18 years of age for voluntary and compulsory military service;
conscript service obligation is two years (2005)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 758,103 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 330,255 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$15.5 million (2004)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1% (2004)

Transnational Issues Central African Republic

Disputes - international:
about 30,000 refugees fleeing the 2002 civil conflict in the CAR
still reside in southern Chad; periodic skirmishes over water and
grazing rights among related pastoral populations along the border
with southern Sudan persist

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 36,479 (Sudan) 1,864 (Chad) 6,484
(Democratic Republic of the Congo)
IDPs: 200,000 (unrest following coup in 2003) (2004)

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Chad

Introduction Chad

Background:
Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three
decades of civil warfare as well as invasions by Libya before a
semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990. The government
eventually suppressed or came to terms with most political-military
groups, settled a territorial dispute with Libya on terms favorable
to Chad, drafted a democratic constitution, and held multiparty
presidential elections in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, a new rebellion
broke out in northern Chad, which sporadically flares up despite two
peace agreements signed in 2002 and 2003 between the government and
the rebels. Despite movement toward democratic reform, power remains
in the hands of an ethnic minority.

Geography Chad

Location:
Central Africa, south of Libya

Geographic coordinates:
15 00 N, 19 00 E

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 1.284 million sq km
land: 1,259,200 sq km
water: 24,800 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly more than three times the size of California

Land boundaries:
total: 5,968 km
border countries: Cameroon 1,094 km, Central African Republic 1,197
km, Libya 1,055 km, Niger 1,175 km, Nigeria 87 km, Sudan 1,360 km

Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)

Climate:
tropical in south, desert in north

Terrain:
broad, arid plains in