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Updates: 

A new ordinance in 2008 created four new regions. I have made the assumption that the capitals of the new regions are the same ones they had in a previous existence under the same names.

FIPS PUB 10-4 Change Notice 13 was issued on 2008-02-04. It has codes for the new regions of Chad, as shown below.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter I-8, published on 2007-04-17, has ISO codes for the new regions of Chad. They are shown in the table below.

Country overview: 

Short name	CHAD
ISO code	TD
FIPS code	CD
Languages	French (fr), Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+1
Capital	N'Djamena

 

In 1900, Chad was a territory, administered as part of French Kongo. On 1910-01-15, French Kongo's name was changed to French Equatorial Africa. During the period around World War II, Chad was called a military territory, and was subordinate to Ubangi-Shari-Chad. In one week in August, 1960, the four territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent, one by one. Chad was first, on 1960-08-11.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Tchad
2. Dutch: Tsjaad, Republiek Tsjaad (formal)
3. English: Republic of Chad (formal)
4. Finnish: Tšad
5. French: Tchad m, République f du Tchad (formal)
6. German: Tschad m
7. Icelandic: Tsjad
8. Italian: Ciad m
9. Norwegian: Tchad, Tsjad, Republikken Tsjad (formal)
10. Portuguese: Chade, Tchad (Brazil), República f do Chade m (formal)
11. Spanish: Chad, República f de Chad (formal)
12. Swedish: Tchad

Origin of name: 

after Lake Chad, which came from Bornu tsade: lake

Primary subdivisions: 

Chad is divided into 22 régions.

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Capital
Barh el Ghazel	TD.BG	KA	CD06	Moussoro
Batha	TD.BA	BA	CD01	Ati
Borkou	TD.BR	BET	CD03	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	TD.CG	CB	CD15	Massenya
Ennedi	TD.EN	BET	CD03	Fada
Guéra	TD.GR	GR	CD05	Mongo
Hadjer-Lamis	TD.HD	HL	CD18	Massakory
Kanem	TD.KM	KA	CD06	Mao
Lac	TD.LC	LC	CD07	Bol
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	LO	CD08	Moundou
Logone Oriental	TD.LR	LR	CD09	Doba
Mandoul	TD.MA	MA	CD19	Koumra
Mayo-Kebbi Est	TD.ME	ME	CD16	Bongor
Mayo-Kebbi Ouest	TD.MW	MO	CD20	Pala
Moyen-Chari	TD.MO	MC	CD17	Sarh
Ouaddaï	TD.OA	OD	CD12	Abéché
Salamat	TD.SA	SA	CD13	Am-Timan
Sila	TD.SI	OD	CD12	Goz Beïda
Tandjilé	TD.TA	TA	CD14	Laï
Tibesti	TD.TI	BET	CD03	Bardaï
Ville de N'Djamena	TD.NJ	ND	CD21	N'Djamena
Wadi Fira	TD.BI	WF	CD02	Biltine
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.

Further subdivisions:

See the Departments of Chad page.

According to Ordinance no. 01/PR/2003 (2003-09-08), Chad was divided into 18 regions, 47 départements (departments), and 200 communes. By 2008, a series of decrees had increased the numbers of departments to 54, and replaced the communes with over 230 sous-préfectures (sub-prefectures). Before 2000, the prefectures were subdivided into sub-prefectures. There were 47 in 1982, 53 in 1990, and 108 in 2000.

Territorial extent: 

The Aozou strip, an area of some 100,000 sq. km. along the Libyan border, is claimed and occupied by Libya. It lies within Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti regions.

Origins of names: 

Some of the prefectures are named for the major rivers of the area. The Mayo Kébi River drains into the Bénoué, and thus finally to the Gulf of Guinea. The Chari, and its tributaries, including the Logone (with two branches, Logone Occidental and Logone Oriental) and Bahr Salamat, flow into Lake Chad. The Batha is an intermittent river, ending at Lake Fitri. Lakes Chad and Fitri grow and shrink according to the amount of rainfall. Bas (Lower) means downstream. Moyen means middle. Chari is a local word meaning river.

Change history: 

According to the French Wikipedia , in 1935 Chad was divided into ten départements (departments), with lower-level subdivisions (status not specified). These were the divisions at that time:

Department	Capital	Subdivisions
Baguirmi	Massenya	Massenya, Bousso
Bas-Chari	Fort-Lamy	Fort-Lamy
Batha	Ati	Ati
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	Largeau	Largeau
Kanem	Mao	Mao, Bol
Logone	Moundou	Moundou
Mayo-Kebbi	Bongor	Bongor, Fianga, Léré, Pala
Moyen-Chari	Fort-Archambault	Fort-Archambault
Ouaddaï	Abéché	Abéché, Adré, Biltine
Salamat	Am Timan	Am Timan

1. ~1941: Baguirmi and Bas-Chari departments merged to form Chari-Baguirmi (capital Fort-Lamy).
2. 1947: Status of departments changed to régions (regions).
3. 1960-08-11: Chad, formerly one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, became independent. At that time it already had a constitution (adopted 1958-10-04) under which administrative subdivisions had been created by law (1960-02-13). It was divided into préfectures which were subdivided into sous-préfectures. At the lowest administrative level were villages. If I correctly interpret the thick bureaucratese in which this report  (Word document download) is written, villages were combined to form cantons or groupements de villages (groupings of villages); some cantons and villages were grouped to form postes administratives (administrative stations).
4. 1960: Biltine prefecture split from Ouaddaï. The following list of divisions is based on the list in the Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1964 edition.

