N'Djamena

N'Djamena is Chad's capital and primate city—a special statute region divided into 10 arrondissements at the confluence of the Chari and Logone Rivers. The city concentrates political power, economic activity, and now humanitarian crisis: as of August 2025, Chad hosts over 1.4 million refugees (mainly from Sudan's civil war), more than 225,000 internally displaced persons, and nearly 95,000 returnees—the forcibly displaced population doubling from 5.6% to 9.2% of the total since 2023. The economy remains agriculturally dependent: 80% of Chadians work in farming and livestock, while oil provides the bulk of exports. N'Djamena serves as Chad's export hub for cattle, cotton, and gum arabic, using the Central African CFA franc. Environmental degradation is severe—the World Air Quality Report 2024 ranked N'Djamena among the world's 20 most polluted cities. A Chinese-contracted railway to connect N'Djamena to Sudan and Cameroon has been studied since 2011 but remains unbuilt. The National Development Plan 2025-2030 aims to mobilize concessional financing for sustainable growth, but with military spending at 23% of domestic revenues (2025) and oil production expected to decline from 140,000 bpd (2024) to 128,000 bpd (2025), the capital's trajectory depends on managing scarcity rather than abundance.