N'Djamena. Chad

N’Djamena is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Chad, a landlocked country in central Africa. Because of its location and relative stability, N’Djamena was once considered an important staging ground for many humanitarian missions in the central African region. The capital takes its name from the Arab word for “place of rest,” but Chad is now considered one of the poorest and most corrupt nations in Africa. Warfare has challenged N’Djamena’s stability, and the capital was the site of two rebel attacks in 2006 and 2008, both named the Battle of N’Djamena. Chadian soldiers stopped rebels in 2021 before they advanced to N'Djamena.

Landscape

N’Djamena is located on the western edge of Chad, which borders the nations of Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Libya. Situated on the banks of the Chari River, directly across from the city of Kousséri in Cameroon, the capital is Chad’s chief export center. Both the Chari and Logone rivers meet near N’Djamena and both are feeder systems for Lake Chad, one of the largest sources of freshwater in Africa. As of 2024, the Chari River was mostly navigable, but the Logone was only navigable a few months a year during the rainy season.

Much of Chad is characterized by a desert climate, especially in the western region where N’Djamena is situated. Typically, the rainy season extends from June to October, with the dry season lasting from November to May; annual rainfall in the capital is 750 millimeters (29.5 inches). The average temperature in the summer ranges from 23 to 42 degrees Celsius (73 to 107 degrees Fahrenheit) and from 14 to 35 degrees Celsius (57 to 95 degrees) in the winter months.

Heavy rain caused by climate change has caused flooding in N'Djamena, as well as the rest of Chad, and is expected to worsen in the future.

People

In 2022, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the urban area of N'Djamena had a population of 1.533 million inhabitants; however, the ethnic turmoil and violence in the country makes an accurate and reliable account difficult. The predominant languages of N’Djamena are French and Arabic, both of which are official languages of the country. Regional African dialects are also common, and over 120 regional dialects are often spoken throughout Chad.

Many of the city’s residents are Arab Africans with native Africans making up the rest of the population. The majority ethnic groups include the Chadian Arabs, Ngambaye, Hadjerai, Daza, and Bilala. In addition, there are over one hundred ethnic minorities in Chad itself. Islam is the predominant religion.

Economy

N’Djamena is the chief export center of Chad, and oil and agriculture drive the country’s economy. As of 2024, according to the CIA, 80 percent of Chad residents rely on farming and raising livestock as their livelihood, and oil provides the bulk of the country’s exports. In addition, cattle, cotton, and gum arabic are also primary exports. Economic growth was positive in the early 2010s due to rising oil prices and abundant local harvests. However, this growth had slowed or stopped by the 2020s.

As Chad’s administrative center, N’Djamena is home to various government and international organizations. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), for example, has a regional headquarters there, as do many financial institutions from the region. In addition, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) is also located in N’Djamena. This regulatory body is funded by five member states that have access to Lake Chad—namely Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger and Nigeria. The purpose of the LCBC is to protect and monitor Lake Chad, a precious resource for all five countries.

Although N’Djamena is considered the center of commerce for the entire country—and the only significant urban area in Chad—the economy of the capital and the nation as a whole has suffered due to instability. Drought, a lack of infrastructure, civil wars and unrest, as well as turmoil in neighboring countries, have also contributed to a slowing economy in N’Djamena. By 2017, select start-up companies had formed, mainly in the area of technology, in the hope of benefitting the country's economy through digital innovations such as e-commerce websites; some of these were based in the capital. However, only 19 percent of Chad had internet access as of 2022.

The discovery of oil in Chad attracted many international and domestic oil companies to the country, and many of those have headquartered their operations in N’Djamena. Nonetheless, with greater uncertainty and poor government control, the economic benefits of oil have not been able to create stability in the region or improve the country’s infrastructure.

N’Djamena has Chad’s only international airport. There is no railway system in the city.

Landmarks

The Grand Market in N’Djamena is a popular attraction and social center for the city, and where the majority of the region’s agricultural products, textiles, and handicrafts can be purchased. With a large Muslim population, N’Djamena is home to the Great Mosque, built from 1974–78. The building is a dominant part of Chad’s skyline and is located in the center of town. N’Djamena also has a large cathedral from its time as a French colony.