Prefecture	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Batha	279,873	100,000	Ati
Biltine	141,686	55,000	Biltine
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	51,472	530,000	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	300,043	100,000	Fort-Lamy
Guera	156,002	60,000	Mongo
Kanem	215,133	150,000	Mao
Logone	512,340	50,000	Moundou
Mayo-Kebbi	368,333	35,000	Bongor
Moyen-Chari	281,127	40,000	Fort-Archambault
Ouaddaï	306,265	75,000	Abéché
Salamat	62,716	76,000	Am-Timan
11 prefectures	2,674,990	1,271,000
Population: 1961 census.

1. 1962-01-09: Logone prefecture split into Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, and Tandjilé.
2. 1962-10-29: Lac prefecture split from Kanem.
3. 1973-09-07: Name of national capital changed from Fort-Lamy to N'Djamena.
4. 1973: Name of capital of Moyen-Chari changed from Fort Archambault to Sarh. The divisions at this point were as follows:

Prefecture	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area (km.²)	Capital
Batha	TD.BA	BA	CD01	288,458	88,800	Ati
Biltine	TD.BI	BI	CD02	184,807	46,850	Biltine
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	TD.BT	BET	CD03	73,185	600,350	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	TD.CB	CB	CD04	1,251,906	82,910	N'Djamena
Guéra	TD.GR	GR	CD05	306,253	58,950	Mongo
Kanem	TD.KA	KA	CD06	279,927	114,520	Mao
Lac	TD.LC	LC	CD07	252,932	22,320	Bol
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	LO	CD08	455,489	8,695	Moundou
Logone Oriental	TD.LR	LR	CD09	441,064	28,035	Doba
Mayo-Kebbi	TD.MK	MK	CD10	825,158	30,105	Bongor
Moyen-Chari	TD.MC	MC	CD11	738,595	45,180	Sarh
Ouaddaï	TD.OD	OD	CD12	543,900	76,240	Abéché
Salamat	TD.SA	SA	CD13	184,403	63,000	Am Timan
Tandjilé	TD.TA	TA	CD14	453,854	18,045	Laï
14 prefectures				6,279,931	1,284,000
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1993-04-15 census.

 

N'Djamena is considered part of Chari-Baguirmi in the table above, following the standards and most reference books. However, according to this PDF document  (which has provisional results of the 1993 census), N'Djamena is administratively on the same level as the 14 prefectures, and its arrondissements are on a par with sub-prefectures. Sources for 1993 census data shown above: Annuaire Statistique: 1995 , a government publication, dated June 1998; and a Chinese Web page  showing the same figures. Both sources show N'Djamena and Chari-Baguirmi as separate entities, with populations of 530,965 and 720,941, respectively.

An earlier version of the Universal Postal Union document, "UPU Address formats", gave postal abbreviations for the prefectures of Chad. In most cases, they were the same as the ISO 3166-2 codes. The exceptions were Kanem, KN; Logone Occidental, LOC; and Logone Oriental, LOR.

1. 1999-09-01: By decree no. 355/PR/MISD/99, status of prefectures changed to departments. Batha department split into Batha Est and Batha Ouest departments; Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti department split into Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti departments; Chari-Baguirmi department split into Dababa, Baguirmi, and Hadjer Lamis departments; Bahr El Gazal department split from Kanem department; Monts de Lam department split from Logone Oriental department; Mayo-Kebbi department split into Kabia, Mayo Boneye, and Mayo-Dallah departments; Moyen-Chari department split into Lac Iro, Bahr Kôh, and Mandoul departments; Assongha and Sila departments split from Ouaddaï department; Tandjilé department split into Tandjilé Est and Tandjilé Ouest departments. These were the resulting divisions. A map of them can be found on page 16 of this PDF document .

