Chad is a landlocked country in central Africa. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "dead heart of Africa". In the north, it contains the Tibesti Mountains, the largest mountain chain in the Sahara desert. Chad was formerly part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa.

Still, not many travelers make it to Chad. And with some reason: Chad is not an easy country to visit. People that are not afraid of some harsh travelling conditions, long distances and exessive heat, it does offer rewarding traveling.

Chad is a very culturally diverse nation. Among the manifestations of this diversity is the extremely large number of languages spoken there. Although the only official languages in Chad are Arabic and French, there are also more than 100 tribal languages spoken and a dialect of Arabic known as Chadian Arabic is the closest thing the country has to a national trade language. Chadian Arabic is a mix of "literary" Arabic, French and local dialects. It differs from the country's official language, literary Arabic.