N'Djamena
The capital city of Chad, N'Djamena, was originally called Fort Lamy by the French after Amedee-Francois Lamy, an army officer who had been killed in the Battle of Kousseri; a battle fought in May 1900 by the French as part of a plan to occupy the Chari-Baguirmi region. Fort Lamy's name was changed to N'Djamena in 1973 by the then president Francois Tombalbaye and today has a population of just under one million. Over the years N'Djamena has been the scene of many conflicts.
It was seized and occupied by Libya in the 1980-1981 Chadian-Libya conflict, and was nearly destroyed during this period with its population fleeing the city, mainly to Cameroon. Even as recently as 2008 N'Djamena was assaulted by rebel forces opposed to the president. The rebels initially marched through the city however within two days government troops forced the rebels to retreat. An estimated seven hundred died in the brief conflict.
N'Djamena is located on the Chari River facing the town of Kousseri in Cameroon, to which it is connected by a bridge and has seen rapid growth since the end of the second world war when its population was just 18,435. Much of this rapid growth, which has caused its own difficulties not least in terms of planning, housing and water issues, has been as a result of thousands fleeing to the city to escape conflicts, particularly in the north of the country. This video shows life in N'Djamena today. Make a virtual landing at N'Djamena airport here or explore N'Djamena using our interactive map below.
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