Chad and Chile

Chad and Chile

Chad, located in central Africa, and Chile which is located on the west coast of South America surprisingly have some geographic similarities. That is not to say that Chad and Chile do not have their differences. Chad and Chile are countries that have climatic zones that range from deserts to fertile farm land and a lot more in between. These countries have industries that range from mining of minerals to raising cotton because of their varying climates.

As stated before, there are some similarities in the geography of Chile and Chad. In the northern regions of both countries there are desert conditions, although these conditions are more extreme in Chile. In Chile's far northern region lies the Atacama Desert. There are some places in the Atacama where no rainfall has ever been registered (Chile pg. 3). Although there are extreme conditions, this area is sparsely inhabited, mainly by nitrate miners, fishers and workers in limited areas of industry (Loveman pg. 17). Northern Chad is somewhat similar to northern Chile with its desert-like conditions. The northern areas of Chad are also sparsely inhabited because most of this area receives very small amounts of rain year-long (Chad pg. 4). The northern region of Chad is mainly populated with Nomads who herd small ruminants, like goats and sheep.

The central regions of Chad and Chile are more populated than the northern areas due to the more habitable climates. There are many crops that are grown in the fertile central regions of Chile. In Chad there is a wet season and dry season. Chile also has marked wet and dry seasons, but it also has the advantage of the increased river flows from the melting of the Andean snows (Perrottet, pg. 25).

The Southern regions of Chad and Chile are where the major differences in the countries occur. The southern region of Chad is where the major cash crops, like cotton, are cultivated (Decalo pg. 3) due to the tropical climate. The southern region of Chile is almost the complete opposite of the southern region of Chad. Southern Chile is far from the tropical climate of Chad, the summer temperatures of the area is only 11oC (Chile pg. 6). For this reason, this area of Chile is not as populated as the central region of the country.

Because of their varying climatic zones Chile and Chad have very diverse populations. Depending on where you live in these countries you