African Kingdoms

Modern Chad
AD 1960 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1960-2025)

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The modern republic of Chad is a landlocked, semi-desert country in central sub-Saharan Africa. It is bordered to the north by Libya, to the east by Sudan, to the south by Central African Republic, to the south-west by Cameroon, and to the west by Nigeria and Niger. The capital is Chad's largest city, N'Djamena, a port city which sits at the confluence of the Logone and Chari rivers on the country's south-western border.

The region first entered recorded history rather late, at the start of the tenth century AD. Both the highly-obscure Duguwa kingdom and the Kanem empire emerged at approximately the same time within modern Chad's borders. The former emerged in the Tibesti highlands, beyond the Bodele depression, close to Libya's southern border.

This may have been little more than a Berber tribal state, at least in its early years. The early Kanem empire emerged to the north-east of Lake Chad from, again, highly-obscure origins, this time in the ninth century AD. It appears to have been a self-governed city state at first, but with rulers who were often apparently also rulers of the Duguwa kingdom.

Perhaps remarkably, the Kanem empire survived in one form or another - later being relocated to Bornu and rebuilt from there - until the very end of the nineteenth century. Then its territory was largely taken by France, while areas of Bornu went to Great Britain to be incorporated into the 'Northern Nigeria Protectorate', which neighboured the 'Southern Nigerian Protectorate' and its defeated Benin empire territory.

The French also gained Ouaddai-Chari in 1903 from the defeated Zobeir rulers, being able to add it and the rest of their gains to 'French Equatorial Africa'. French control of Chad was fully secured by 1920, and it remained in place until 11 August 1960 (technically 1958 and a two-year spell of federation), after which Chad gained independence.

The republic of Chad was created on 11 August 1960. A president was elected, but this quickly turned into a dictatorship and civil war followed in what was always a poor country. Since then the country's history has been marked by instability and violence, stemming mostly from tension between the mainly Arab-Muslim north and the predominantly Christian and animist south.

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(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from Washington Post, from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Israel, 1991), from The Times Atlas of World History, Geoffrey Barraclough (Ed, Hammond Inc, 1979), and from External Links: BBC News, and BBC Country Profiles, and The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: from c.1050 to c.1600, Roland Oliver (Cambridge University Press Collection, 1977, and available via the Internet Archive), and Chad, Death of a Dictator (Time Magazine), and President of the Republic of Chad (official website), and Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), and Chad (Rulers.org), and Chad (Zárate's Political Collections (ZPC)), and Unity 'the only way forward' (The Guardian), and Hissène Habré dies at 79 (BBC News), and Devastating floods (2022) (The Guardian), and Foiled attack on presidential complex (The Guardian).)

1960 - 1975

'Head of state' (to 1962) then president. Dictatorial. Killed.

1960 - 1962

Tombalbaye is the first president of the republic (albeit with the position being entitled 'head of state' until 1962). He quickly introduces dictatorial rule with the banishment of the multiparty system, and it takes just two years to get from independence to dictatorship.

The Tibesti mountains are formed from a range of inactive volcanoes which are located in northern Chad's arid Borkou and Tibesti regions, abutting Libya's south-eastern border

1965

Muslims in the country - largely located in the north - begin a civil war against the president (he being a Christian southerner). This initially takes the form of relatively ineffective guerrilla warfare and is combined with a severe drought.

1971

Signs of liberalisation appear, with Tombalbaye admitting that he has made mistakes in his presidency and rule of the country. Reform is initiated, and France withdraws the last of its troops from the country.

Later in the same year a coup attempt is uncovered, with links to Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi. The reforms come to a shuddering halt, the border with Libya is closed, and Tombalbaye allows anti-Gaddafi rebels to operate from northern Chad.

1975

The war continues, and Tombalbaye lashes out at his own military. Seemingly arbitrary promotions and demotions, and also arrests to prevent a perceived (but probably non-existent) coup, lead to him being assassinated during a very real coup by a group of officers.

President François 'N'Garta' Tombalbaye of Chad, born 1918 in the village of Bessada in southern Chad and still bearing tribal scarring to his face

General Noël Milarew Odingar leads the country during a short transition between the coup and the selection of another Christian southerner as the new leader, this being Félix Malloum.

1975

Military officer who oversaw the transition period.

1975 - 1979

Dictator. Resigned after failing to unite north and south.

1979

Libya has become directly involved in the war, with this northern neighbour hoping to take control now that France has lost any influence. It backs a northern Chadian leader, Goukouki Oueddei, who replaces Malloum when the north conquers the capital at N'Djamena.

The country's infrastructure completely collapses, and the fighting continues with armed factions contending for power, many of them formerly part of the north's civil war against the south. Once the warlords of the defeated south have fought it out to see who will lead them, a former defence minister, Hissène Habré, emerges as their new commander.

Colonel Gaddafi seized power in Libya's 1969 coup, and held onto it through the imposition of tough controls and a sometimes bizarre streak of showmanship until his death at the hands of his own people in 2011

1979 - 1982

Dictator. Deposed and fled to the north.

1980 - 1981

Not content with supporting rebel groups, Libyan forces now invade and occupy the Aozou Strip. This is followed later in the same year with the occupation of much of northern Chad, but the Chadians under Hissène Habré force them out in 1981.