Chad also contains several historical landmarks, including ancient ruins from the Sao culture. The Sao were an ancient civilization that lived along the banks of the Chari River around the sixth century before dying out approximately nine hundred years later. Little is known about the Sao, and scholars often debate their origins, with some believing they originated around Lake Chad and others who claim that they may have come from as far away as the Nile valley in Egypt.

Place d’Independence is the home to the Presidential Palace, government buildings and foreign embassies.

In addition, the Place d’Independence houses Chad’s National Museum, which was founded in 1962. The museum is not large, with only a few rooms containing artifacts from the pre-historic era to modern day, though it maintains an important collection of local traditions and culture.

History

N’Djamena was founded by the French in 1900 and was originally called Fort Lamy. The town took its name from a French major who had died in battles against the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr in neighboring Cameroon. For most of its early history, the city was relatively small and its population did not increase substantially until after Chad’s independence from France in 1960.

In 1973, Chad’s first president, François Tombalbaye, renamed the city N’Djamena as part of his “Africanization” project for the country. By 1979, Chad had been embroiled in a bloody civil war for almost fifteen years between the Arab north and the black, predominately Christian, south. During this time, the city suffered heavy damage and its population decreased.

From 1980 to 1981, Libyan forces briefly occupied N’Djamena in support of Goukouni Oueddei, then head of state. In 1982, however, the French supported another coup by Hissène Habré, who took control of the capital. During this time, both France and Libya had about three thousand troops each in Chad, with the French soldiers headquartered in N’Djamena to support President Habré. In 1984, the two countries negotiated a phased withdrawal to remove all French and Libyan troops from the country by the end of that year. French troops began withdrawing from their outposts and most soldiers were moved to N’Djamena before departing the country, and by 1996, Idriss Déby took up residence in the presidential palace in N’Djamena, becoming the country’s first elected president.

Ten years later, in April 2006, the first Battle of N’Djamena occurred when members of the rebel group the United Front for Democratic Change (UFDC) attempted to capture the city. Government troops defeated them handily and many rebels were captured. In 2008, rebel troops attempted to overtake the city again. This time the rebels succeeded in entering the city and came close to deposing the country’s president, though they were eventually driven out with the help of French forces. Many residents fled N’Djamena to neighboring Kousséri in Cameroon.

The siege of N’Djamena was yet another sign of unrest in a country that is situated in one of the most volatile regions in the world. Chad’s eastern border is with the Darfur region of Sudan, and many Sudanese refugees have sought shelter in Chad. In addition, the country has also absorbed refugees from the Central African Republic in the South. As of early 2014, over 350,000 refugees from Sudan and over 80,000 from the Central African Republic had been displaced to Chad. The United Nations (UN) and other international groups have become concerned over the fighting in N’Djamena and the impact that this instability may have on central African regional aid.

In mid-2015 N’Djamena was the target of several bombings by the terrorist group Boko Haram. Three years later, the city, along with other major urban areas in the country, was the site of protests against austerity measures that had been put in place by the government.

Bibliography

“Chad.” The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 21 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/chad/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2024.

"Chad Profile—Timeline." BBC News, 20 Apr. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13164690. Accessed 23 Feb. 2024.

"Chadian Military Halts Rebel Advances on N'Djamena." Africa News, 5 Mar. 2021, www.africanews.com/2021/04/19/chadian-military-halts-rebel-advance-on-ndjamena//. Accessed 23 Feb. 2024.

"Chad: Targeted Policy Reform Can Boost Resilience to Climate Change and Flooding." The World Bank, 10 July 2023, www.worldbank.org/en/country/chad/publication/chad-targeted-policy-reforms-can-boost-resilience-to-climate-change-and-flooding. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.

Frere, Marie-Soleil. Elections and the Media in Post-Conflict Africa: Votes and Voices for Peace? Zed, 2011.

Igwe, Dickson Ogbonnaya. “Violent Conflicts as an Impediment to the Achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Africa.” Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, 2011, pp. 1–27.

Reinhard, Wolfgang, and Kate Sturge. A Short History of Colonialism. Manchester UP, 2011.

Takebe, Misa, and Robert C. York. External Sustainability of Oil-Producing Sub-Saharan African Countries. International Monetary Fund, 2011.

Thomas, Martin. The French Colonial Mind. U of Nebraska P, 2011.