The highest point in Chad is Emi Koussi (3,415 m), a dormant volcano in the northern Tibesti Mountains.

Fossils of australopithecine, an early hominid that lived 3.5 million years ago, were discovered in Chad in the second half of the twentieth century.

Rock art in northern Chad shows that thousands of years ago the country's northern desert terrain was very different; people farmed land and animals such as elephants and giraffes roamed the region.

The Sao people, who built walled cities, lived southeast of Lake Chad around 500 BC.

Pottery and bone utensils made by the Sao people can be seen in Chad's National Museum.

Islam was introduced to Chad in the tenth century.

The Kanem Empire, established in northern Chad around the ninth century, expanded in the sixteenth century becoming the Kanem-Bornu Empire.

France invaded Chad at the end of the nineteenth century.

French colonization of Chad took place in the early part of the twentieth century.

Chad became one of four territories of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa - Afrique Equatoriale Francaise (AEF).

Chad was made an Overseas Territory of France in 1946.

Chad achieved independence in 1960. Other former AEF members - Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, and Gabon - also gained independence.

Following independence, Chad suffered years of ethnic warfare, invasion by Libya and cyclical droughts.

Idriss Deby was elected President of Chad in 1996, 2001 and 2006.

By 2004 Chad was exporting oil via a pipeline connecting its oil fields with Cameroon's Atlantic coast.

Refugees from Darfur, western Sudan, crossed the border into Chad to escape fighting in the Darfur region (2004).

in April 2022 President Deby died during an operation to repel a rebel advance on the capital.

Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Chad receives economic aid from the United States, various international organizations and countries of the European Community. The European Community is one of the main humanitarian aid donors responding to the basic needs of internally displaced people, refugees and resident communities affected by multiple crises in Chad.

The people in Chad are among the most affected by the global climate breakdown.