Chad ⁱ/ˈtʃæd/ (French: Tchad, Arabic: تشاد‎ Tšād), officially known as the Republic of Chad, 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. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa".

Chad is divided into multiple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese 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. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and N'Djamena, (formerly Fort-Lamy), 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.

Chad Owens (born April 3, 1982) is a professional American, Canadian and Arena football wide receiver and kick returner for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hawaiʻi.

Owens has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Colorado Crush.

Chad Owens attended Roosevelt High School in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and he was a three sport letterwinner and star in football, basketball, and track. In football, as a senior, he was an All-OIA white division selection, and an All-State honorable mention. As a sophomore, he garnered first team All-OIA Red Division honors, and All-State honorable-mention accolades. He was also a basketball star and as a senior, he led his team to the OIA state basketball championship. He is currently married to Rena Owens.

Owens became a bigger star after joining the University of Hawaiʻi football team as a wide receiver, punt returner and kick returner. He became the featured receiver in June Jones's Run & Shoot offense, and became the number one receiver for quarterback Timmy Chang. Owens was instrumental on the Warriors teams that won both the Hawaiʻi Bowl in 2003 and 2004 by beating the University of Houston and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.