1982

With continued French support, Hissène Habré reaches the capital and is able to capture it. Goukouki Oueddei is able to escape by fleeing to the north of the country where he forms a rival government. Habré's term of office quickly turns into another dictatorship, with corruption and violence seemingly endemic in everyday life.

1982 - 1990

Dictator. Deposed by his own general.

1983 - 1987

The Libyans return in 1983 to take northern Chad above Koro Toro. The presence of the Libyans in Chad is almost universally disliked. With extremely unusual levels of support from fellow Chadians, Hissène Habré's forces eject them from the country, although it takes until 1987 to achieve this feat.

Having been found guilty in 2016 of crimes which were committed during his term of office, ex-President Hissène Habré died in 2021 at the age of seventy-nine, having required treatment for a coronavirus infection

1990

Hissène Habré's regime of violence and discrimination against his former allies has worn out the patience even of his supporters. In his turn he is ousted, this time by another Libyan-backed candidate in the form of Idriss Déby, one of Habré's own generals. This northern candidate for dictatorship effectively replaces the shadow government of Goukouki Oueddei.

1990 - 1996

Military general who introduced free and fair elections.

1996

The general responsible for overthrowing Habré, Idriss Déby, has overseen a stabilisation of events in the country and also the introduction of a multiparty political system. In 1996 he wins free and fair elections to become the country's first legitimate, democratically elected leader since 1960. He also wins a second term of office five years later, in 2001.

1996 - 2021

'President' for unlimited time. Effectively a dictator. Killed.

1998 - 2002

An armed insurgency begins in the north, despite President Déby himself being from the north. His former defence chief, Youssouf Togoimi, is the insurgency's leader. A Libyan-brokered peace deal in 2002 fails to put an end to the fighting.

Despite making Chad a constructive force in terms of joining its neighbours in attempting to quell regional rebellions, Chad's President Idriss Déby was a more controversial figure at home, where he was killed by rebels shortly before he could give an acceptance speech following a sixth elections victory

2003 - 2004

Rebels in the western region of Darfur in Sudan rise up against the government in February 2003, claiming that the region is being neglected by Khartoum. In January the following year, the army moves to quell the rebel uprising and hundreds of thousands of refugees flee to neighbouring Chad.

2005

A peace deal is agreed which ends the Second Sudanese Civil War, but Chad and Sudan accuse one another of backing and harbouring rebels, and the dispute leads to a four-year break in relations between 2006-2010.

2006 - 2009

Internal dissent which springs from recent oil drilling serves to deliver renewed conflict. Following his removal of the two-term limit on his presidency, Déby enjoys victory in a third election which is boycotted by the rebels.

Full-blown civil war is the expected result, but no side is able to gain decisive control. By 2009, after two failed attempts to take the capital, the rebel attacks are little more than minor firefights.

The rebels who were fighting Chad's rare democratically-elected government in the first decade of the twenty-first century were based in neighbouring Sudan, but by 2009 they were militarily weak and Chad soon had other problems to worry about

2012

A coalition of forces from Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon send forces into Central African Republic (CAR) to help the government halt a drive by rebel troops from 'Union for the Democratic Forces for Unity' (UFDR). The attempt fails so much so that the CAR president is forced to flee and the rebels take control of the presidency.

2013

From late in 2013 Chad begins to play host to tens of thousands of refugees who flee the fighting in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR). Chad also sends forces to Mali to support its beleaguered government, with more success than in its venture into CAR.

2015

Chad pledges military support to Cameroon and Nigeria in repelling the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency. Boko Haram responds by attacking the Chadian shore of Lake Chad, raising fears that the insurgency may spread eastwards. However, the rebel capital at Gwoza is captured by coalition forces in April 2015.

2021

On 20 April 2021, according to the military, President Idriss Déby is killed in battle against the rebel 'Front for Change and Concord' (FACT). The military use the event to stage a coup, suspending the constitution for eighteen months, and installing Déby's son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby, as chairman of a transitional military council.

About a week after killing President Idriss Déby, rebels from the 'Front pour l'alternance et la concorde au Tchad' (FACT) were routed by the Chadian armed forces and had to retreat into Niger

2021 - On

Son. Military council chairman (to 2022), then president.

2022

Chad's new prime minister is appointed by President Mahamat Idriss Déby to head an interim national unity administration. Saleh Kebzabo is tasked with leading the country towards fully free and fair elections, along with several other former rebels who are appointed to government ministerial posts. The elections are scheduled to take place in 2024.

In the same year tremendous floods strike Chad, Niger, and Nigeria between June and November, made worse by climate change. They are amongst the deadliest on record for the region. Hundreds of people are killed, 1.5 million are displaced, and more than five hundred thousand hectares of farmland is damaged.

Chad's foreign minister, Abderaman Koulamallah, stated that 'there is no fear' following the attempt to storm the president's residence.

2025

Eighteen assailants and one presidential guard die during a foiled attack on the presidential complex in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, on the night of Wednesday 8 January 2025. The attackers have attempted to storm the presidential palace while the resident is inside. The attack is described as amateurish and disorganised, and is not linked to Islamic groups.