Southwestern Chad, about 130,000 square kilometers, sits on a semi-arid plateau that rises southwest of the Logone River. The entire area is mostly within the Chari River basin, which includes the Logone. The Chari is formed at the border with the Central African(5) Republic and flows northwest out of the area, receiving the Ouham on the left and--on the right--the Salamat--originating east of the area. The Western and Eastern Logone both flow northeast before joining to form the Logone and flow northwest. The main river recieves the Tandjile on the left. A right bank tributary parallels the Logone to exit the area before joining the mother river.
The western protuberance of the area contains the Kebbi River, which is part of the Niger River system, and hence bound for the Atlantic, instead of Lake Chad.
There are more than three million people living here. The majority--almost 11 in 20--speak Sara, a language or a dialect group depending on your opinion.(6) Sara speakers constitute almost all the local Nilo-Saharan language users. Chadic languages account for more thna one in four speakers; Musey is the only one spoken by more than one in 20. The remaining languages are mostly Niger-Congo, specifically Adamawa--approaching three in 20--and Fulfulde(7)--just over one in 20. The only Adamawa language spoken by more than five percent is Mundang.
In the north the majority may be Moslem, and they are a significant minority throughout. Christians and animists together constitute a majority, but it may be that neither is predominant.
Indiginous religions here follow typical patterns of Africa: animism, the importance of recently decesased ancestors, hierarchical ordering both among the social and the spirtiual world and the belief in a supreme creator god who has become a deus otiosus. Bad events or states can be avoided or mitigated through ritual magic, and secret practioners of black magic are suspected. Most sacred knowledge is passed to men only through kin lines, at initiation ceremonies.
Specific examples: Some Mbaye Sara believe in water and lightning spirits that cause untoward happenings; they also start the new year at the new moon following the harvest, celebrating with a net and fire hunt, and giving the results, along with libations, to ancestors; among some Mundang, the sacred ruler is the gone lere and among some Sara it is the mbang (chief); and finally the yondo initiation among some Saras is a boy's rite of passage.
There are no cities of as may as 200,000 people and no one smaller city predominates.
The Nilo-Saharan peoples may have been here for many thousands of years. The Chadic people arrived here from the east, but this may have happened more than ten thousand years ago. The Adamawa languages may also have been here for a very long time. The Fulani are, however, new comers, arriving with a 19th century Islamic jihad. They are likely to be the source of Islam in southwestern Chad. Christianity came with French conquest in the late 19th century. Both non-local religions continue to gain adherants. Sara gained in status, here and elsewhere, due to the group's frequent representation in labor gangs, often forced, under the French colonials.
northeast of Mayo-Kebbi and Tanjile, and northwest of Middle-Chari
north and east of Middle-Chari
south
west
(1) Tchad in French.
(2) Oriental(e) in French.
(3) Occidental(e) in French.
(4) Moyen in French.
(5) centralafricaine in French.
(6) The three biggest dialects of 12 are Ngambay, Gulay and Sur.
(7) The language has different names in different parts of Africa. It is the language of the Fulani.