Countries where ASL or a derivative of ASL is the national or a widespread language include Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana ( with BSL ), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d ' Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya ( minority use ), Liberia, Madagascar ( minority use ), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Philippines ( L2 use ), Puerto Rico, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, and Zimbabwe ( with ZSL ).

Chad (; ), officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa.

In the prehistoric period, Chad was much wetter than it is today, as evidenced by large game animals depicted in rock paintings in the Tibesti and Borkou regions.

Recent linguistic research suggests that all of Africa's major language groupings south of the Sahara Desert ( except Khoisan, which is not considered a valid genetic grouping anyway ), i. e. the Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger – Congo phyla, originated in prehistoric times in a narrow band between Lake Chad and the Nile Valley.

Chad is a land-locked country in north central Africa measuring, roughly three times the size of California.

The country's topography is generally flat, with the elevation gradually rising as one moves north and east away from Lake Chad.

The highest point in Chad is Emi Koussi, a mountain that rises in the northern Tibesti Mountains.

Lake Chad is the second largest lake in west Africa and is one of the most important wetlands on the continent.

Although Chadian society is economically, socially, and culturally fragmented, the country's geography is unified by the Lake Chad Basin.

Once a huge inland sea ( the Pale-Chadian Sea ) whose only remnant is shallow Lake Chad, this vast depression extends west into Nigeria and Niger.

The larger, northern portion of the basin is bounded within Chad by the Tibesti Mountains in the northwest, the Ennedi Plateau in the northeast, the Ouaddaï Highlands in the east along the border with Sudan, the Guéra Massif in central Chad, and the Mandara Mountains along Chad's southwestern border with Cameroon.

Lake Chad, located in the southwestern part of the basin at an altitude of 282 meters, surprisingly does not mark the basin's lowest point ; instead, this is found in the Bodele and Djourab regions in the north-central and northeastern parts of the country, respectively.

Fed by rivers of Central African Republic, as well as by the Bahr Salamat, Bahr Aouk, and Bahr Sara rivers of southeastern Chad, the Chari River is about 1, 200 kilometers long.

The seventh largest lake in the world ( and the fourth largest in Africa ), Lake Chad is located in the sahelian zone, a region just south of the Sahara Desert.

Agriculture is also common in the marshlands east of Lake Chad and near swamps or wells.

This is a list of the extreme points of Chad, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

This is particularly so in Chad, where the openness of the terrain, marginal rainfall, frequent drought and famine, and low population densities have encouraged physical and linguistic mobility.

Politics of Chad takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Chad is both head of state and head of government.

Chad is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Chad at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of CFA Francs.

Although the Government of Chad and the Government of Sudan signed the Tripoli Agreement on February 8, 2006, officially ending hostilities, fighting continues.

No active armed opposition has emerged in other parts of Chad, although Kette Moise, following senior postings at the Ministry of Interior, mounted a smallscale local operation near Moundou which was quickly and violently suppressed by government forces in late 2000.

While many Chadians may share that assessment, the uprising appears to be a power struggle within the elite that has long controlled Chad.

Déby has blamed Sudan for the current unrest in Chad.

Chad has four bioclimatic zones.

Chad has a total of 33, 400 km of roads of which approximately 500 km are paved.

Chad has been an active champion of regional cooperation through the Central African Economic and Customs Union, the Lake Chad and Niger River Basin Commissions, and the Interstate Commission for the Fight Against the Drought in the Sahel.

Delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.

However, Chad has not recognised the State of Israel since former Chadian President François ( Ngarta ) Tombalbaye broke off relations in September 1972 as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians, and other Arabs under Israeli occupation.

The conflict in the border region of Darfur has become an increasingly bi-national affair as increasing numbers of Sudanese flee to refugee camps in Chad, and Sudanese government troops and militias cross the borders to strike at both these camps and specific ethnic groups.

Bozizé even planned to visit Khartoum in December 2006, but had to cancel his trip when Chad ( which has strained relations with the Sudanese Government ) threatened to withdraw its military support to C. A. R.

Since then, Sudan has accused Eritrea, along with Chad, of supporting rebels.

Concerned about stability in Central Africa and the potential for intervention, Gabon has been directly involved with mediation efforts in Chad, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola, and former Zaire.

* G. c. antiquorum, the Kordofan giraffe, has a distribution which includes southern Chad, the Central African Republic, northern Cameroon and north-eastern DR Congo.

Hausa is also spoken various parts of Cameroon and Chad, which combined the mixed dialects of Northern Nigeria and Niger Republic, French has made a great influence in the way Hausa is spoken by the native Hausa speakers.

An agreement has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.

Delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria ; dispute with Cameroon over land and maritime boundaries around the Bakasi Peninsula is currently before the ICJ ; maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed jurisdiction over oil-rich areas in the Gulf of Guinea.

UNHCR presently has major missions in Lebanon, South Sudan, Chad / Darfur, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan as well as Kenya to assist and provide services to IDPs and refugees.

The UNCCD has 194 country Parties: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, the People's Republic of China, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d ' Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, European Union, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

This production has starred such performers as Kirsten Rossi / Elisa Cordova / Sofia Escobar / Ali Ewoldt as Maria, Ryan Silverman / Scott Sussman / Chad Hilligus as Tony, Lana Gordon / Oneika Phillips / Desiree Davar as Anita, Spencer Howard / Brett Leigh ( also playing Action )/ Denton Tarver as Riff and Emmanuel de Jesús Silva / Marco Santiago / Oscar as Bernardo.

Lake Chad ( French ) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, the size of which has varied over the centuries.

Lake Chad has no apparent outlet, but its waters percolate into the Soro and Bodélé depressions.