French Chad

Territory of Chad[1] (1900–1920) Territoire du Tchad Colony of Chad (1920–1960) Colonie du Tchad
1900–1960
Flag
Anthem: La Marseillaise
Status	Constituent of French Equatorial Africa
Capital	Fort-Lamy
Common languages	French (official) Chadian Arabic, Sara, Kanembu, Sango
Religion	Islam, Christianity, traditional African religion
Government	Colony (1900–1946) Overseas territory (1946–1958) Autonomous republic (1958–1960)
Governor
• 1900	Émile Gentil
• 1959–1960	Daniel Doustin
Prime Minister
• 1957–1959	Gabriel Lisette
• 1959–1960	François Tombalbaye
History
• Established	September 5, 1900
• Merged with Ubangi-Shari	February 11, 1906
• Integrated into French Equatorial Africa	January 15, 1910
• Separate colony	March 17, 1920
• Status changed to overseas territory	October 27, 1946
• Autonomy	November 28, 1958
• Independence	August 11, 1960
Area
1943[2]	1,194,508 km2 (461,202 sq mi)
1950[3]	1,283,993 km2 (495,752 sq mi)
Population
• 1936[3]	1,432,600
• 1943[2]	1,432,555
• 1950[3]	2,241,000
Currency	French Equatorial African franc (1900–1945) CFA franc (1945–1960)
ISO 3166 code	TD
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Baguirmi Bornu Empire Ouaddai Empire Rabih az-Zubayr Chad Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Prefecture

Part of a series on the
History of Chad
Kanem-Bornu Empire Sultanate of Bagirmi Wadai Empire French colonial period Tombalbaye government Civil War (1965–1979) Malloum government Transitional Government Habré Era Conflict with Libya Toyota War Déby Era Civil War (2005–2010)
v t e

Chad was a part of the French colonial empire from 1900 to 1960. Colonial rule under the French began in 1900 when the Military Territory of Chad was established. From 1905, Chad was linked to the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, known from 1910 under the name of French Equatorial Africa. Chad passed in 1920 to French civilian administration, but suffered from chronic neglect.

Chad distinguished itself in 1940 for being, under the governorship of Félix Éboué, the first French colony to rally by the side of Free France. After World War II, the French permitted a limited amount of representation of the African population, ushering the way to the clash in the political arena between the progressive and southern-based Chadian Progressive Party (PPT) and the Islamic conservative Chadian Democratic Union (UDT). It was eventually the PPT which emerged victorious and brought the country to independence in 1960 under the leadership of François Tombalbaye.