17,414,108 (July 2021 est.)
noun: Chadian(s)
adjective: Chadian
Sara (Ngambaye/Sara/Madjingaye/Mbaye) 30.5%, Kanembu/Bornu/Buduma 9.8%, Arab 9.7%, Wadai/Maba/Masalit/Mimi 7%, Gorane 5.8%, Masa/Musseye/Musgum 4.9%, Bulala/Medogo/Kuka 3.7%, Marba/Lele/Mesme 3.5%, Mundang 2.7%, Bidiyo/Migaama/Kenga/Dangleat 2.5%, Dadjo/Kibet/Muro 2.4%, Tupuri/Kera 2%, Gabri/Kabalaye/Nanchere/Somrai 2%, Fulani/Fulbe/Bodore 1.8%, Karo/Zime/Peve 1.3%, Baguirmi/Barma 1.2%, Zaghawa/Bideyat/Kobe 1.1%, Tama/Assongori/Mararit 1.1%, Mesmedje/Massalat/Kadjakse 0.8%, other Chadian ethnicities 3.4%, Chadians of foreign ethnicities 0.9%, foreign nationals 0.3%, unspecified 1.7% (2014-15 est.)
French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects
printed major-language sample:
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French)
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Muslim 52.1%, Protestant 23.9%, Roman Catholic 20%, animist 0.3%, other Christian 0.2%, none 2.8%, unspecified 0.7% (2014-15 est.)
Despite the start of oil production in 2003, 40% of Chad’s population lives below the poverty line. The population will continue to grow rapidly because of the country’s very high fertility rate and large youth cohort – more than 65% of the populace is under the age of 25 – although the mortality rate is high and life expectancy is low. Chad has the world’s third highest maternal mortality rate. Among the primary risk factors are poverty, anemia, rural habitation, high fertility, poor education, and a lack of access to family planning and obstetric care. Impoverished, uneducated adolescents living in rural areas are most affected. To improve women’s reproductive health and reduce fertility, Chad will need to increase women’s educational attainment, job participation, and knowledge of and access to family planning. Only about a quarter of women are literate, less than 5% use contraceptives, and more than 40% undergo genital cutting.
As of October 2017, more than 320,000 refugees from Sudan and more than 75,000 from the Central African Republic strain Chad’s limited resources and create tensions in host communities. Thousands of new refugees fled to Chad in 2013 to escape worsening violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. The large refugee populations are hesitant to return to their home countries because of continued instability. Chad was relatively stable in 2012 in comparison to other states in the region, but past fighting between government forces and opposition groups and inter-communal violence have left nearly 60,000 of its citizens displaced in the eastern part of the country.
0-14 years: 47.43% (male 4,050,505/female 3,954,413)
15-24 years: 19.77% (male 1,676,495/female 1,660,417)
25-54 years: 27.14% (male 2,208,181/female 2,371,490)
55-64 years: 3.24% (male 239,634/female 306,477)
65 years and over: 2.43% (male 176,658/female 233,087) (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 96
youth dependency ratio: 91.1
elderly dependency ratio: 4.9
potential support ratio: 20.4 (2020 est.)
total: 16.1 years
male: 15.6 years
female: 16.5 years (2020 est.)
3.12% (2021 est.)
41.05 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
9.7 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
the population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography; the highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south; the dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated as shown in this population distribution map
urban population: 23.8% of total population (2021)
rate of urbanization: 4.1% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
1.476 million N'DJAMENA (capital) (2021)
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.78 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
18.1 years (2014/15 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-49
1,140 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
total: 67.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 72.83 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 60.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total population: 58.73 years
male: 56.92 years
female: 60.6 years (2021 est.)
5.57 children born/woman (2021 est.)
8.1% (2019)
improved: urban: 86.7% of population
rural: 46.6% of population
total: 55.7% of population
unimproved: urban: 13.3% of population
rural: 53.4% of population
total: 44.3% of population (2017 est.)
4.1% (2018)
0.04 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
improved: urban: 56.5% of population
rural: 3.1% of population
total: 15.3% of population
unimproved: urban: 43.5% of population
rural: 96.9% of population
total: 84.7% of population (2017 est.)
1.1% (2020 est.)
110,000 (2020 est.)
3,000 (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
6.1% (2016)
29.2% (2019)
2.5% of GDP (2017)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic
total population: 22.3%
male: 31.3%
female: 14% (2016)
total: 7 years
male: 9 years
female: 6 years (2015)
total: 1.5%
male: 2.4%
female: 0.7% (2018)
NOTE: The information regarding Chad on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Chad 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Chad 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.