camels, cattle, small cattle, and sheep. The dwellings of the settled peoples have a cylindrical shape, with earthen walls and conical or flat grass roofs. Nomads live in collapsible tents covered with palm-leaf and camel-skin mats.
- N'Djamena is the largest city in Chad and the country's trade, economic and cultural center. The city was founded by French colonizers in 1900 and named after the leader of the French expedition Fort Lamy. In 1973 it was named N'Djamena, in memory of the capital of the ancient state of Kanem, which existed on the territory of present-day Chad in the IX-XIV centuries. Here are the leading enterprises of the food industry. Since 1972, a national university has been operating here. The most beautiful street in the city is General de Gaulle Avenue.
- The town of Sarah (about 120 thousand inhabitants) is located in the south of Chad. It was founded in 1899 as a stronghold in military operations against the ruler of Rabbah. In 1935, it was renamed Sarah, which means "concentration camp", as the opponents of the colonial regime were exiled here. Nowadays, Sarah is the center of the processing industry: cotton cleaning, oil-milling, sugar, and flour-milling.
- The city of Mundu (over 100,000 inhabitants) is located on the Logon River in southern Chad. It is home to cotton processing plants, food industry enterprises, and a bicycle assembly plant.
- Foreign tourists (about 57 thousand a year) are attracted by the sights of N'Djamena and the Tibesti Plateau with the peak of Amy-Kusi (3415 m) - the highest point in the Sahara, ancient rock painting, remains of Neolithic camps. In the south, in the forest zone, there are the famous national parks of Zakuma, Manda, Siniaka-Minia.
Most of the territory is plain. In the north-west, there is the Tibesti Highland. The north of the country is rocky and sandy deserts with rare oases. In the south, there are savannahs with high grass cover and park forests. The climate is continental: tropical and desert in the north; equatorial and monsoonal in the south. Large herbivores live here. Hippos and crocodiles live on the shores of lakes. Lake Chad, the fourth largest lake in Africa, is located in the west of the country, south of the Sahara Desert.