Kanem ( ar, كانم) is one of the 23 regions of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...

. It is named after the famous

Kanem Empire Kanem may refer to: * Kanem–Bornu Empire, existed in modern Chad and Nigeria known to Arabian geographers from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900 * Kanem Prefecture, of former prefectures of Chad * ...

, which was centred in this vicinity. The region's capital is

Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ...

. It was created in 2002 from the former Prefecture of Kanem. In 2008, a portion of the Kanem region (the

Bahr el Gazel Department Bahr el Gazel ( ar, بحر الغزال, french: Barh El Gazel) was formerly a department in the Kanem Region of Chad. In 2008 the former department was split from Kanem to become a new region of the same name. The capital Capital may refer ...

) was split off to become the new Bahr el Gazel Region.

Geography

The region borders

Borkou Region The Borkou region ( ar, بركو) is a region of Chad which was created in 2008 from the Borkou department of the former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region. Its capital is Faya-Largeau. Geography Borkou is located in the Sahara Desert, and contai ...

to the north, Bahr el Gazel Region to the east, Hadjer-Lamis Region and Lac Region to the south, and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ...

is the regional capital; other major settlements include

Am Doback Am Doback is a sub-prefecture of Kanem Region in Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the ...

Kekedina Kekedina is a sub-prefecture of Kanem Region in Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the n ...

, Nokou, Ntiona,

Rig Rig Rig Rig is a sub-prefecture of Kanem Region in Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the no ...

, Wadjigui and Ziguey.

Demographics

As [er the census of 2009, the population in the region was 354,603, 51.4% female. The average size of household was 4.50: 4.50 in rural households and 4.90 in urban areas. The number of households was 78,145: 70,779 in rural areas and 7,366 in urban areas. The number of nomads in the region was 10,056, 2.6% of the population. There were 354,007 people residing in private households. There were 157,264 over 18 years of age: 70,134 male and 87,130 female. The sex ratio was 94.00 females for every hundred males. There were 344,547 sedentary staff, 3.20 of the population. The principal ethnolinguistic groups are Baggara Arabs (4.97%), Dazaga language, Dazaga Toubou (48.25%), Fula people, Fula and Kanembu people, Kanembu (40.54%).

Economy

The region is the principal agricultural segment in the whole country, producing

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

and groundnuts, the two main cash crops of the country. There are a variety of local crops such as rice also grown in the region.

Administration

Since 2008, the region of Kanem is divided in three

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, namely, Kanem (capital

), Nord Kanem (capital of Nokou) and

Wadi Bissam Wadi Bissam is a Departments of Chad, department of Kanem Region in Chad. It was created by Order No. 002 / PR / 08 of 19 February 2008. Its chief town is Mondo. Subdivisions The Wadi Bissam department is divided into 2 sub-prefectures: * Mo ...

(capital of Mondo). As a part of decentralization in February 2003, the country is administratively split into regions, departments, municipalities and rural communities. The prefectures which were originally 14 in number were re-designated in 17 regions. The regions are administered by Governors appointed by the President. The Prefects, who originally held the responsibility of the 14 prefects, still retained the titles and were responsible for the administration of smaller departments in each region. The members of local assemblies are elected every six years, while the executive organs are elected every three years.

References

External links