Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Dead Heart of Africa

At 495,753 square miles, the country of Chad is the fifth largest in Africa. [1] It is surrounded by the countries Libya, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.  Because of its landlocked status, it is sometimes called the "dead heart of Africa" because the majority of its area is categorized as desert. [2]  Most of its population of 12,825,314 is in the southern half of the country because the northern portion is part of the Saharan Desert. [3]  Chad is ranked among the poorest countries in the world, falling at 153 on a 2013 list put out by the Global Finance Magazine to measure the GDP per capita. [4]


Chad’s capital and largest city, N'Djamena, is located on its southwest edge, along the Chari River (Latitude/Longitude: 12.107 / 15.044).  N'Djamena's population is 1,092,066 with an area of 40 square miles. [5]  Another notable city is the industrial Moundou, which is the second largest in Chad (Latitude/Longitude: 8.567 / 16.083), [6]  The city of Abéché contains the ruins of an ancient capital, with palaces, mosques, and tombs (Latitude/Longitude: 13.829 / 20.832). [7]  The official languages of Chad are French and Arabic, but there are more than 200 ethnic groups and over 100 languages and dialects spoken. [8] The Central African Franc is Chad's currency. [9]  

Northern Chad is desert, but southern Chad is savanna.  Between the two is the steppes of the Sahel - the band of land separating Africa's savannas from the Sahara. [10]  Receiving about an inch of rain a year, the desert averages about 90 degrees but often reaches 113 degrees in May. [11] The shrub and acacia covered Sahelian gets about 23 inches of rain and can reach 104 degrees. [12] The southern savanna, referred to as the Soudanian region, reaches the same temperatures as the Sahelian but enjoys up to 49 inches of rainwater. [13] 


The "eye" in the middle of Chad's face is the Bodélé Depression.  The lowest point in Chad, it “enjoys” dust storms about 100 days of the year. [14] North of the Depression are the Tibesti Mountains.  On the mountains’ southeast edge is the nation’s highest point, the Emi Koussi volcano.  [15]


On the borders of Chad, Niger, and Nigeria is the ever-fluctuating Lake Chad basin.  It's size has diminished since the 1960's, when it was about 9,652 square miles.   Now it is 521 square miles in area. [16]

There are two main rivers in Chad - the Chari and the Logone.  After joining in a delta area, they flow together from the southeast into Lake Chad.  The delta area floods at the end of the rainy season, providing a fertile floodplain. [17]   These fertile southern regions are the basis of Chad's traditional farming.  Chad’s economy relies on agriculture, especially through its production of cotton, which employs about 2.5 million Chadians. [18] Cattle is exported by overland to Nigeria. [19] Chad relies heavily on its annual grain production, which comes to between 600,000 and 1,100,000 tons annually. [20] Chad also produces about 115,000 barrels of oil a day.  [21]  The country also claims rank as the second larger producer of gum Arabic. [22] Resources like gold and uranium do exist, but Chad lacks the investors needed to mine them. [23]

 As a country with a high poverty index and a long and wet rainy season, malaria continues to be a never-ending issue in Chad. [24] Other health issues include the water-born Guinea-worm crisis, which was a big issue until 2000. [25]  Like in many African countries, hundreds of thousands of people live with HiV/AIDS, with a recorded rate of 11,000 related deaths in 2009. [26]





[3] "Chad", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad,  1.
[8] "Chad", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad,  30-32.
[11] "Geography of Chad: Climate", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Chad#Climate,  22.
[12] "Geography of Chad: Climate", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Chad#Climate, ¶ 25-26.
[13] "Geography of Chad: Climate", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Chad#Climate, ¶ 27.
[14] "Bodélé Depression", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bod%C3%A9l%C3%A9_Depression, ¶ 1.
[16] "Lake Chad", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chad,  ¶ 1, "Lake Chad - Almost Gone" , http://www.unep.org/dewa/vitalwater/article116.html.  
[17] "Rivers", http://countrystudies.us/chad/15.htm, ¶ 2-3.
[18] "Chad - Agriculture", http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Chad-AGRICULTURE.html, ¶ 2-3. 
[19] "Chad - Agriculture", http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Chad-AGRICULTURE.html, ¶ 4.
[20] "Chad - Agriculture", http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Chad-AGRICULTURE.html, ¶ 5.
[21]http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=cd.


[23] "Economy and Industry",  http://www.our-africa.org/chad/economy-industry, ¶ 8.
[24] "Major Problems Facing Chad Today", http://www.africaw.com/major-problems-facing-chad-today, ¶ 7.
[25] "Fighting Disease - Chad", http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/chad-health.html.
[26] "Major Problems Facing Chad Today", http://www.africaw.com/major-problems-facing-chad-today, ¶ 8.
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