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Updates: 

There is a book with a more comprehensive description of the historic territorial subdivisions of Chad than I can hope to cover here. It is Répertoire de l'Administration territoriale du Tchad (1900-1994) , by Bernard Lanne (in French).

Ennedi region was split into Ennedi-Est and Ennedi-Ouest regions in 2012 (source [13]). They appear to be the same geographic areas as the departments of Ennedi Est and Ennedi Ouest, which existed from 2002 to 2008, when Ennedi Est was renamed Wadi Hawar. The new regions are assigned codes in Update 12 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (GEC, formerly FIPS 10-4), dated 2013-06-30. "Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes, Edition 2" (GENC), a U.S. standard that's supposed to correspond to ISO 3166-2, was issued on 2014-03-31, and contained codes for the two new regions, TD-EE and TD-EO. ISO 3166-2 incorporated the same codes on 2014-11-03.

Codes for the regions created in 2008 were assigned by ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-2 (2010-06-30) and by Update 1 to GEC (2010-08-20).

Codes for the regions of the 2002 reorganization were assigned by ISO 3166-2 Newsletter I-8 (2007-04-17) and by FIPS PUB 10-4 Change Notice 13 (2008-02-04).

Country overview: 

Short name	CHAD
ISO code	TD
GEC code	CD
Languages	French (fr), Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+1
Capital	N'Djamena

 

In 1900, Chad was a territory, administered as part of French Kongo. On 1910-01-15, French Kongo's name was changed to French Equatorial Africa. During the period around World War II, Chad was called a military territory, and was subordinate to Ubangi-Shari-Chad. In one week in August, 1960, the four territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent, one by one. Chad was first, on 1960-08-11.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Tchad
2. Dutch: Tsjaad, Republiek Tsjaad (formal)
3. English: Republic of Chad (formal)
4. Finnish: Tšad
5. French: Tchad m, République f du Tchad (formal)
6. German: Tschad m
7. Icelandic: Tsjad
8. Italian: Ciad m
9. Norwegian: Tchad, Tsjad, Republikken Tsjad (formal)
10. Portuguese: Chade, Tchad (Brazil), República f do Chade m (formal)
11. Russian: Республика Чад (formal)
12. Spanish: Chad, República f de Chad m (formal)
13. Swedish: Tchad
14. Turkish: Çad Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

after Lake Chad, which came from Bornu tsade: lake

Primary subdivisions: 

Chad is divided into 23 régions.

Region	HASC	ISO	GEC	INS	Population	Capital
Barh el Ghazel	TD.BG	BG	CD22	19	260,865	Moussoro
Batha	TD.BA	BA	CD01	01	527,031	Ati
Borkou	TD.BR	BO	CD23	02	97,251	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	TD.CG	CB	CD15	03	621,785	Massenya
Ennedi Est	TD.EE	EE	CD27	20	113,862	Am-Djarass
Ennedi Ouest	TD.EO	EO	CD28		59,744	Fada
Guéra	TD.GR	GR	CD05	04	553,795	Mongo
Hadjer-Lamis	TD.HD	HL	CD18	05	562,957	Massakory
Kanem	TD.KM	KA	CD06	06	354,603	Mao
Lac	TD.LC	LC	CD07	07	451,369	Bol
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	LO	CD08	08	683,293	Moundou
Logone Oriental	TD.LR	LR	CD09	09	796,453	Doba
Mandoul	TD.MA	MA	CD19	10	637,086	Koumra
Mayo-Kebbi Est	TD.ME	ME	CD16	11	769,178	Bongor
Mayo-Kebbi Ouest	TD.MW	MO	CD20	12	565,087	Pala
Moyen-Chari	TD.MO	MC	CD17	13	598,284	Sarh
Ouaddaï	TD.OA	OD	CD12	14	731,679	Abéché
Salamat	TD.SA	SA	CD13	15	308,605	Am-Timan
Sila	TD.SI	SI	CD25	21	289,776	Goz Beïda
Tandjilé	TD.TA	TA	CD14	16	682,817	Laï
Tibesti	TD.TI	TI	CD26	22	21,970	Bardaï
Ville de N'Djamena	TD.NJ	ND	CD21	18	993,492	N'Djamena
Wadi Fira	TD.BI	WF	CD02	17	494,933	Biltine
Total					11,175,915
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. GEC: Codes from GEC. INS: INSEED codes. Population: 2009-06-20 census (provisional results).

 

Notes on census: Refugee population is not included. In addition, data for some zones in Sila and Tibesti regions could not be collected because they were insecure. These zones covered the sub-prefectures of Moudeina, Tissi, and parts of Mogororo and Adé in Sila, and the commune of Zouar in Tibesti. The estimated total uncounted population is 98,191.

