Chad Map – Cities & Towns [TD]
Chad is a landlocked country in north-central Africa, mapped around a strong west-to-south settlement axis, a sparse northern desert zone, and eastern border towns facing Sudan. The capital, N’Djamena, sits near the Chari–Logone river system and the Cameroon border. Most larger towns appear in the southern and central belts, while northern province seats such as Faya, Fada, and Bardaï help mark desert geography rather than dense urban clusters. City population figures on this page use the 2009 census as the safest baseline where available; later estimates may use different urban boundaries.
N’Djamena
TD / TCD
23 Provinces
Cities, Towns, Province Seats
Map Reading Cues
Chad’s towns are not evenly spread across the map. The west contains N’Djamena and Lake Chad access points; the south contains the main city belt around Moundou, Doba, Sarh, Koumra, Bongor, Pala, Kélo, and Laï; the east is anchored by Abéché, Goz Beïda, Adré, and Am Timan; the north is marked by widely spaced desert seats.
Southern Cities
Eastern Hubs
Northern Desert Seats
City And Town Labels
The table separates national capital, province seats, major urban localities, border towns, and desert reference towns. Population values are shown only when a reliable census-linked figure is available. Province-seat status does not always mean a town is one of the largest urban places by population.
Settlement Pattern On The Chad Map
Western Capital And Lake Chad Edge
N’Djamena, Bol, Massakory, Massaguet, Bongor, and nearby towns help orient the western side of the map. This zone links the capital, Lake Chad, Chari-Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis, Lac, and Mayo-Kebbi routes.
Southern City Belt
Moundou, Doba, Sarh, Koumra, Kélo, Pala, Laï, Léré, and Fianga form the densest group of larger towns in the selected dataset. The southern belt is easier to read on a city map because towns sit closer together.
Central Sahel Axis
Mongo, Ati, Oum Hadjer, Bokoro, Mao, and Moussoro mark the transition from the capital-side west toward the drier interior. These towns are useful for reading routes across the middle of Chad.
East And North Reference Points
Abéché, Goz Beïda, Adré, Am Timan, and Biltine define the eastern map pattern. Faya, Fada, Amdjarass, and Bardaï mark province seats in wide desert areas where towns are far apart.
Selected Cities, Towns, And Province Seats In Chad
The table is a reference selection for map reading. It includes the capital, larger urban localities, province seats, border towns, and desert reference points. “Population” refers to 2009 census-linked values where available.
| Place | Type | Province | Map Area | Population | Latitude | Longitude | Map Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N’Djamena | Capital city | N’Djamena | Western capital corridor | 951,418 | 12.1100 | 15.0500 | National anchor | Largest urban centre and capital province. |
| Moundou | Major city / province seat | Logone Occidental | Southern city belt | 137,251 | 8.5667 | 16.0833 | Southern hub | Largest city outside the capital in the 2009 baseline. |
| Abéché | Major city / province seat | Ouaddaï | Eastern Chad | 97,963 | 13.8292 | 20.8324 | Eastern hub | Important eastern city and Ouaddaï seat. |
| Sarh | Major city / province seat | Moyen-Chari | Southern city belt | 97,224 | 9.1500 | 18.3833 | Chari corridor hub | Major southern city and Moyen-Chari seat. |
| Kélo | Town | Tandjilé | Southern city belt | 57,859 | 9.3167 | 15.8000 | Southern town label | Useful for reading Tandjilé and nearby southern routes. |
| Am Timan | Province seat | Salamat | Eastern-southern connector | 52,270 | 11.0333 | 20.2833 | Province seat | Salamat seat and interior eastern marker. |
| Doba | Province seat | Logone Oriental | Southern city belt | 49,647 | 8.6500 | 16.8500 | Province seat | Logone Oriental administrative seat. |
