- published: 23 Aug 2014
- views: 5621
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 Tyler Lindberg (born November 1, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his film roles in The Fast and the Furious and October Sky, as well as television roles on Sons of Anarchy and Supernatural. Lindberg is currently the co-host of the television series, Ghost Stalkers.
Lindberg was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, the son of Luwana and Pete Lindberg. He attended Mount Vernon High School. He began his acting career as Rory in Black Circle Boys at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. From there, he made several guest appearances on popular television shows, such as ER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The X-Files. He continued pursuing films roles, particularly as Sherman O'Dell in October Sky and Jesse, a stuttering mechanic, in The Fast and the Furious.
He received attention in the 2011 remake of the 70s cult classic I Spit On Your Grave. He has also appeared in the recurring role of Chad Willingham on CSI: NY and as Ash on Supernatural. He took part in Tony Zierra's 2011 documentary My Big Break, which follows the early careers of Lindberg, Wes Bentley, Brad Rowe and Greg Fawcett. He was also a guest star in an episode of The Cape as Hicks, a professional sniper assassin. He is currently a paranormal investigator on the Destination America program Ghost Stalkers.