HHG » Africa » Chad (Tschad)

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Picture: The mosques of Abéché
There are two seasons in Chad: rainy season and dry season, the names being obvious as to what the seasons mean. Summer in the northern hemisphere is the big rainy season in Chad; winter is the small rainy season. Spring is the very hot season, autumn the short one. Lots of rain means cool weather; no rain makes it up to 104 degrees Farenheit even in the shade. The area around Lake Chad has been inhabited since at least 500 B.C. In the 8th century A.D. Berbers began migrating to the area. Islam arrived in 1085, and by the 16th century a trio of rival kingdoms flourished: the Kanem-Bornu, the Baguirmi, and Ouaddaï. In 1883–1893, all three kingdoms came under the rule of the Sudanese conqueror Rabih al-Zubayr. In 1900, Rabih was overthrown by the French, who absorbed these kingdoms into the colony of French Equatorial Africa, as part of Ubangi-Shari, in 1910.