Africa as a whole is often featured heavily in the news, though it is often portrayed through negative narratives like conflict, poverty, disease, and corruption. 

Occasionally you also hear about exciting archaeological discoveries in the continent, like at the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, or the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, which offer exciting glimpses into ancient civilisations that once walked the Earth. 

However, one country that hardly ever gets a mention in the news is the landlocked central African country of Chad. With a total area of around 500,000 sq mi, Chad is the fifth-largest country in Africa and the 20th-largest by area in the world.

Like much of Africa, it also faces multiple humanitarian crises, including political uncertainty, food insecurity, and climate instability. The Foreign Office also advises tourists to avoid travelling there for various reasons. 

Bordered by Libya, Sudan, the CAR, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, Chad is home to roughly 16 million people, 1.6 million of which live in the capital and the largest city, N’Djamena. 

Chad has several regions, with the Sahara desert in the north, an arid zone in the centre known as the Sahel and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the second-largest wetland in Africa. 

Home to over 200 ethnic groups who speak over 100 languages, it is not hard to see why Chad has earned the nickname “Babel Tower of the World.” The country’s two official languages are Arabic and French, echoing the country’s not-so-distant colonial past. 

The FCDO’s security map of Chad is almost entirely red (“advise against all travel”), with some areas coloured in yellow (“advise against all but essential travel”). It advises against all travel to parts of Chad and warns that your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against FCDO advice. 

There is a high threat of terrorist attacks globally affecting UK interests and British nationals, including from groups and individuals who view the UK and British nationals as targets. There is also a high risk of terrorist kidnapping in the Lake Chad Basin and the border areas with Cameroon, Sudan and the CAR. 

For the locals in Chad, life is not much easier. Over five million people are food insecure, and nearly 1.7 million suffer from recurrent cases of preventable diseases. Chad also plays host to thousands of refugees and internally displaced people – a crisis that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says tends to go underfunded despite its evident need.

Many people depend on Lake Chad for fishing, farming and as a watering source for cattle and goat herds. Yet because of climate change, the lake’s ability to serve as a sufficient resource shrinks yearly, contributing to conflict over access to its shores. 

Chad also ranks among the poorest countries in the world. As of 2022, more than 6.1 million Chadians, almost one-third of the country’s population, required humanitarian assistance. Around 42% of the country lives below the poverty line. 

If Chad were to stabilise in the near future, it could rival some of Africa’s top tourist destinations. Visitors would have the chance to explore the stunning Lake Chad, the Tibesti Mountains in the far north, which is home to a 3,445-metre volcano (Emi Koussi), and the Zakouma National Park, which is full of rare mammal and bird species and would make for an incredible safari adventure.