Chad explained to kids

Chad is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Chad covers an area of 1,284,000 square kilometers (495,755 square miles), making it the fifth-largest country in Africa and the 31st-largest country in the world. Chad has a population of over 15 million people. The capital and largest city is N'Djamena. The official languages of Chad are French and Arabic. The majority of the population is Muslim, with a small Christian minority. Chad is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, and the Economic Community of Central African States. The country's name is derived from the Lake Chad, which is the largest wetland in the Sahel region of Africa. The name "Chad" is also used as a nickname for the people of the country. The territory of modern Chad has been inhabited for over a thousand years. The first states to emerge in the area were the Kingdom of Kanem in the 9th century, and the Kingdom of Bornu in the 13th century. These kingdoms, which flourished in the Sahel region, were eventually supplanted by the Sokoto Caliphate and the Kanem-Bornu Empire. In the 19th century, the region was colonized by the French. Chad became an independent country in 1960. Since independence, Chad has been plagued by political instability and violence. In 1990, a civil war broke out, which lasted for eight years. In 1998, another civil war broke out, which lasted until 2002. In 2005, a third civil war broke out, which lasted until 2010. Since 2010, Chad has been relatively stable, though the country faces many challenges. These include poverty, corruption, environmental degradation, and a lack of development. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. It is also one of the least developed, with a human development index of only 0.402.