The Republic of Chad
The official name of the country is the Republic of Chad.
President – Idriss Deby.
Head of government – Emmanuel Nadingar.
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Moussa Faki Machamat.
Capital is N'Djamena.
Holiday and public holiday: 1 January, 1 and 25 May, 11 August, 1 and 28 November, 1 and 25 December, Easter and Muslim holidays.
Currency is Central African CFA franc (1 USA dollar = 480 CFA francs). Import and export of local currency is unlimited.
Climate is tropical: the rainy season - from June to November, the dry season - from December to May (from March to April the temperature rises until +47oC in the shade).
August 1, 1960, Chad gained the independence from France.
Administrative divisions
The country is divided into 22 regions. The administrative structure has changed in 2008, before that there were 18 prefectures.
Largest cities (data from 2010):
N'Djamena (792,440 people),
Mundu (148,544 people),
Sarh (112,674 people),
Abeche (81,530 people).
Population – 10.5 million people (data from July 2010)
Domestic policy
Head of state is the president, who is also a chief of the armed forces. According to the amendments to the Constitution, adopted by referendum on June 6, 2005, the president is elected by direct and secret ballot for a term of 5 years and may be re-elected unlimited number of times.
Legislative power is vested in the National Assembly. Structure - 155 deputies, elected by universal direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of 4 years. The last elections to the legislative authority were held in April, 2002. Adopted in the 2005 amendments to the Constitution abolished the upper house - the Senate.
Natural resources are: deposits of oil, bauxite, uranium, gold, beryllium, tin, tantalum, copper.
GDP per capita in 2009 was 1.6 thousand dollars (196-th in the world). Below the poverty line is 80% of the population. Chad is highly dependent on foreign aid and investment.
Dominates the agricultural sector (57% of GDP) - 80% of workers are employed in subsistence farming, mainly in raising the livestock (sheep, goats, camels). Also are cultivated products, such as cotton, sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes.
Since the end of 2003, was started a significant oil production; since 2004 oil is exported. In the development of the oil industry are actively involved USA companies and China.
Industry - oil, cotton processing, meat processing, brewing, soap, cigarettes.
Foreign trade
Export - $4.3 billion dollars in 2008 (crude oil, cattle and cotton).
Main customers are: USA - 90.1%, China - 2.9%, Japan - 2.2%, France - 1.5%.
Import - $1.9 billion in 2008 (industrial products, food, textiles).
Major suppliers are: France - 17.6%, Cameroon - 14.8%, China - 9.9%, Ukraine - 9.6%, USA - 7.7%, Germany - 5.6%.
