在法國的殖民擴張之下，法國殖民者於1900年建立了“乍得國傢和保護國軍事領地”（Territoire Militaire des Pays et Protectorats du Tchad）。直至1920年，法國已取得乍得全國的控製權。殖民地時期的乍得並無統一領土的政策，現代化進程緩慢。法國人主要視乍得為低級勞動力和棉花的次要來源地，1929年，法國開始在當地大規模生産棉花。乍得殖民政府人手嚴重不足，並需要依靠來自法國本土能力最差的一批官員。乍得境內衹有南部管理得較好，法國對北部和東部的控製則有名無實。殖民政府的忽視使教育制度也長期得不到發展。第二次世界大戰後，法國把乍得列為海外領地，領地居民有權選舉法國國民議會代表和乍得人民議會議員。當時的最大政黨是紮根南部地區的乍得進步黨。1960年8月11日，乍得在弗朗索瓦·托姆巴巴耶帶領下從法國獨立，托姆巴巴耶任首任總統。
Chad (French: Tchad, Arabic: تشاد Tshād), officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa". Chad is divided into three major geographical regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and N'Djamena, (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.
Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960 Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Recently, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.
While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état (see Battle of N'Djamena (2006) and Battle of N'Djamena (2008)).
The country is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most Chadians live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003 crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry.