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 Michaels

Chad Michaels is an American drag performer. Michaels was known as a Cher impersonator, before becoming famous as the runner up of the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and as the winner of RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race.

Early life

Chad Michaels was born in Los Angeles, California but grew up in San Diego. Chad Michael is his birth first name and middle name, he added an s to create his drag name, Chad Michaels. His last name is not known.

Career

Chad Michaels originally went by the drag name "Brigitte Love." Michaels chose to perform under his own name after working at "An Evening at La Cage" in Las Vegas, which required the drag queens to use male stage names.

In 2010, Michaels competed in the first California Entertainer of the Year pageant, becoming first alternate to winner Shangela.

Michaels produces and performs with the Dreamgirls Revue, the longest running female impersonation show in California. Performers in the Dreamgirls Revue include RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Delta Work, Detox, Morgan McMichaels, Raja, Shannel, Sonique, and Venus D-Lite. Morgan McMichaels is Chad Michaels' drag daughter, from whom he took his last name.

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