Further subdivisions:

See the Departments of Chad page.

According to Ordinance no. 01/PR/2003 (2003-09-08), Chad was divided into 18 regions, 47 départements (departments), and 200 communes. By 2008, a series of decrees had increased the numbers of departments to 54, and replaced the communes with over 230 sous-préfectures (sub-prefectures). Before 2000, the prefectures were subdivided into sub-prefectures. There were 47 in 1982, 53 in 1990, and 108 in 2000.

Territorial extent: 

The Aozou strip, an area of some 100,000 sq. km. along the Libyan border, is claimed and occupied by Libya. It lies within Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti regions.

The UN LOCODE page  for Chad lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

Some of the prefectures are named for the major rivers of the area. The Mayo Kébi River drains into the Bénoué, and thus finally to the Gulf of Guinea. The Chari, and its tributaries, including the Logone (with two branches, Logone Occidental and Logone Oriental) and Bahr Salamat, flow into Lake Chad. The Batha is an intermittent river, ending at Lake Fitri. Lakes Chad and Fitri grow and shrink according to the amount of rainfall. Bas (Lower) means downstream. Moyen means middle. Chari is a local word meaning river.

Change history: 

According to source [4], in 1935 Chad was divided into ten départements (departments), with lower-level subdivisions (status not specified). These were the divisions at that time:

Department	Capital	Subdivisions
Baguirmi	Massenya	Massenya, Bousso
Bas-Chari	Fort-Lamy	Fort-Lamy
Batha	Ati	Ati
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	Largeau	Largeau
Kanem	Mao	Mao, Bol
Logone	Moundou	Moundou
Mayo-Kebbi	Bongor	Bongor, Fianga, Léré, Pala
Moyen-Chari	Fort-Archambault	Fort-Archambault
Ouaddaï	Abéché	Abéché, Adré, Biltine
Salamat	Am Timan	Am Timan

1. ~1941: Baguirmi and Bas-Chari departments merged to form Chari-Baguirmi (capital Fort-Lamy).
2. 1947: Status of departments changed to régions (regions).
3. 1960-08-11: Chad, formerly one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, became independent. At that time it already had a constitution (adopted 1958-10-04) under which administrative subdivisions had been created by law (1960-02-13). It was divided into préfectures which were subdivided into sous-préfectures. At the lowest administrative level were villages. If I correctly interpret the thick bureaucratese in which source [5] is written, villages were combined to form cantons or groupements de villages (groupings of villages); some cantons and villages were grouped to form postes administratives (administrative stations).
4. 1960: Biltine prefecture split from Ouaddaï. The following list of divisions is based on source [11].

Prefecture	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Batha	279,873	100,000	Ati
Biltine	141,686	55,000	Biltine
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	51,472	530,000	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	300,043	100,000	Fort-Lamy
Guera	156,002	60,000	Mongo
Kanem	215,133	150,000	Mao
Logone	512,340	50,000	Moundou
Mayo-Kebbi	368,333	35,000	Bongor
Moyen-Chari	281,127	40,000	Fort-Archambault
Ouaddaï	306,265	75,000	Abéché
Salamat	62,716	76,000	Am-Timan
11 prefectures	2,674,990	1,271,000
Population: 1961 census.

1. 1962-01-09: Logone prefecture split into Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, and Tandjilé.
2. 1962-10-29: Lac prefecture split from Kanem.
3. 1973-09-07: Name of national capital changed from Fort-Lamy to N'Djamena.
4. 1973: Name of capital of Moyen-Chari changed from Fort Archambault to Sarh. The divisions at this point were as follows:

Prefecture	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area (km.²)	Capital
Batha	TD.BA	BA	CD01	288,458	88,800	Ati
Biltine	TD.BI	BI	CD02	184,807	46,850	Biltine
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	TD.BT	BET	CD03	73,185	600,350	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	TD.CB	CB	CD04	1,251,906	82,910	N'Djamena
Guéra	TD.GR	GR	CD05	306,253	58,950	Mongo
Kanem	TD.KA	KA	CD06	279,927	114,520	Mao
Lac	TD.LC	LC	CD07	252,932	22,320	Bol
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	LO	CD08	455,489	8,695	Moundou
Logone Oriental	TD.LR	LR	CD09	441,064	28,035	Doba
Mayo-Kebbi	TD.MK	MK	CD10	825,158	30,105	Bongor
Moyen-Chari	TD.MC	MC	CD11	738,595	45,180	Sarh
Ouaddaï	TD.OD	OD	CD12	543,900	76,240	Abéché
Salamat	TD.SA	SA	CD13	184,403	63,000	Am Timan
Tandjilé	TD.TA	TA	CD14	453,854	18,045	Laï
14 prefectures				6,279,931	1,284,000
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1993-04-15 census.