| Pala | Province seat | Mayo-Kebbi Ouest | Western south | 49,461 | 9.3500 | 14.9667 | Province seat | Western-southern town near Cameroon-facing geography. |
| Bongor | Province seat | Mayo-Kebbi Est | Western south | 44,578 | 10.2833 | 15.3667 | Province seat | Important western-southern marker on the Logone side. |
| Goz Beïda | Province seat | Sila | Eastern Chad | 41,248 | 12.2248 | 21.4103 | Eastern seat | Sila province seat near Sudan-facing routes. |
| Koumra | Province seat | Mandoul | Southern city belt | 37,867 | 8.9167 | 17.5500 | Province seat | Mandoul seat within the southern cluster. |
| Mongo | Province seat | Guéra | Central Sahel | 37,628 | 12.1833 | 18.6833 | Central hub | Guéra seat and central map anchor. |
| Bol | Province seat | Lac | Lake Chad edge | 35,963 | 13.4586 | 14.7147 | Lake reference | Lac province seat and Lake Chad reference point. |
| Mao | Province seat | Kanem | Western Sahel | 35,468 | 14.1194 | 15.3133 | Province seat | Kanem seat north of the capital corridor. |
| Faya | Province seat | Borkou | Northern desert | 30,800 | 17.9167 | 19.1167 | Northern reference | Also known as Faya-Largeau; Borkou desert seat. |
| Bitkine | Town | Guéra | Central Sahel | 29,302 | 11.9833 | 18.2167 | Central town | Guéra-area town between Mongo and southern routes. |
| Massakory | Province seat | Hadjer-Lamis | Western capital corridor | 27,954 | 12.9960 | 15.7290 | Province seat | Hadjer-Lamis seat north-east of N’Djamena. |
| Oum Hadjer | Town | Batha | Central-eastern route | 26,552 | 13.2968 | 19.6966 | Route town | Central town connecting Batha and eastern Chad. |
| Moussoro | Province seat | Barh El Gazel | Central-western Sahel | 24,564 | 13.6414 | 16.4894 | Province seat | Barh El Gazel seat on the northbound route. |
| Biltine | Province seat | Wadi Fira | Eastern Chad | 23,472 | 14.5333 | 20.9167 | Province seat | Wadi Fira seat in the east. |
| Léré | Town | Mayo-Kebbi Ouest | Western south | 22,899 | 9.6550 | 14.1536 | Local town | Town near Lake Léré and western-southern mapping. |
| Fianga | Town | Mayo-Kebbi Est | Western south | 22,162 | 9.9333 | 15.1500 | Local town | Western-southern town in Mayo-Kebbi Est. |
| Ati | Province seat | Batha | Central Chad | 20,902 | 13.2154 | 18.3353 | Province seat | Batha province seat. |
| Massaguet | Town | Hadjer-Lamis | Western capital corridor | 19,876 | 12.4755 | 15.4365 | Capital-side town | Town near the N’Djamena corridor. |
| Laï | Province seat | Tandjilé | Southern city belt | 18,945 | 9.3952 | 16.3053 | Province seat | Tandjilé province seat. |
| Bokoro | Town | Hadjer-Lamis | Central route | 18,262 | 12.3807 | 17.0560 | Route town | Interior route town between the capital area and central Chad. |
| Adré | Border town | Ouaddaï | Eastern border | 15,361 | 13.4667 | 22.2000 | Border reference | Town near Sudan-facing routes. |
| Massenya | Province seat | Chari-Baguirmi | Western interior | Not reliably available | 11.4038 | 16.1705 | Province seat | Included for administrative map reading. |
| Fada | Province seat | Ennedi-Ouest | Northern desert | Not reliably available | 17.1833 | 21.5833 | Desert seat | Included to mark Ennedi-Ouest. |
| Amdjarass | Province seat | Ennedi-Est | Eastern desert | Not reliably available | 16.0659 | 22.8431 | Desert seat | Included to mark Ennedi-Est. |
| Bardaï | Province seat | Tibesti | Far north | Not reliably available | 21.3500 | 17.0000 | Far-north reference | Tibesti province seat in the far north. |
Administrative Structure Used For This Map
Chad is mapped here using the current first-level province system. Province seats are useful for orientation even when the settlement is smaller than nearby towns. Lower administrative counts have changed over time, so this page avoids treating department and sub-prefecture totals as fixed map labels.
