# Cameroon and Chad compared Cameroon and Chad side by side: 39 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 2 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/cmr-vs-tcd Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Cameroon: 1 January 1960 — French Cameroun becomes independent as the UN trusteeship ends - Chad: 11 August 1960 — Independence from French Equatorial Africa ## Economy | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $53 B | 2024 | $20 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $1,830 | 2024 | $962 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 3.5% | 2024 | 4.2% | 2024 | | Inflation | 4.5% | 2024 | 8.9% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 34.4% | 2024 | 47.9% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 29 m | 2024 | 20 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 64.0 yrs | 2024 | 55.2 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 55.4% | 2024 | 26.9% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 4.3 | 2024 | 6.0 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 35.1 | 2024 | 30.3 | 2024 | | Political stability | 39.3 | 2024 | 35.5 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 35.8 | 2024 | 29.9 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 43.4 | 2024 | 37.7 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 35.4 | 2024 | 32.1 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 23.1 | 2024 | 19.7 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 4.6% | 2023 | 5.0% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.14 | 2022 | 0.09 | 2023 | | Under-5 mortality | 64.8 | 2024 | 97.3 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 71.0% | 2024 | 66.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | — | — | 6.3% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 72.6% | 2018 | 30.6% | 2019 | | Education spending | 2.8% | 2023 | 3.2% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 114.4% | 2024 | 88.5% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 44.8% | 2023 | 23.5% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 16.7% | 2024 | 4.4% | 2020 | ## Technology | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Internet users | 46.3% | 2024 | 12.6% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 108 | 2024 | 73 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 2.1% | 2023 | — | — | | R&D spending | — | — | 0.2% | 2016 | | Researchers (per million) | — | — | 57 | 2016 | ## Geography | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 472,710 km² | 2023 | 1,259,200 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 42.7% | 2023 | 3.2% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 20.9% | 2023 | 40.0% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.4 | 2024 | 0.1 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 79.2% | 2021 | 70.0% | 2022 | ## Resources | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 5.5% | 2021 | 21.3% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 2.4% | 2021 | 16.8% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 2.6% | 2021 | 4.6% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 72.0% | 2023 | 12.0% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Chad | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.0% | 2024 | 3.0% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $535 M | 2024 | $558 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 34,000 | 2020 | 45,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CMR.md and https://terralore.co/country/TCD.md. ## Entangled histories (2 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - c. 6th century BCE: **Rise of the Sao culture** — South of Lake Chad the Sao began building walled towns and producing distinctive terracotta and bronze artwork, forming one of the earliest known complex societies in the region. (from the Cameroon chronicle; sources: Sao civilisation; Cameroon (country overview and history)) - c. 11th–15th centuries: **Height of the Sao city-states** — The Sao settlements of the Lake Chad basin reached their apex between roughly the ninth and fifteenth centuries before being absorbed by neighbouring states and peoples such as the Kotoko. (from the Cameroon chronicle; sources: Sao civilisation; History of Cameroon) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/CMR/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/TCD/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Cameroon and Chad compared", terralore.co/compare/cmr-vs-tcd, retrieved .