 

N'Djamena is considered part of Chari-Baguirmi in the table above, following the standards and most reference books. However, according to source [6], N'Djamena is administratively on the same level as the 14 prefectures, and its arrondissements are on a par with sub-prefectures. 1993 census data come from sources [7] and [8], which agree. They both show N'Djamena and Chari-Baguirmi as separate entities, with populations of 530,965 and 720,941, respectively.

An earlier version of the Universal Postal Union document, "UPU Address formats", gave postal abbreviations for the prefectures of Chad. In most cases, they were the same as the ISO 3166-2 codes. The exceptions were Kanem, KN; Logone Occidental, LOC; and Logone Oriental, LOR.

1. 1999-09-01: By decree no. 355/PR/MISD/99, status of prefectures changed to departments. Batha department split into Batha Est and Batha Ouest departments; Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti department split into Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti departments; Chari-Baguirmi department split into Dababa, Baguirmi, and Hadjer Lamis departments; Bahr El Gazal department split from Kanem department; Monts de Lam department split from Logone Oriental department; Mayo-Kebbi department split into Kabia, Mayo Boneye, and Mayo-Dallah departments; Moyen-Chari department split into Lac Iro, Bahr Kôh, and Mandoul departments; Assongha and Sila departments split from Ouaddaï department; Tandjilé department split into Tandjilé Est and Tandjilé Ouest departments. These were the resulting divisions. A map of them can be found in source [9].

Department	HASC	Lic	Capital	Old
Assongha	TD.AS	01	Adré	TD.OD
Baguirmi	TD.BM	02	Massenya	TD.CB
Bahr el Gazal	TD.BG	03	Moussoro	TD.KA
Bahr Kôh	TD.BK	04	Sarh	TD.MC
Batha Est	TD.BE	05	Oum Hadjer	TD.BA
Batha Ouest	TD.BO	06	Ati	TD.BA
Biltine	TD.BI	07	Biltine	TD.BI
Borkou	TD.BR	08	Faya-Largeau	TD.BT
Dababa	TD.DB	09	Bokoro	TD.CB
Ennedi	TD.EN	10	Fada	TD.BT
Guéra	TD.GR	11	Mongo	TD.GR
Hadjer Lamis	TD.HL	12	Massaguet	TD.CB
Kabia	TD.KB	13	Gounou Gaya	TD.MK
Kanem	TD.KN	14	Mao	TD.KA
Lac	TD.LC	15	Bol	TD.LC
Lac Iro	TD.LI	16	Kyabé	TD.MC
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	17	Moundou	TD.LO
Logone Oriental	TD.LG	18	Doba	TD.LR
Mandoul	TD.MN	19	Koumra	TD.MC
Mayo Boneye	TD.MB	20	Bongor	TD.MK
Mayo-Dallah	TD.MD	21	Pala	TD.MK
Monts de Lam	TD.ML	22	Baïbokoum	TD.LR
N'Djamena	TD.ND	29	N'Djamena	TD.CB
Ouaddaï	TD.OU	23	Abéché	TD.OD
Salamat	TD.SA	24	Am Timan	TD.SA
Sila	TD.SI	25	Goz Beïda	TD.OD
Tandjilé Est	TD.TE	26	Laï	TD.TA
Tandjilé Ouest	TD.TO	27	Kélo	TD.TA
Tibesti	TD.TI	28	Bardaï	TD.BT
Department: except for N'Djamena, which is a commune. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Lic: The first two digits of license plates on vehicles registered in this division, according to source [10]. Old: Code for former prefecture containing this territory (see table above for key).

1. 2002-10-17: Chad reorganized into eighteen régions (regions). The Constitution of Chad (1996-03-31) calls for the creation of decentralized "territorial collectivities", forming a hierarchical subdivision of the country. The primary subdivisions are régions (regions), which are to be divided into départements (departments), communes, and communautés rurales (rural communities). It took several steps to carry out this provision. Statutes for the regions, departments, and communes were embodied in organic law no. 002/PR/2000 (2000-02-16); for rural communities, in organic law no. 007/PR/2002 (2002-06-05). Decree no. 419/PR/MAT/02 of 2002-10-17 divided Chad into eighteen regions, of which one (N'Djamena) is governed by a special statute. Ordinance no. 01/PR/2003, creating decentralized territorial collectivities, gave the list of regions, departments, and communes formed. A future measure will create the rural communities. The new divisions include 17 regions, 47 departments, and 199 communes, plus the City of N'Djamena, a commune governed by a special statute. The following table shows the result when these laws took effect.

