The Chari River, or Shari River, is a long river, flowing in

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. It is the main source of water of

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

, which is located at the junction of four countries:

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

, and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Geography

The Chari River flows from the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

through Chad into

, following the Cameroon border from

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

, where it is joined by its western and principal tributary, the

Logone River The Logon or Logone River is a major tributary of the Chari River. The Logone's sources are located in the western Central African Republic, northern Cameroon, and southern Chad. It has two major tributaries: the Pendé River (Eastern Logone) in ...

. It provides 90 percent of the water flowing into Lake Chad. The

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of the river covers . The principal tributary is the Logone River, while minor tributaries include the Bahr Salamat, Bahr Sah,

Bahr Aouk The Bahr Aouk River is a river in central Africa. It arises in eastern Chad at the border to Sudan and flows southwest, forming a significant portion of the international boundary between Chad and the Central African Republic. The Bahr Aouk meets t ...

and

Bahr Kéita Bahr may refer to: * Bahr, Central African Republic, village in Haut-Mbomou Prefecture, Central African Republic * Bahr, Iran, village in Bushehr Province, Iran * Bahr, village near Straßburg, now: Barr, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France *Bahr, Netherlands ...

. Much of Chad's population, including

Sarh Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive dete ...

and the capital N'Djamena, is concentrated around it. As of 2016, Chad remains one of four countries where

Guinea worm ''Dracunculus medinensis'' (Guinea worm, dragon worm, fiery serpent) is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at around in length, is among the longest nematodes ...

disease remains endemic. The majority of remaining cases are concentrated around the Chari River. The river supports an important local fishing industry. One of the most highly prized local fish is the

Nile perch The Nile perch (''Lates niloticus''), also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, African barramundi, Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is wides ...

. Since the 1960s, there have been proposals to divert water from the

Ubangi River The Ubangi River (; ; ; ), also spelled Oubangui, is a river in Central Africa, and the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou River, Mbomou (mean annual discharge 1,350 m3/s) and Uele Rivers (mea ...

to the Chari to revitalize Lake Chad, which would constitute a reversal of the capture of the upper Ubangi from the Chari by the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

that is believed to have occurred in the early Pleistocene.

History

The Sao people are said to have lived by this river. The Chari River basin has been populated by diverse speakers of the

Chadic languages The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 196 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon. By far the most widely ...

Adamawa languages The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in Central Africa, in northern Cameroon, north-western Central African Republic, southern Chad, and eastern Nigeria, spoken altogether by on ...

Ubangian languages The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, including ...

, Bongo-Bagirmi languages.

References

{{Authority control International rivers of Africa Rivers of Cameroon Rivers of the Central African Republic Rivers of Chad Lake Chad Cameroon–Chad border

Geography

History

See also

References