Culture of Chad

Chad is a very culturally diverse nation. Among the manifestations of this diversity is the extremely large number of languages spoken there. Although the only official languages in Chad are Arabic and French, there are also more than 120 native Chadian languages and dialects, such as a dialect of Arabic known as Chadian Arabic. Government schools are taught in the official languages, with French typically the language of instruction. Few Chadians other than the educated/traveled elite speak literary Arabic. Arabic is spoken mostly in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, and the people who have not been to school only speak Arabic and not French.

The largest ethnic group in Chad, the Christian/animist Sara peoples living in the south, only makes up 20% of the population. The major religions of Chad are Islam and Christianity. In central Chad, people are mostly nomadic and pastoralist. The mountainous north has a sparse, mostly Muslim population of mixed backgrounds. Each society in Chad (smaller than the groups described above) has developed their own religion, music, and folklore.

The largest Christian churches are the Roman Catholic Church, the Assemblées Chrétiennes du Tchad, the Association of Baptist Churches of Chad and the Eglises Evangeliques au Tchad.