N’Djamena << ehn JAHM uh nuh >> is the capital and largest city of Chad. The city has a population of about 1,500,000. It lies on the southwest border of the country where the Chari and Logone rivers meet.
N’Djamena is Chad’s government center and a transportation hub. It is also a major regional market for grains, livestock, and other products. Meat processing is a major industry. The city has several hotels, a busy central market, a university, and an international airport. N’Djamena also has a spectacular mosque (Islamic house of worship) that was built in the 1970’s. Most of the city’s people live in adobe houses. There are also neighborhoods with more modern residences.
French troops founded the city in 1900 on the site of a fishing village. They had just defeated Rabah Zubayr Fadl-Allah, a Sudanese warlord who ruled the area in the 1890’s. The French named the city Fort-Lamy, after the military leader who had led the conquest. In World War II (1939-1945), the Allies used Fort-Lamy as a military base. The French ruled Fort-Lamy and the rest of Chad until 1960, when Chad became independent. In 1973, Fort-Lamy was renamed N’Djamena.
