Country Guide

Chad is a country slightly larger than Egypt, situated in interior West Africa between 10° and 23° N. It is rather sparsely populated as the northern part of the country includes part of the Sahara desert.

The general features of the climate of this part of Africa are described under Mali. Chad borders Niger on the west and the Sudan on the east and includes the same climatic belts.

The northern half of the country, the Sahara desert, is virtually rainless. Here the climate is hot around the year with abundant sunshine. The table for Faya, which lies beyond the northern limit of the summer rain-belt, is representative of this area.

The southern half of the country, roughly south of 15° N, is part of the Sahel belt, where rain occurs during the period of high sun between May and September.

The table for N'djamena is representative of this wetter Sahel region. Here sunshine amounts are lower during the rainy season from July to September, averaging six to seven hours a day as compared with nine to ten during the dry season.