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.

Ronney Jenkins

Ronney Jenkins (born May 25, 1977) is a former American football player from Los Angeles, California who played four seasons in the NFL, primarily as a kick return specialist.

High school career

Jenkins had an outstanding prep career while playing for Hueneme High School in Oxnard, California, and he garnered much national attention during his senior season. On November 9, 1995, he set the national record for most yards rushing in a single game during a 52-34 victory over Rio Mesa High School. Jenkins carried the ball 30 times for 619 yards and 7 touchdowns. The previous record of 608 yards had been set by John Bunch in Arkansas in 1974. Jenkins' total shattered the California state record of 507 yards, set by David Dotson of Valley View High School in 1991. The national record stood until 2006, when Paul McCoy of Matewan High School rushed for 658 yards in a single game.

College career

Jenkins was heavily recruited by many schools across the country, but chose to play at Brigham Young University because BYU had shown interest in him long before his record-breaking single-game performance. His freshman season with the Cougars (1996) was impressive: he rushed for 733 yards and scored a team-high 14 touchdowns (including 11 rushing TDs) despite being a backup to Brian McKenzie the entire season. He also led the Cougars in kickoff returning; for his efforts, he was named WAC Freshman of the Year. With help from Jenkins, BYU beat Kansas State University in the Cotton Bowl Classic and finished the year with a 14-1 record, becoming the first team in the history of Division I-A football to win 14 games in a season.