Chad

Coordinates: 15°N 19°E / 15°N 19°E / 15; 19

Chad (ⁱ/tʃæd/; Arabic: تشاد‎ Tshād; French: Tchad), officially the Republic of Chad (Arabic: جمهورية تشاد‎ Jumhūrīyat Tshād; French: République du Tchad), is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest and Niger to the west. It is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area.

Chad has several regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second-largest in Africa. N'Djamena, the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.

Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979, the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Since 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.

Chad Hennings

Chad William Hennings (born October 20, 1965) is a former American football defensive tackle for the Air Force Academy Falcons and Dallas Cowboys. He won the Outland Trophy in his senior year of college in 1987.

Despite facing an obligation to enter the Air Force upon graduating the Academy, Hennings was selected in the eleventh round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Cowboys, and played in the National Football League from 1992 to 2000, winning three Super Bowls.

Early years

High school and college

While at Benton Community High School in Van Horne, Iowa, Hennings became an All-state football tight end and the state heavyweight wrestling champion his senior year.

After being offered full scholarships from different universities he chose to attend the United States Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs. Lettering as a freshman in 1984, he started his college football career as a tight end before being switched to the defensive line as a sophomore.

Hennings was moved to defensive tackle in his sophomore season, became a starter and made the All--WAC second team. That 1985 season was the greatest in Air Force history as the Falcons went 12-1, were conference co-champions, defeated Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl and placed fifth in the final coaches poll. During his junior year in 1986, he became a dominant defensive player, was named to the first of two All-Conference teams, the first of two Academic All-American teams and the second of three Academic All-WAC honors.