Chad

The Republic of Chad is located in the north-central region of Africa, sharing borders with Sudan, the Central African Republic, Libya, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. Most of its population is rural and concentrated in the southern region, and urban life is restricted to the capital, N'Djamena. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its principal source of income is its natural oil reserves. In all, 54% of the population are Muslim, while the rest are Catholic (20%), Protestant (14%), followers of traditional African religion (10%), and adherents to various other religious sects (3%).

Due to its position on the Sahelian strip, a belt of semiarid tropical savanna just south of the Saharan desert, the area that is now Chad has a long history of human settlement and cultivation. From the seventh century BCE, a series of states arose to control trade routes along this strip, leaving behind some of Africa's most well-preserved archaeological sites. The more recent of these kingdoms were Islamic and contributed to the establishment of Islam as the common religion among the region's inhabitants. The area was fully colonized by the French by 1920, though they made little effort to unify or develop the territory. The nation achieved independence in 1960, and since then, it has gone through two major civil wars and a series of military dictatorships.

Islam arrived early in the region, spreading gradually and becoming widespread by the 14th century. Christianity arrived much later, beginning with French Catholics at the turn of the century. Protestant missionaries from America arrived in the 1920s, often coming from the region just south of Chad, which is now the Central African Republic. As in other parts of the region, Christian missions have attracted converts through their investment in educational and medical centers, though they have seen less success in Chad than in surrounding areas to the south and west due to the early spread of Islam. In the northern desert region, the Sahelian strip, and the capital, Muslims are the strong majority, while those who practice Christianity and traditional religion are concentrated in the south among the Sara people.

Among both Christians and Muslims in Chad, there is a strong tendency to maintain elements of indigenous religion and the traditional worldview. The belief in the influence of ancestral spirits on the lives of human beings is particularly strong, as is the belief in witchcraft and the practice of coming-of-age rites. Ritual specialists and herbalists, as they are often called, continue to play an important role in Chadian communities for determining the sources of disorder in the community. Despite ongoing civil conflict, religious groups enjoy a high degree of freedom from the government and generally coexist peacefully.