| Province | Main Seat | Map Area | Map Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barh El Gazel | Moussoro | Central-western Sahel | Northbound route province. |
| Batha | Ati | Central Chad | Includes Ati and Oum Hadjer map references. |
| Borkou | Faya | Northern desert | Wide desert province with Faya as the main seat. |
| Chari-Baguirmi | Massenya | Western interior | Near the capital and Chari corridor. |
| Ennedi-Est | Amdjarass | Eastern desert | Eastern desert province seat. |
| Ennedi-Ouest | Fada | Northern desert | Ennedi map reference area. |
| Guéra | Mongo | Central Sahel | Central province with Mongo and Bitkine. |
| Hadjer-Lamis | Massakory | Capital-side west | Includes Massakory, Massaguet, and Bokoro. |
| Kanem | Mao | Western Sahel | Sahel province north of Lake Chad routes. |
| Lac | Bol | Lake Chad edge | Province tied to Lake Chad geography. |
| Logone Occidental | Moundou | Southern city belt | Contains one of Chad’s largest urban localities. |
| Logone Oriental | Doba | Southern city belt | Southern province with Doba as seat. |
| Mandoul | Koumra | Southern city belt | Southern administrative and town cluster. |
| Mayo-Kebbi Est | Bongor | Western south | Logone-side province in the west-south. |
| Mayo-Kebbi Ouest | Pala | Western south | Includes Pala and Léré. |
| Moyen-Chari | Sarh | Southern city belt | Chari-side province with Sarh as seat. |
| N’Djamena | N’Djamena | Capital area | Capital province and national urban anchor. |
| Ouaddaï | Abéché | Eastern Chad | Eastern hub province with Abéché and Adré. |
| Salamat | Am Timan | Eastern-southern interior | Connects southern and eastern map areas. |
| Sila | Goz Beïda | Eastern Chad | Eastern province near Sudan-facing routes. |
| Tandjilé | Laï | Southern city belt | Includes Laï and Kélo. |
| Tibesti | Bardaï | Far north | Far-northern desert and mountain reference province. |
| Wadi Fira | Biltine | Eastern Chad | Eastern province with Biltine as seat. |
N’Djamena
The capital dominates the urban hierarchy and should be the first label read on most national maps of Chad.
South
The southern provinces contain many of the larger selected towns and several province seats close to one another.
North
The northern desert provinces are mapped with fewer, more distant seats and reference towns.
East And West
Adré helps orient the Sudan side, while N’Djamena, Bongor, Pala, and Léré help read Cameroon-facing geography.
Map Data Notes
Reliable Fields
- Country code TD / TCD is based on ISO country-code data.
- Capital, country area, and broad country metadata are checked against GeoNames country records.
- The first-level administrative system uses 23 provinces, as listed in current country reference datasets.
- City population figures use the 2009 census baseline where available.
Fields That May Vary
- City populations may differ when a source uses municipality, urban locality, urban area, or projection boundaries.
- Some province seats in desert areas do not have a stable, easily comparable public population value.
- Coordinates are approximate town-centre points for map orientation, not parcel-level locations.
- Department and sub-prefecture totals have been reorganized, so they are not used as fixed labels in the main map table.
Population values should not be mixed with later metropolitan estimates without checking the boundary definition. For ranking charts and sortable tables, the page keeps the 2009 census-linked baseline to reduce boundary mismatch.
Sources Used For Verification
- INSEED / National Data Archive of Chad: RGPH2 2008–2009 metadata
- GeoNames: Chad country record
- GeoNames: Chad administrative divisions
- ISO Online Browsing Platform: TD country code
- World Factbook: Chad administrative divisions and geography
- Humanitarian Data Exchange: Chad administrative boundary dataset
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Chad geography overview
- SimpleMaps: Chad city coordinate reference subset
FAQ: Chad Cities And Towns Map
What is the capital of Chad?
The capital of Chad is N’Djamena. It is also the largest city in the 2009 census-linked city baseline and the main anchor point for a national cities-and-towns map.
What are the main cities shown on a Chad map?
The largest selected city labels include N’Djamena, Moundou, Abéché, Sarh, Kélo, Am Timan, Doba, Pala, Bongor, Goz Beïda, Koumra, and Mongo. Province seats such as Faya, Fada, Amdjarass, and Bardaï are also useful even when they are not among the largest towns.
How many provinces does Chad have?
Chad has 23 first-level provinces in the administrative structure used for this map. The provinces include N’Djamena, Ouaddaï, Logone Occidental, Moyen-Chari, Borkou, Tibesti, Ennedi-Est, Ennedi-Ouest, and others.
Why do Chad city population numbers vary by source?
Numbers vary because some sources use census urban localities, while others use municipal boundaries, urban areas, or projected estimates. This page uses the 2009 census-linked baseline where available and marks uncertain values instead of forcing a number.
Which part of Chad has the densest selected town pattern?
The selected map data shows the densest group of larger towns in southern Chad, including Moundou, Doba, Sarh, Koumra, Kélo, Pala, Laï, Léré, and Fianga. Northern Chad has fewer selected town markers because desert settlements are much farther apart.
Are province seats and largest cities the same thing in Chad?
No. Some province seats are large urban centres, such as N’Djamena, Moundou, Abéché, and Sarh. Others are smaller map reference towns, especially in desert or sparsely settled provinces.