Country · Africa
Chad
Republic of Chad
Chad is a country in Middle Africa. About 15.5 million people live there, in an area of 1 284 000 square kilometres. Its capital city is N'Djamena.
Picture credit: YACOUB DOUNGOUS (CC BY-SA 4.0) · YACOUB DOUNGOUS (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Yacoub (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Korom10 (CC BY 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Chad?
Chad lies in Middle Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 670 km from the equator.
Chad is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 6 countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan.
How big is Chad?
Chad covers 1 284 000 square kilometres.
That is about 12 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 20th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 12.1 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Chad?
About 15.5 million people live in Chad.
That is the 71st biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic and French.
They pay with the Central African CFA franc (Fr).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 51 years.
The land of Chad
The land of Chad sits on average 543 metres above sea level.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 6 neighbours to get here.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Chad different?
Websites from here often end in .td.
Chad and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 2 live in Chad.
It takes up about 0.96 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 5th of 54 by size, and 24th by population.
Chad and its neighbours
Sudan, its largest neighbour, is about 1.5 times bigger.
Sudan has more people: 41.8 million against 15.5 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 2 live wild in Chad: Dromedary and Fennec fox. The highest mountain in the country is Emi Koussi, at 3 447 metres. The longest river in the country is the Chari. The largest lake in the country is Lake Chad.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Chad compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 7.3 times as big as Chad: 9 372 610 km² against 1 284 000 km².
- Chad is about 5.3 times as big as the United Kingdom: 1 284 000 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Chad?
The capital of Chad is N'Djamena. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Chad?
About 15.5 million people live in Chad, which makes it the 71st most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Chad?
How big is Chad?
Chad covers 1 284 000 square kilometres, making it the 20th largest country in the world. That is about 12 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Chad?
The highest mountain in Chad is Emi Koussi, 3 447 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Chad?
The longest river in Chad is the Chari, about 1 400 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Chad?
The largest lake in Chad is Lake Chad. The whole lake covers about 2 000 km², and part of it belongs to neighbouring countries.
Which continent is Chad in?
Chad is in Africa, in the part called Middle Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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