The administrative divisions of Chad have often changed since 1900, when the territory was first created by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

as part of its colonial empire, with the name ''Territoire Militaire des pays et protectorats du Tchad''. The first subdivision took place in 1910, when 9 circumscriptions were made, named ''départements'' (departments) in 1935 and ''régions'' (regions) in 1947. As for the regions, they were further divided in districts.B. Lanne (1998); ''Histoire politique du Tchad de 1945 à 1958'', Karthala. , pp. 11-12 In 1960, immediately before independence, the ''régions'' became ''

préfectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

'' (prefectures), and the districts instead ''sous-prefectures'' (sub-prefectures). The prefectures were in origin 11, later on raising to 14. In 1999 they were modified in 28 departments; this was ultimately changed in 2002, when 18

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

replaced them. As for the regions, they are divided in departments, while the latter are divided in sub-prefectures. After a series of splits in 2008 the number of regions increased to 22. In 2012 Ennedi Region was split into Ennedi-Est and Ennedi-Ouest, producing the current 23 regions.

History

On September 5, 1900, a decree signed by the

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Émile Loubet Émile François Loubet (; 30 December 183820 December 1929) was the 45th Prime Minister of France from February to December 1892 and later President of France from 1899 to 1906. Trained in law, he became mayor of Montélimar, where he was not ...

officially created the '' Territoire militaire des pays et protectorats du Tchad'' as part of the growing French colonial empire. The new territory was placed under the command of a Commissioner who answered to the High Commissioner of the

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, ...

(called

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

(AEF) after 1910), of which Chad was a circumscription.B. Lanne, pp. 9-11 In 1906 Chad was merged with the

Oubangui-Chari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the ...

, becoming an autonomous territory within the ''Oubangui-Chari-Tchad'' colony, suppressed in 1916. In 1920 Chad was placed on an equal standing with the other AEF colonies (i. e.

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

, Oubangui-Chari and

Middle Congo Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

). It was only in 1958, when Chad was granted

territorial autonomy This list of autonomous areas arranged by country gives an overview of autonomous areas of the world. An autonomous area is defined as an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority. It is typical ...

, that the country was separated from the AEF. Two years later Chad was to come full independence under the government of

François Tombalbaye François Tombalbaye ( ar, فرنسوا تومبالباي '; 15 June 1918 – 13 April 1975), also known as N'Garta Tombalbaye, was a Chadian politician who served as the first President of Chad from the country's independence in 1960 until ...

and of the Chadian Progressive Party.

1910–19 circumscriptions

The first Governor-General of French Equatorial Africa, Martial Merlin, built in 1910 for all the colonies he administered a two levels structure. Chad was divided in 9 ''circonscriptions'' (circumscriptions), with

Fort-Lamy N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are th ...

(today N'Djamena) as capital; two years later, as an underdivision of the regions, the ''subdivisions'' were introduced. The Mayo-Kebbi circumscription disappeared in 1911 when the left bank of the

Logone River The Logon or Logone River is a major tributary of the Chari River. The Logone's sources are located in the western Central African Republic, northern Cameroon, and southern Chad. It has two major tributaries: the Pendé River (Eastern Logone ...

was ceded to the German colony of

Kamerun Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...

as part of the exchange for the French protectorate over

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. the area was retaken by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and some years later, in 1922, the circumscription was restored and given back to Chad. On the other side Moyen-Chari was part of Oubangui-Chari from 1925 to 1933. In 1914 a new circumscription was added with Borkou-Ennedi, renamed Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti in 1930 when the

Tibesti The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and ...

was passed from

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1934 departments

Centralization

In 1934 all the AEF was the object of a major administrative reorganization, known as Renard reform after the Governor-General Edouard Renard. Meant to cut down the maintainment costs and transform the AEF in a unitary colony divided in 4 regions. Chad was placed under a ''commandant de région'' who answered to the Governor-Delegate in

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, who instead was under the Governor-General in Brazzaville.J. Le Cornec, p. 35B. Lanne, pp. 10-11 The circumscriptions of Chad took the name of departments and many of them were merged, while two departments, Logone (united with the Mayo-Kebbi) and Chari-Bangoran (Moyen-Chari and

N'Délé N'Délé or Ndele is a market town and sub prefecture in the north eastern Central African Republic, lying east of the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park. Ndélé is the capital of Bamingui-Bangoran, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African ...

) were separated from Chad and placed directly under Bangui's administration.

Decentralization

The radicality of these centralization measures proved themselves unsustainable, causing their reversion on the return to the previous structure of the AEF in 1936. In that year Logone and Moyen-Chari were returned to Chad while both Kanem-Batha and Chari-Baguirmi were split restoring the original 10 subdivisions. In 1944 the departments were brought to 9, when Bas-Chari and Baguirmi were merged back to recreate Chari-Baguirmi. In 1937 Chad was made fully independent from Bangui but the administrator was given the lesser rank of ''commandant''. The following year his rank was increased to ''governeur'' (governor), reestablishing a full parity among the AEF colonies. This is the situation of Chad on December 31, 1945, concerning departments and subdivisions:

References