The Republic of Chad is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Chad's population is 9.9 millions (July 2007 estimate); the male/female ratio is 0.92 and 25.8% live in urban areas while 74.8% in rural ones. The country's population is young: an estimated 47.3% is under 15. The birth rate is estimated at 42.35 births and the mortality rate at 16.69 per 1,000 people; the country population growth rate at 2.32%. The life expectancy is 47.2 years (46.17 years for males and 48.27 years for females). The total fertility rate is 5.56 children born per woman, and infant mortality rate is 102.07 deaths/1,000 live births.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in adult population was estimated to be 3.5% (2005), with 200,000 people believed to be living with HIV/AIDS and 18,000 people have died in the pandemic. There were about 57,000 children living with HIV/AIDS (2006) and 57,000 orphaned by AIDS.