Department	HASC	Lic	Capital	Old
Assongha	TD.AS	01	Adré	TD.OD
Baguirmi	TD.BM	02	Massenya	TD.CB
Bahr el Gazal	TD.BG	03	Moussoro	TD.KA
Bahr Kôh	TD.BK	04	Sarh	TD.MC
Batha Est	TD.BE	05	Oum Hadjer	TD.BA
Batha Ouest	TD.BO	06	Ati	TD.BA
Biltine	TD.BI	07	Biltine	TD.BI
Borkou	TD.BR	08	Faya-Largeau	TD.BT
Dababa	TD.DB	09	Bokoro	TD.CB
Ennedi	TD.EN	10	Fada	TD.BT
Guéra	TD.GR	11	Mongo	TD.GR
Hadjer Lamis	TD.HL	12	Massaguet	TD.CB
Kabia	TD.KB	13	Gounou Gaya	TD.MK
Kanem	TD.KN	14	Mao	TD.KA
Lac	TD.LC	15	Bol	TD.LC
Lac Iro	TD.LI	16	Kyabé	TD.MC
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	17	Moundou	TD.LO
Logone Oriental	TD.LG	18	Doba	TD.LR
Mandoul	TD.MN	19	Koumra	TD.MC
Mayo Boneye	TD.MB	20	Bongor	TD.MK
Mayo-Dallah	TD.MD	21	Pala	TD.MK
Monts de Lam	TD.ML	22	Baïbokoum	TD.LR
N'Djamena	TD.ND	29	N'Djamena	TD.CB
Ouaddaï	TD.OU	23	Abéché	TD.OD
Salamat	TD.SA	24	Am Timan	TD.SA
Sila	TD.SI	25	Goz Beïda	TD.OD
Tandjilé Est	TD.TE	26	Laï	TD.TA
Tandjilé Ouest	TD.TO	27	Kélo	TD.TA
Tibesti	TD.TI	28	Bardaï	TD.BT
Department: except for N'Djamena, which is a commune. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Lic: The first two digits of license plates on vehicles registered in this division, according to Decree No. 193/PR/MTPMHU/2001 (2001-04-03). Old: Code for former prefecture containing this territory (see table above for key).

1. 2002-10-17: Chad reorganized into eighteen régions (regions). The Constitution of Chad (1996-03-31) calls for the creation of decentralized "territorial collectivities", forming a hierarchical subdivision of the country. The primary subdivisions are régions (regions), which are to be divided into départements (departments), communes, and communautés rurales (rural communities). It took several steps to carry out this provision. Statutes for the regions, departments, and communes were embodied in organic law no. 002/PR/2000 (2000-02-16); for rural communities, in organic law no. 007/PR/2002 (2002-06-05). Decree no. 419/PR/MAT/02 of 2002-10-17 divided Chad into eighteen regions, of which one (N'Djamena) is governed by a special statute. Ordinance no. 01/PR/2003, creating decentralized territorial collectivities, gave the list of regions, departments, and communes formed. A future measure will create the rural communities. The new divisions include 17 regions, 47 departments, and 199 communes, plus the City of N'Djamena, a commune governed by a special statute. The following table shows the result when these laws took effect.
2. The new regions can best be described in terms of the prefectures that existed before 1999. Wadi Fira is the same as the old Biltine prefecture. The old Chari-Baguirmi prefecture corresponds to the new regions of Chari-Baguirmi (southern section), Hadjer-Lamis (northern section), and Ville de N'Djamena (capital area, west central). The old Moyen-Chari prefecture is now split into the new Mandoul (western) and Moyen-Chari (eastern) regions. The old Mayo-Kebbi prefecture is split into Mayo-Kebbi Est (northeastern) and Mayo-Kebbi Ouest (southwestern).

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Capital
Batha	TD.BA	BA	CD01	Ati
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	TD.BT	BET	CD03	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	TD.CG	CB	CD15	Massenya
Guéra	TD.GR	GR	CD05	Mongo
Hadjer-Lamis	TD.HD	HL	CD18	Massakory
Kanem	TD.KA	KA	CD06	Mao
Lac	TD.LC	LC	CD07	Bol
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	LO	CD08	Moundou
Logone Oriental	TD.LR	LR	CD09	Doba
Mandoul	TD.MA	MA	CD19	Koumra
Mayo-Kebbi Est	TD.ME	ME	CD16	Bongor
Mayo-Kebbi Ouest	TD.MW	MO	CD20	Pala
Moyen-Chari	TD.MO	MC	CD17	Sarh
Ouaddaï	TD.OD	OD	CD12	Abéché
Salamat	TD.SA	SA	CD13	Am-Timan
Tandjilé	TD.TA	TA	CD14	Laï
Ville de N'Djamena	TD.NJ	ND	CD21	N'Djamena
Wadi Fira	TD.BI	WF	CD02	Biltine
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.

1. 2008-02-19: Ordinance no. 002/PR/08, restructuring certain decentralized territorial collectivities, split the former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region into separate regions Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti; split Sila region from Ouaddaï; and split Barh el Ghazel region from Kanem.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti: B.E.T. (informal)
2. Chari-Baguirmi: Bas-Chari (obsolete)
3. Guéra: Baguirmi (obsolete)
4. Mayo-Dallah: Mayo-Dala (variant)
5. Mayo-Kebbi: Maio-Kebbi, Mayo-Kabbi, Mayo Kébbi, Mayo Kébi, Mayokerbi (variant)
6. N'Djamena: Ndjamena, N'Djaména (variant); Nyamena, Yamena (Spanish)
7. Ouaddaï: Ouadaï (obsolete)
8. Wadi Fira: Biltine (obsolete)