The

Ndjamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally called Fort-Lamy, it was founded in 1900 by the French during ...

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Highway or TAH 6 is

Trans-African Highway The Trans-African Highway network comprises transcontinental road projects in Africa being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union in conjunction with reg ...

6 in the transcontinental

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

network being developed by the

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; , CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the Africa, African contin ...

(UNECA), the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

(ADB), and the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

, connecting the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

ian region to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

port of Djibouti The Port of Djibouti is a port in Djibouti, the capital of Djibouti. It is strategically located at the crossroads of one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, linking Europe, the Far East, the Horn of Africa and the Persian Gulf. The port ...

in the country of

. The road passes through

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

in western

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and the town of

Al-Fashir Al-Fashir or El Fasher () is the capital city of North Darfur, Sudan. It is a city in the Darfur region of southwestern Sudan, northeast of Nyala, Sudan. "Al-Fashir" (description) ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007, webpage: A historical ...

, scene of the

Darfur conflict The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups ...

. Consequently, travel through that area and Sudan–

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

border region is unsafe and development of that road section is at a standstill. The route has a length of crossing Chad, central Sudan and northern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. 85% is paved but a significant proportion of that is in poor condition, sand-clogged. Mountainous terrain in Ethiopia presented challenges to highway engineers. Between

Wad Madani Wad Madani (; also spelled Wad Medani and known simply as Madani) is a city in eastern Sudan and the capital of the Al Jazirah (state), Al Jazirah state. "Wad Madani" (population), Microsoft Encarta, Online Encyclopedia 2001. Wad Madani lies on th ...

in Sudan and Werota in Ethiopia the highway shares the same route as Trans-Africa Highway 4, the Cairo-Cape Town Highway. The highway is contiguous with the Dakar-Ndjamena Highway with which it will form a complete east–west crossing of the continent of . The approximate route of the two highways follows a route originally proposed in the French Empire of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and earlier French attempts to control the transcontinental crossing led to the

Fashoda Incident The Fashoda Incident, also known as the Fashoda Crisis ( French: ''Crise de Fachoda''), was the climax of imperialist territorial disputes between Britain and France in East Africa, occurring between 10 July to 3 November 1898. A French expedit ...

References

African Development Bank/United Nations Economic Commission For Africa: "Review of the Implementation Status of the Trans African Highways and the Missing Links: Volume 2: Description of Corridors".
August 14, 2003. Retrieved 14 July 2007. *''Michelin Motoring and Tourist Map:'' "Africa North and West". Michelin Travel Publications, Paris, 2000. 6 {{Africa-road-stub

See also

References