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Capital
Batha	TD.BA	BA	CD01	Ati
Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti	TD.BT	BET	CD03	Faya-Largeau
Chari-Baguirmi	TD.CG	CB	CD15	Massenya
Guéra	TD.GR	GR	CD05	Mongo
Hadjer-Lamis	TD.HD	HL	CD18	Massakory
Kanem	TD.KA	KA	CD06	Mao
Lac	TD.LC	LC	CD07	Bol
Logone Occidental	TD.LO	LO	CD08	Moundou
Logone Oriental	TD.LR	LR	CD09	Doba
Mandoul	TD.MA	MA	CD19	Koumra
Mayo-Kebbi Est	TD.ME	ME	CD16	Bongor
Mayo-Kebbi Ouest	TD.MW	MO	CD20	Pala
Moyen-Chari	TD.MO	MC	CD17	Sarh
Ouaddaï	TD.OD	OD	CD12	Abéché
Salamat	TD.SA	SA	CD13	Am-Timan
Tandjilé	TD.TA	TA	CD14	Laï
Ville de N'Djamena	TD.NJ	ND	CD21	N'Djamena
Wadi Fira	TD.BI	WF	CD02	Biltine
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.

1. The above regions can best be described in terms of the prefectures that existed before 1999. Wadi Fira is the same as the old Biltine prefecture. The old Chari-Baguirmi prefecture corresponds to the new regions of Chari-Baguirmi (southern section), Hadjer-Lamis (northern section), and Ville de N'Djamena (capital area, west central). The old Moyen-Chari prefecture is now split into the new Mandoul (western) and Moyen-Chari (eastern) regions. The old Mayo-Kebbi prefecture is split into Mayo-Kebbi Est (northeastern) and Mayo-Kebbi Ouest (southwestern).
2. 2008-02-19: Ordinance no. 002/PR/08, restructuring certain decentralized territorial collectivities, split the former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region into separate regions Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti; split Sila region from Ouaddaï; and split Barh el Ghazel region from Kanem. Official documents seem to be using the terms région and gouvernorat interchangeably, and also equating département to préfecture.
3. 2012-09-04: Ennedi region split into Ennedi Est and Ennedi Ouest. Previously, the HASC and GEC codes for Ennedi region were TD.EN and CD24, respectively.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Barh el Ghazel: Bahr el Gazal, Barh-el-Gazaal, Barh el Gazel (variant)
2. Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti: B.E.T. (informal)
3. Chari-Baguirmi: Bas-Chari (obsolete)
4. Guéra: Baguirmi (obsolete)
5. Mayo-Dallah: Mayo-Dala (variant)
6. Mayo-Kebbi: Maio-Kebbi, Mayo-Kabbi, Mayo Kébbi, Mayo Kébi, Mayokerbi (variant)
7. N'Djamena: Ndjamena, N'Djaména (variant); Nyamena (Spanish-variant); Yamena (Spanish)
8. Ouaddaï: Ouadaï (obsolete)
9. Wadi Fira: Biltine (obsolete)

Sources: 

1. [1] Tableau des Codes des Circonscritions (sic), retrieved from the website of Comité de Promotion de l'Information Géographique au Tchad  (dated 2008-04; retrieved 2009-08-05).
2. [2] "Deuxième recensement général de la population et de l’habitat (RGPH2, 2009): Résultats Provisoires", downloaded from Chad's Ministry of the Economy and Planning  website on 2009-11-30.
3. [3] L'Évaluation des effectifs de la population des pays Africains, Tome I. Groupe de Démographie Africaine, Paris, 1982.
4. [4] French Wikipedia article on administrative division of Chad  (retrieved 2005-04-19).
5. [5] Report on decentralization in Chad from Centre d'Études et de Formation pour le Développement (dead link, retrieved from http://www.cefod.org/Fichiers%20web/decentralisationtchad.doc on 2003-11-09).
6. [6] World Bank document on poverty, containing provisional results of the 1993 census (dead link, retrieved from http://www4.worldbank.org/afr/poverty/pdf/docnav/01272.pdf on 2003-10-08).
7. [7] Annuaire Statistique: 1995, a government publication, dated June 1998 (dead link, retrieved from http://www4.worldbank.org/afr/poverty/pdf/docnav/02804.pdf on 2005-04-19).
8. [8] Chinese Web page with Chad statistics (dead link, retrieved from http://www.xzqh.org/waiguo/africa/3052.htm on 2003-10-08).
9. [9] PDF document  (map on page 16; retrieved 2005-04-19).
10. [10] Decree N° 193/PR/MTPMHU/2001 (2001-04-03) (dead link, retrieved from http://www.cefod.org/Revuejuridique/Revue3/legislation1_rjt%203.htm on 2003-10-08).
11. [11] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1964 edition.
12. [12] Library of Congress country study  (retrieved 1999).
13. [13] Ordonnance N° 027/PR/2012  (retrieved 2013-03-19).