Chad

Chad, a small but strategically important landlocked nation in East Africa, partially in the Sahel, and is is a former French colony. Its western border is the eastern border of the Darfur area, and there is considerable cross-border conflict; Chad is a logical staging area for international actions such as a possible no-fly zone. Relations with France are friendly and that nation is a key patron.

Geography

The capital is N'Djamena. The country's borders are with:

• Cameroon 1,094 km
• Central African Republic 1,197 km
• Libya 1,055 km
• Niger 1,175 km
• Nigeria 87 km
• Sudan 1,360 km

Government and security

After independence from France, drafted a democratic constitution, and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which has sporadically flared up despite several peace agreements between the government and the rebels.

There is spillover of insurgency from Sudan and Darfur. In 2005, new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and made probing attacks into eastern Chad, despite signing peace agreements in December 2006 and October 2007. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority. In June 2005, President Idriss Deby held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits and won another controversial election in 2006. Sporadic rebel campaigns continued throughout 2006 and 2007, and the capital experienced a significant rebel threat in early 2008.

Economics

Petroleum deposits were recently found, and an innovative pipeline built to Cameroon on the coast of East Africa.