Located at the convergence of the Logone and Chari rivers, N’Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad.
It was founded in 1900 following the French Army’s defeat of Rabih Al-Zubayr, a slave trader, in the Battle of Kousseri. Following the military victory, the French named the settlement Fort Lamy after Amédée-François Lamy, a French army officer, who died in the battle.
On 6 September 1973, President Tombalbaye, in the midst of the “cultural revolution” and seeking to erase all traces of French influence in the country, renamed it N’Djamena, after a neighbouring Arab village. Historically, it should have been given a kotoko or Sao name, since it is built on the ruins of an old village of this tribe and surrounded by Sao mounds (these mounds were razed during the construction of the Novotel and the French embassy).
islam is the major religion in N’Djamena as 95% of the population is Muslim. Am Djamena means in Arabic “the place where one rests”, because at the time there were many trees in the shade of which it was good to fall asleep.
Today, N’Djamena has a population of nearly one million and seems to crystallize all the complexity of the country.
Sighs N Sounds of N’Djamena
While the Muslim neighbourhoods are sober, full of mosques and deserted at night, the southern neighbourhoods abound with bars and nightclubs.
Le Carnivore offers a kitsch atmosphere, well appreciated by urban and Chadian city dwellers: The bar, under the stars, is dotted with small tables lit by candlelight, among which the waitresses evolve.
A group of musicians, set against the fountain, hums his melodies to brighten up the evening of expatriates who make up the majority of the restaurant’s clientele. As his name suggests, meat is the queen of the carnivore map. The speciality is the Burgundian fondue, melting and enriching.
Set in a new building in the Amriguibe district, near the Voitures car park, the National Museum which was opened with a large pump at the end of 2010 is a good spot to visit. It is organized into seven «pavilions» (Islamic heritage, prehistory, the archaeology of ancestral Art, History, Economics, Arts and Popular Traditions and Paleontology) distributed on two levels.
Dembe Market is even more popular than the central market also makes for a great stop over and offers an interesting sample of this African country.
N’Djamena is very proud of its cathedral, in the middle of the city, which nargue the minarets of the mosque at the top of its 55 m.
Where to stay in N’Djamena
Novotel La Tchadienne has some 150 rooms equipped with TV, refrigerators and safes for visitors.