11/08/2023
Today, August 10, 2023, marks 83 years of Independence for the nation of Chad. Happy Independence Day, Chadians!
Chad means lake, or large expanse of water. A unique country covered mostly in desert; water has always defined this area. Lake Chad was once Lake Mega Chad. With a surface area of around 340,000 km, it dwarfs the lake that exists today. From 28,000 sq km in 1870, Lake Chad has shrunk to around 2,000 to 5000 Sq km today, mostly due to overuse for irrigation.
Further north, in the heart of the Sahara Desert lays the largest bodies of freshwater lakes to exist in a desert. A world heritage site, The Lakes of Ounianga is a set of 18 lakes located where a much larger lake existed 10,000 years ago. Rain from a previous era had created an underground aquifer which still feeds these lakes. Thirteen are even connected through natural underground tunnels. Among these lakes are freshwater lakes teeming with life, and some are heavy in minerals, leading to various colors of water. To top this off, a tall grass like plant grows on large parts of some of these lakes. The wind blowing through the grass makes it look like it's dancing over the various colored waters. This is framed by hills and mountains behind.
The area around Lake Chad has turned up the earliest archeological evidence of human habitation in West Africa. The abundance of water contributed to the rise of many civilizations. From the 4th century BC, the first great civilization to arrive was the Sao, or So. (Large migrations will be a recurring theme in these notes.) Some believe the Sao were the Hyksos, the first foreign conquerors of Egypt who fled to the area after being chased out. It is more likely that they are indigenous to the area and settled near the lake. Here, they held court for nearly 2000 years, until the 1600's. Though Sao no longer exists as a single cultural identity, many modern cultural groups claim heredity from them.
The Kanem-Bornu Empire (the Zaghāwa People) arrived in the area around 700 AD. These were people fleeing the growing Sahara Desert and raids in the north. Here they encountered the walled cities of the Sao. In time, the Kanem came to dominate the area. Kanem and Sao would battle for centuries. With this domination came control of the extremely lucrative trade routes that passed the waters of the lake. The riches of Africa, her Ivory, her gold, her feathers, furs, and gems, all made their way north. Much of it came through Kanem-Bornu.
The geography of Chad intrigues me. That magical Sahel that I love so much does some interesting things here. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) dances above Chad. Caused by the rotation of the Earth, the path of this powerful atmospheric phenomenon creates the East Sudanese Savanah, which receives more rain and produces more plant life than the arid Sahel.
The ITCZ also helped form the Ennedi Massif, another World Heritage Site in Chad. Located in northeastern Chad, it is a spectacular landscape of cliffs, canyons, natural pillars, and arches. Permanent springs have wet the tongue of innumerable animals and humans alike for thousands of years. Thousands of vibrant paintings and carvings dating back 7000 years adorn the cliffs, caves, and rocky outcrops, one of the largest collections in the Sahara.
Nearby, in the center of a triangle using Lake Chad, the Ennedi mountains, and a mountain range in the northwest called the Tibesti, is the Bodélé depression. At 155 meters above sea level, Chad's lowest point, the depression is 500 km long, 150 km wide, and 160 meters deep. Amazingly, this location contributes much of the Sahara sands.
But what happens next is the real magic. Wind sweeping between the Ennedi and Tibesti mountains blows over the depression lifting seven tenths of a ton of sand into the air on an average day. This sand picks up ancient fertile plant and algae debris called diatoms from the depression, the bed of an ancient lake. The wind then whips it over the flat basin of Lake Chad, into the atmosphere. These are then carried across the globe, where estimates have been given that this supplies about half of the fertilization received by the Amazon Rainforest.
I'm extremely grateful for African Independence. It hasn't become unity yet, but it's a great opportunity for me to advance my knowledge of Africa, of great Africans, and share what I learn along the way. I learned a few new things today, Chad is much more dynamic than one may imagine. I look forward to celebrating your 84th year of independence next year, when I'll look at Chad through a different lens.
Unity won’t happen if we don't learn the history, the real history. Happy Independence Day, Chad!
