Chad: People & Society#
| Population | 11,852,462 (July 2016 est.) |
|---|---|
| Nationality | noun: Chadian(s) adjective: Chadian |
| Ethnic groups | Sara (Ngambaye/Sara/Madjingaye/Mbaye) 25.9%, Arab 12.6%, Kanembu/Bornu/Buduma 8.3%, Wadai/Maba/Masalit/Mimi 7%, Gorane 6.8%, Masa/Musseye/Musgum 4.7%, Bulala/Medogo/Kuka 3.6%, Bidiyo/Migaama/Kenga/Dangleat 3.6%, Marba/Lele/Mesme 2.9%, Dadjo/Kibet/Muro 2.5%, Mundang 2.5%, Gabri/Kabalaye/Nanchere/Somrai 2.4%, Zaghawa/Bideyat/Kobe 2.3%, Fulani/Fulbe/Bodore 2%, Tupuri/Kera 2%, Tama/Assongori/Mararit 1.6%, Baguirmi/Barma 1.3%, Karo/Zime/Peve 1.3%, Mesmedje/Massalat/Kadjakse 1%, other Chadian ethnicities 2.5%, Chadians of foreign ethnicities 0.6%, foreign nationals 2.5% (Sudanese 2%) (2009 est.) |
| Languages | French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects |
| Religions | Muslim 58.4%, Catholic 18.5%, Protestant 16.1%, animist 4%, other 0.5%, none 2.4% (2009 est.) |
| Demographic profile | Despite the start of oil production in 2003, 40% of Chad’s population lives below the poverty line. The population will continue to grow rapidly because of the country’s very high fertility rate and large youth cohort – more than 65% of the populace is under the age of 25 – although the mortality rate is high and life expectancy is low. Chad has the world’s third highest maternal mortality rate. Among the primary risk factors are poverty, anemia, rural habitation, high fertility, poor education, and a lack of access to family planning and obstetric care. Impoverished, uneducated adolescents living in rural areas are most affected. To improve women’s reproductive health and reduce fertility, Chad will need to increase women’s educational attainment, job participation, and knowledge of and access to family planning. Only about a quarter of women are literate, less than 5% use contraceptives, and more than 40% undergo genital cutting. More than 300,000 refugees from Sudan and almost 70,000 from the Central African Republic strain Chad’s limited resources and create tensions in host communities. Thousands of new refugees fled to Chad in 2013 to escape worsening violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. The large refugee populations are hesitant to return to their home countries because of continued instability. Chad was relatively stable in 2012 in comparison to other states in the region, but past fighting between government forces and opposition groups and inter-communal violence have left nearly 60,000 of its citizens displaced in the eastern part of the country. |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.63% (male 2,622,700/female 2,549,035) 15-24 years: 21.18% (male 1,225,731/female 1,285,150) 25-54 years: 28.31% (male 1,525,208/female 1,830,530) 55-64 years: 3.87% (male 202,044/female 256,936) 65 years and over: 3% (male 146,957/female 208,171) (2016 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 100.7% youth dependency ratio: 95.8% elderly dependency ratio: 4.9% potential support ratio: 20.3% (2015 est.) |
| Median age | total: 17.6 years male: 16.6 years female: 18.6 years (2016 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.88% (2016 est.) |
| Birth rate | 36.1 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Death rate | 14 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -3.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Population distribution | the population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography; the highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south; the dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated |
| Urbanization | urban population: 22.5% of total population (2015) rate of urbanization: 3.42% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) |
| Major urban areas - population | N'DJAMENA (capital) 1.26 million (2015) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 0.83 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.79 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2016 est.) |
| Mother's mean age at first birth | 17.9 note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2014/15 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 856 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 87 deaths/1,000 live births male: 92.5 deaths/1,000 live births female: 81.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 50.2 years male: 49 years female: 51.5 years (2016 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 4.45 children born/woman (2016 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 4.8% (2010) |
| Health expenditures | 3.6% of GDP (2014) |
| Physicians density | 0.04 physicians/1,000 population (2006) |
| Drinking water source | improved: urban: 71.8% of population rural: 44.8% of population total: 50.8% of population unimproved: urban: 28.2% of population rural: 55.2% of population total: 49.2% of population (2015 est.) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 31.4% of population rural: 6.5% of population total: 12.1% of population unimproved: urban: 68.6% of population rural: 93.5% of population total: 87.9% of population (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 2.04% (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 165,600 (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 8,500 (2015 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever water contact disease: schistosomiasis respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis animal contact disease: rabies (2016) |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 6.6% (2014) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 28.8% (2015) |
| Education expenditures | 2.9% of GDP (2013) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic total population: 40.2% male: 48.5% female: 31.9% (2015 est.) |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) | total: 7 years male: 9 years female: 6 years (2011) |
| Child labor - children ages 5-14 | total number: 1,475,960 percentage: 48% (2010 est.) |