The administrative divisions of Chad have often changed since 1900, when the territory was first created by France as part of its colonial empire, with the name Territoire Militaire des pays et protectorats du Tchad.[1] The first subdivision took place in 1910, when 9 circumscriptions were made, named départements (departments) in 1935 and régions (regions) in 1947. As for the regions, they were further divided in districts.[2]
In 1960, immediately before independence, the régions became préfectures (prefectures), and the districts instead sous-prefectures (sub-prefectures). The prefectures were in origin 11, later on raising to 14.[3] In 1999 they were modified in 28 departments; this was ultimately changed in 2002, when 18 regions replaced them.[4] As for the regions, they are divided in departments, while the latter are divided in sub-prefectures.[4] After a series of splits in 2008 the number of regions increased to 22.[5] In 2012 Ennedi Region was split into Ennedi-Est and Ennedi-Ouest, producing the current 23 regions.[6][4]
- ^ S. Decalo (1987); Historical Dictionary of Chad, 2 ed. Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1937-6, pp. 8, 309.
- ^ B. Lanne (1998); Histoire politique du Tchad de 1945 à 1958, Karthala. ISBN 2-86537-883-7(in French), pp. 11-12
- ^ S. Decalo, pp. 30-32
- ^ a b c Law, Gwillim. "Regions of Chad". Statoids. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Ordonnance n° 002/PR/08 portant restructuration de certaines collectivités territoriales décentralisées
- ^ Déby, Idriss (4 September 2012). "Ordonnance No. 27/PR/2012" (PDF). Republic of Chad. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.