N'Djamena Introduction

N'Djamena (IPA: Arabic Nigamina ),is the capital of Chad, and also by far the country's biggest city. A port on the Chari River, near to the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, by which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arondissements. It is a regional market for livestock, salt, dates, and grains. Meat processing is the chief industry.

N'Djamena Weather

If bountiful year-round sunshine and arid 40°C (104°F) days have a certain appeal then look no further than Saharan Chad. If the majestic images that the Sahara conjures up are too tempting but you'd prefer more friendly conditions, try the southern part of Chad between November and February.

N'Djamena Attractions

Chad’s capital is slowly regaining its pre-war reputation as one of Central Africa’s liveliest cities. Bullet holes in buildings serve as a reminder of troubled times, but the atmosphere here is increasingly upbeat. The historic quarter, with its colorful daily market, is fascinating and a good place to pick up colorful Chadian rugs and jewelry. The National Museum has collections of the Sarh culture dating back to the ninth century. There is a distinctive difference between the Arab section of town (very quiet at night) and the area where the southerners

N'Djamena History

N'Djamena was founded as Fort-Lamy by the French commander Émile Gentil on May 29, 1900, and named after an army officer who had been killed in the Battle of Kousséri a few days earlier. Its name was changed to N'Djamena (taken from the Arab name of a nearby village, meaning "place of rest") by the President François Tombalbaye on April 6, 1973, as part of his authenticité program of Africanization.

The city was partly destroyed during the Chadian Civil War, in 1979 and again in 1980. Many southern, Chadian inhabitants fled at the time, but the population has since regrown strongly. The city had only 9,976 inhabitants in 1937, but a decade later, in 1947, the population had almost doubled at 18,435. After independence in 1968 the population reached 126,483. In 1993 it surpassed half a million with 529,555.

On April 13, 2006, a rebel United Front for Democratic Change attack on the city was defeated. (See Battle of N'Djamena.)