Third World S***hole Number 1: Chad

A mostly desert nation of about 10.1 million people (about 80% of which are either subsistence farmers or herdsmen), Chad has remained in the top ten poorest nations in the world since becoming independent in 1960. Currently (according to the CIA) Chad has a life expectancy of 47 years and a literacy rate of 48% (which by the way is misleading because under Chadian law, you are literate if you can read either Arabic or French, and many who are literate cannot read both). For most of its history, the people of what is now Chad were clan based farmers and herders who back in the Middle Ages converted to Islam. In the late 19th century, France moved in and took over this desert region hoping that it would prove to be rich in minerals, but the region was soon neglected. During its rule, France founded the first real urban areas, and brought modernization to the area. French rule also introduced Christianity to the area that became Chad; currently, 53% of Chadians are Muslim, 20% are Catholic and 14% are Protestant - interestingly, while religion is factor of division in many other African nations, religion has never been a big player in Chad, and Christians and Muslims have peaceful relations.

When France left Chad in 1960, the nation quickly fell into violence and corruption as rebellions broke out in rural areas and the Office of the President became unstable as Presidents came and went due to coups and rebellions. Ethnic strife also became common as members of the nine major ethnic groups (as well as other smaller ethnic groups and clans) fought for power in a political system that was based on patronage, favoritism, and kickbacks.

Since 1990, Chad has been run by this man, General Idriss Deby

Deby (a native of the Sahara region in the north) got his start in the Chadian army in the 1970's when his intelligence was recognized and he was sent to France for training and study. After returning, he teamed up with Hissene Harbe, a former rebel leader who overthrew the government and became president in 1982. During the Harbe years (which saw over 40,000 political killings), Deby rose to the top of the military but in 1989 a rift between the two occurred and Deby fled to Sudan. A year later he returned with a rebel group of his own (financed by Sudan and - according to some human rights groups - France). Harbe, very unpopular, fled and in November Deby marched into the capital N'Djamena and declared himself president.

Since coming to power in 1990, Deby has become one of the most corrupt presidents on the planet. As president, Deby has openly favored his ethnic group, the Zagawa, a small group which is one of the smallest in Chad with less than 3% of the population (it doesn't even make the top 9). While Chadians have long been used to Presidents favoring their own, Deby has turned this into an art form, putting almost all his relatives - both close and distant - into all the top jobs. On a day to day basis, corruption has reached epic proportions, with bribe being needed to get about anything done, and if you're a subsistence farmer or herder (in case you forgot they make up 80% of the population), the government has done nothing for you except take men away for the army and take part of the harvest to feed the army.

As President, Deby has maintained good relations with Chad's former colonial overlord, France. Deby is a regular in Paris and has been close to both former President Chirac and current President Sarkozy. Here is a pic from one of Deby's recent trips to Paris to meet Sarkozy.

Deby has also welcomed Chinese investment to this cash strapped nation. Here he is visiting President Hu of China

In case you're wondering what does the fifth poorest nation on Earth has to offer to outside investment, Chad has deposits of limestone, uranium, gold, gravel, salt and oil (though there's alot of dispute on how much oil Chad has to offer and its industry only really got started in the past few years).

Though Deby has had decent relations with the West, he has been fighting a virtual war with his neighbor to the east, Sudan. Though Sudan's President Omar al Bashir and the Sudanese government was Deby's main backer in the 1990 coup, Deby has had a fallout with his former Sudanese backers and the since the late 1990's, the two have been fighting a proxy war by secretly backing rebel groups in each other's nation. Since the late 1990's, the east of Chad has been a nasty battleground as rebel groups backed by Sudan (Western intelligence groups have concluded that Sudan pays for all weapons, ammunition, and trucks the rebels use) fight the Chad army and create havoc on the countryside forcing people to flee. The CIA estimates that about 200,000 Chadians (most from the east) have become refugees in their own country.

In case you're wondering who are these rebels, many are actually army deserters who hated the way they were treated in the army, where nearly all the top officers were Zagawas (remember, this ethnic group makes up less than 3% of the total population), and everyone else was treated like garbage. One group is actually led by a couple of Deby's nephews, who had a fallout with their uncle a few years back.

Now if you take a look at the map of Chad above, you will see the entire east of Chad borders Sudan, and most of that part of Sudan is the province of Durfur. Yes, the Darfur, which is acknowledged by just about everyone to the be the shittiest place on Earth. And yes, Deby and the government of Chad is partly responsible for making Darfur what it is today. Since the late 1990's, Chad has supported rebel groups in Darfur, which prevents any form of peace breaking out. Deby has even allowed most Darfur rebel groups to take refuge in Chad. Meanwhile 300,000 Darfurians have fled into Chad and have found themselves trapped in refugee camps that are in the middle of another war zone

In 2006, Deby ran for reelection (though first he had to change the constitution in order to allow himself a third term). Having rigged the previous 2 elections, the opposition parties refused to take part and the Catholic Church called for a voter boycott. Eventually, a few Deby loyalists were talked into running to make the vote look valid. Here we see Deby and one of his wives voting in N'Djamena.

At first, state run media announced that Deby won with 77% of the vote, but was later lowered to 64%, no explanation was given to this change in results. In ether case, not bad for a man who most experts report to be despised by nearly all of the population.

Since the 2006 elections, Chad has slowly started to implode. In the east, rebel groups go about, for the most part unchallenged, with the army being used to protect the more populated west. In April of 2006, a rebel group marched unopposed to N'Djamena and was repulsed in street fighting. In February of 2008, another group stormed the capital, and after 2 days of vicious fighting, were repelled. Even though both Chad and France denied it, French troops stationed in N'Djamena were important elements in the victory of Deby's forces (it is believed that France uses its air supremacy to locate rebel locations). Here are a couple of scenes from the day after the battle in the capital ended.

During the 2 day battle, many of N'Djamena's 700,000 people fled the city across the Charri river into Camernoon. Since February, most have since returned to the capital city. Here is a pic I found showing one of the border crossings:



Meanwhile while all of this was going on, members of a French charity were arrested for being involved in a scam that stole children from their parents and send them to Europe and the US as orphans up for adoption. Needless to say, the case became huge not just in Chad, but in the rest of Africa and in Europe as well (of course the US media was too busy reporting on the latest celebrity gossip to notice this story).

So now you know a little about one of the most shittiest places on Earth (sorry for the blunt language, but s***hole is the only word that can describe what it really is).