Tchad Ma Culture

Provinces

Chad’s 23 administrative provinces (ordinance no. 038/PR/2018 of 10 August 2018; still the ADM1 map in 2024–2026). These are administrative profiles: languages, people and histories do not stop at these lines. Each page links the archive already published and names what remains to be documented.

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Documentary photo : Barh El Gazel
Moussoro

Barh El Gazel

Sahelian province of the west-centre, capital Moussoro. An agro-pastoral zone between Kanem and Borkou. Cultural areas extend beyond this division.

Documentary photo : Batha
Ati

Batha

Province of the central Sahel, capital Ati. Plains and basins, including Fitri. The administrative map does not match pastoral routes.

Documentary photo : Borkou
Faya-Largeau

Borkou

Saharan province of the north, capital Faya-Largeau (Faya). Oases, palm groves and former trans-Saharan routes. Coordinates of sensitive places are kept deliberately coarse.

Documentary photo : Chari-Baguirmi
Massenya

Chari-Baguirmi

Province around the Chari, capital Massenya, former capital of the Baguirmi kingdom. The Gaoui museum and N’Djamena are nearby; identities do not stop at the provincial line.

Documentary photo : Ennedi-Est
Am-Djarass

Ennedi-Est

North-eastern province, capital Am-Djarass (Amdjarass). Eastern part of the Ennedi massif, UNESCO World Heritage since 2016 together with Ennedi-Ouest. Rock art is documented from specialist sources, without locating vulnerable sites.

Documentary photo : Ennedi-Ouest
Fada

Ennedi-Ouest

North-eastern province, capital Fada. It includes the Lakes of Ounianga (World Heritage, 2012) and the Guelta d’Archei. Conservation and access are checked with the authorities; sacred or vulnerable places are not pin-pointed.

Documentary photo : Guéra
Mongo

Guéra

Central province, capital Mongo, around the Guéra massif. The Guéra festival is documented in the archive; identities of the massif are wider than the province.

Documentary photo : Hadjer-Lamis
Massakory

Hadjer-Lamis

Province east and north of N’Djamena, capital Massakory. It links the Chari basin to Lake Chad. Fishing, farming and mobility are tied together here; local detail still needs sourcing.

Documentary photo : Kanem
Mao

Kanem

Province of the western Sahel, capital Mao. The name recalls Kanem-Bornu history, treated on the History page with scholarly references. The present-day province is not the medieval kingdom.

Documentary photo : Lac
Bol

Lac

Lake Chad province, capital Bol. Fishing, islands and shores; the water body shrank sharply in the 20th century. Mobility and displacement are written carefully here, without invented figures.

Documentary photo : Logone Occidental
Moundou

Logone Occidental

South-western province, capital Moundou, the main city of the south. Farming, cotton, markets and contemporary urban life. People of the Logone also live across the Cameroonian border.

Documentary photo : Logone Oriental
Doba

Logone Oriental

Southern province, capital Doba. Farmland and oil of the Doba basin. Languages and communities are shared with Cameroon and the Central African Republic; nothing is attributed here without a source.

Documentary photo : Mandoul
Koumra

Mandoul

Southern province, capital Koumra. Farming and ties with Sarh and the Chari basin. Sara clusters of Mandoul and Moyen-Chari are not reduced to a single page.

Documentary photo : Mayo-Kebbi Est
Bongor

Mayo-Kebbi Est

South-western province, capital Bongor, on the Logone. Fishing, farming and cross-border markets. Mundang, Tupuri and Masa have portraits in the archive; other communities remain to be documented.

Documentary photo : Mayo-Kebbi Ouest
Pala

Mayo-Kebbi Ouest

South-western province, capital Pala. Lakes, rivers and farming. Practices and languages are shared with Mayo-Kebbi Est and Cameroon; local festivals are published only when dated and sourced.

Documentary photo : Moyen-Chari
Sarh

Moyen-Chari

Southern province, capital Sarh, on the Chari. Farming, a regional town and Sara memory. The archive’s Sara portrait also covers other southern provinces.

Documentary photo : N’Djamena
N’Djamena

N’Djamena

Capital province, founded as Fort-Lamy (1900) and renamed N’Djamena in 1973. A multilingual city of markets, contemporary music, institutions and diasporas. The Dary Festival presents the provinces here.

Documentary photo : Ouaddaï
Abéché

Ouaddaï

Eastern province, capital Abéché, former capital of the Wadai sultanate. Trade, scholarly networks and a plurality of languages. The historical sultanate is not the same as the present-day province.

Documentary photo : Salamat
Am Timan

Salamat

South-eastern province, capital Am Timan. Seasonal wetlands and Zakouma National Park (African Parks). Wildlife and savanna do not stand in for the communities who live there.

Documentary photo : Sila
Goz Beïda

Sila

Eastern province, capital Goz Beïda. Farming, pastoralism and cross-border ties with Darfur. Displacement and resilience are written only with sources and consent.

Documentary photo : Tandjilé
Laï

Tandjilé

Southern province, capital Laï, in the Logone valley. Farming, fishing and oral traditions. Marba, Lele and Gabri have portraits; other Tandjilé groups remain to be documented.

Documentary photo : Tibesti
Bardaï

Tibesti

Province of the Tibesti massif, capital Bardaï. Saharan mountains, oases and Teda mobility. Coordinates of inhabited or sacred places are kept deliberately coarse.

Documentary photo : Wadi Fira
Biltine

Wadi Fira

Province of the eastern Sahel, capital Biltine. Sahelian environments, pastoralism and ties toward Darfur. Local languages and accounts join the archive only once sourced.

A people, a language or a festival may concern several provinces. Administrative borders are not cultural borders.

The same outline for all 23 provinces. An empty heading is a gap, not a fact. Nothing is invented to fill the page.

Ordinance no. 038/PR/2018 of 10 August 2018: the 22 regions plus Ennedi split (2012) become 23 provinces.

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