Chad
National Atlases
This gallery presents a single, concise artifact: the *Practical Atlas of Chad*, published in 1972 in French. Chad’s national atlas tradition is not a long or continuous one—rather, it emerges as a singular, pragmatic response to a specific moment. In the early 1970s, the newly independent nation, facing vast and varied landscapes from the Sahara to the Sahel, sought to consolidate geographic knowledge for administrative, educational, and developmental purposes. The 1972 atlas, produced in French, reflects a colonial-era cartographic legacy adapted to a modern state’s needs. Its editorial style is notably practical: emphasis on accessibility, clear thematic maps of physical geography, population distribution, and economic resources, rather than exhaustive scholarly detail. This work stands as a testament to a brief but deliberate effort to define national space on paper. Its impact, though limited in scope, provided a foundational reference for later regional studies and remains a historical marker of Chad’s early post-independence cartographic identity, even as no subsequent national atlas followed in the ensuing decades.
Versions and Their Documents
This is the first volume of the national atlas tradition in our collection.
Contemporary and Later Comment
- Journal Article1972Notes and News: Atlas pratique du Tchad
The Atlas pratique du Tchad, published by the Institut National Tchadien pour les Sciences Humaines and the Institut Géographique National, was prepared under the direction of Jean Cabot and Christian Bouquet. It comprises 34 plates covering physical, human, and economic geography. After situating Chad globally and within Africa, it presents administrative organization and communication routes, followed by physical maps of orohydrography, geology, pedology, hydrogeology, climate, and vegetation. The human section includes archaeology, linguistic groups, and population distribution. Economic maps address agriculture, fishing, cotton, livestock, industry, and trade, while the final section offers city plans and social-cultural facilities. Designed for officials and researchers, this atlas serves as an essential reference on Chad.
From the Physical Collection
Photographs are being prepared for this hall.