Avenue Charles de Gaulle

Avenue Charles de Gaulle is one of the main streets and principal commercial avenue of N'djamena, the capital of Chad, which is named after former French president Charles de Gaulle. It runs in a roughly west-east direction through the city. The western end of the road is the commercial district and the location of many foreign embassies and colonial-era buildings [ [http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293779-d481172-Reviews-Avenue_Charles_de_Gaulle-N_Djamena.html Trip Advisor, Avenue Charles de Gaulle] ] The avenue is one of the areas of the city where shopping is concentrated in, including the area near the Grand Mosquee, and includes bars, restaurants and markets. [ [http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/imr-ri.nsf/en/gr113850e.html International Market Research - Chad Country Commercial Guide 2003] ] The western end of the avenue is part of the area of the city known as the 'European Quarter' and is regarded as a place for the wealthy. [ [http://www.thedublinreview.com/archive/seventeen/walsh.html the Dublin Review] ]

Route

The western end of the avenue is at the intersection with Route de Farcha, near the N'Djamena International Airport. The road then heads in a southerly direction, passing through the Point de la Garde roundabout ( coord|12|07|18.17|N|15|02|03.19|E|type:city ), and from here to the Point du Sultan Kasser roundabout (coord|12|06|47.28|N|15|02|10.77|E|type:city) are some of the larger buildings of the city. (Not to be confused with the similarly named Avenue General de Gaulle running closeby to the south.) The avenue then turns south-east, passing the Palais de Justice, N'Djamena cathedral and Plaza de la liberation on the south side and Camp Militaire des Martyrs on the north, before turning to an easterly direction passing between the Grande Mosquee and the Grand Marche (the central market and the historic centre of the city, around coord|12|06|35.13|N|15|03|00.86|E|type:city ). It then heads east through the Paris Congo residential area and towards other residential areas of the city. [ [http://www.quid.fr/monde?mode=detail&iso=td&style=carte&zoom=2&id=50552&docid=886 Quid.fr Tchad - N'Djamena map] ]

The General Services office compound of the US embassy is located there. [ [http://www.ediplomat.com/np/post_reports/pr_td.htm eDiplomat, Chad] ] Also is the Financial Bank Tchad [ [http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000453685-page.html Financial Bank Tchad company profile] ] and Nigerian embassy. [ [http://superhighway.is/iis/embassy.asp Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad] ] The west end of the avenue houses high walled villas where many expatriates live. [ [http://www.letemps.ch/tour/reportages/etape16/jour332.html Le Temps du Monde] ]

The avenue has wholesale stores which are serviced by carts to supply them, on a convert|1|km|yd route from customs on the way from Kousseri, Cameroon. [ [http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X6992E/x6992e03.htm FAO Modes of transport in the Sahelian cities: N’Djamena and Bobo-Dioulasso] ]

History

While many formerly French street names in Chad were Africanized during the Authenticité program under the presidency of François Tombalbaye, including the city itself (formerly Fort Lamy), the avenue was described as an exception to this in 1974. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945113,00.html Death and Yondo, TIME Nov 18, 1974] ] However, a 1986 map [ [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world_cities/ndjamena.jpgUniversity of Texas PCL map collection, ndjamena] ] shows what is now the Avenue Charles de Gaulle labelled with three different names "Avenue du President Tombalbaye", "Rue du Sultan Mohamed Ouradah" and "Rue de la Mosquee".

In 1981 there was much damage to buildings along the street due to machine gun fire. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921012-1,00.html An Imposed and Eerie Peace, TIME Mar 9 1981] ] The street was the site of destroyed cars and damage from the Battle of N'Djamena (2008) in February 2008. [ [http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1709615,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-world Chad Rebels Threaten New Assault] ] At this time the avenue was also cut off by heavy weaponry [ [http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/307869.FR.php?rss=true N'Djamena secoue a l'arme lourde] .] and was said to be severely affected. [ [http://appablog.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/chad-icrc-and-local-red-cross-staff-on-alert-in-the-capital/ ICRC News Release Chad: ICRC and local Red Cross staff on alert in the capital] ]

Reference

External links

* [http://julin.net/wp-content/dsc00163.jpgimage] of the avenue described [http://julin.net/?p=106 here]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/85446671@N00/438548837/ image]