Chad stands at the easternmost crossroads of Sahelian Africa, overlooking West and Central Africa, the Sahara and the Nile Valley. From Toumai, the ancestor of mankind, to the present, it has always featured a great variety of habitats and landscapes and been home to a wide range of peoples.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, demographic growth, the development of its oil resources, and restored peace have ushered in a period of rapid change in Chad. Its oil resources will be invaluable in meeting the considerable challenges of development. These include supporting production of farm crops and livestock, feeding, educating and tackling poverty in a population that has doubled over the last 20 years, building infrastructures, improving access to and developing rural areas, which are still home to 80% of the population, modernizing and diversifying the economy, mobilizing energies, and making use of the water resources of the Lake Chad basin without damaging the environment.