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The population of Chad has numerous ethnic groups.
Other little-known ethnic groups believed to be living in Chad include the Kujarke people.
The population of Chad has numerous ethnic groups. SIL Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...
reports more than 130 distinct languages spoken in Chad.History and demographics
The 14 millionChad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
people belong to some 200 ethnicities, who speak numerous languages. The peoples of Chad carry significant ancestry from Eastern, Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
, Western, and Northern Africa. The population can be broadly divided between those in the east, north and west who follow Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
, and the peoples of the south, the five southernmost prefectures, who are mostly Christian or animist. The southern part of the country was historically the cross roads of the caravan routes below the Sahara, forming a link between West Africa and the Arabic region, as well as one between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The slave trade between sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East passed through the slave markets of Chad and Western Sudan, slave-trading was a key component of Chad's historic economy, and this brought people of various ethnicities into Chad. The CIA Factbook estimates the largest ethnic groups as of the 2014-2015 census as:
Other little-known ethnic groups believed to be living in Chad include the Kujarke people.
Muslim groups
Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurr ...
began as early as the 8th century and was mostly complete by the 11th, when Islam became the official religion of the Kanem-Bornu Empire. The Shuwa established an economy of slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
across the Sudan region
Sudan is the geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic ' (), or "the lands of the Blacks", referring to West Africa and northern Central Afri ...
, and in Chad there was a tradition of slave raids ( ghazw) under the Ouaddai and Baguirmi which persisted well into the 20th century.
Muslim groups other than the Shuwa include the Toubou, Hadjerai, Fulbe/Fulani, Kotoko, Kanembou, Baguirmi, Boulala, Zaghawa Zaghawa may refer to:
* Zaghawa people
* Zaghawa language
Zaghawa is a Saharan language spoken by the Zaghawa people of east-central Chad (in the Sahel) and northwestern Sudan (Darfur). The people who speak this language call it Beria, from ''B ...
, and Maba Maba or MABA may refer to:
* ''Maba'', a plant genus now included in ''Diospyros''
* Maba, Shaoguan (马坝镇), town in Qujiang District, Shaoguan, Guangdong, China
* Maba, Xuyi County (马坝镇), town in Xuyi County, Jiangsu, China
* Maba, Ind ...
.
Non-Muslim groups
Language and ethnic groups
Ethno-linguistically, the groups may be divided into: *Chadian Arabic-speaking Shuwa *Chadic
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and northern Ca ...
: Marba, Hausa, numerous minor groups
* Nilo-Saharan:
** Maban (Ouaddai)
** Saharan: Kanembu, Kanuri, Zaghawa Zaghawa may refer to:
* Zaghawa people
* Zaghawa language
Zaghawa is a Saharan language spoken by the Zaghawa people of east-central Chad (in the Sahel) and northwestern Sudan (Darfur). The people who speak this language call it Beria, from ''B ...
, Toubou
**Eastern Sudanic
In most classifications, the Eastern Sudanic languages are a group of nine families of languages that may constitute a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Eastern Sudanic languages are spoken from southern Egypt to northern Tanzania.
N ...
: Daju
** Central Sudanic: Baguirmi, Sinyar
* Niger-Congo:
** Bua
** Atlantic-Congo: Fula people
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region ...
.
See also
* List of ethnic groups in Chad * Languages of Chad * Demographics of ChadReferences
{{Africa topic, Ethnic groups inChad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...