POPULATION:	5 million
LITERACY RATE:	30%
SELF DEFENSE FORCES:	Chad National Armed Forces
LANGUAGES:	French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), Sango (in south), more than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken
ETHNIC GROUPS:	Sara, Fulani, Barma, Kanembu, Arabs, Maba, Teda, Daza, Tubu, Kotoko,
BORDERING COUNTRIES:	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan

CHAD- Chad is a country with a long history of war, both civil and national.  After winning its independence from France, the country almost immediately began having problems with its neighbors over territory and economy.  Many times Chad has had to call upon US and European military aid to help in its struggles, its most drawn out conflict being with Libya.  Finally after the collapse neither the US nor the Europeans could afford anymore aid to Chad, who now it seemed to be starting its own fights with Libya and Sudan.  This was a short fight however as Libya was soon wiped of the face of the earth in the Mid-east Meltdown.  This did not solve any problems however, as Chad took some near hits from nuclear weapons in the north, and fallout has poisoned most of the countries water supply.  Still it was better than initial reports led the world to belive.  It was originally thought that Chad had been wiped out, however most of the damage was to the north, and freak desert winds kept most of the radiation and fallout in one place or moved it north into Libya.  When the world finally did recover from the collapse, and aid from Europe and the US again began to reach Africa, it was too late for Chad, who absolutely refused aid from the countries which had ignored them during its crisis.  Now Chad, a completely landlocked nation finds it self almost completely surrounded by US supported and protected nations, with only Niger as its ally.  Chad is often involved In open conflict with Sudan, who block trade routes with Egypt.  Sudan however is still bitter from the war, when many Sudanese civilians along the border were slaughtered by invading Chadian forces.  Niger has also had conflict, but supports Chad now because of similar problems of supply and demand, and Niger provides an open road to Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea.  Chad is also armed and supplied by China, and Chinese military advisors and a relatively small contingent of troops have moved in to Chad to aid in military efforts against Sudan.   In addition Chad still has vast stores of old US, European and captured soviet weapons, Including an air force of 350 aircraft, made up mostly of old Soviet MIGS, US F-16's and F-4'S, and French Tornado's and Harrier's as well as numerous bombers and cargo planes.  Many civilian and commercial planes have also been confiscated and converted for military use.

Chad itself is a harsh land, part of the sahara, a large desert realm with only a few desert oasis in the north, and thornbrush in the south.  The fertile area of lake Chad provides most of the countries food supply, although pollution, lack of adequate supply transportation, and frequent tribal wars between the northern and southern tribes of Chad have hampered distribution severely.  This has resulted in famine and malnutrition for much of Chad, and has served to increase tension with their neighbors.