There are many problems facing the African continent, such as underdevelopment, AIDS and a corrupt government. However, one issue that contributes to all these factors and plagues Africa today is poverty. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. One of the poorest countries in Africa is Chad. The population of Chad is 11,227,208 people and approximately 54% of the population of Chad lives below the poverty line. Many people in Chad live without clean water, food, electricity, homes, a decent education and even medical care. Poverty in Chad is very harsh and widespread. This poverty was caused by many things in Africa. Some of these things might date back to when slaves were transported around the world and things that might have been recent. For Chadians, every year is unpredictable. One year there was a huge oil discovery that made Chad prosper, but that victory was short-lived. According to Gfmag, after the discovery of oil, Chad's GDP, gross domestic product, was only based on thousands. Working parents receive low pay, do strenuous work and are unable to support their family. Children are often left unattended and wander the streets of Chad looking for or stealing food. There are many factors that Chadians have to suffer from, life expectancy in 2011 is believed to be 49 years and a few months, which makes the country's elderly few. So everyone is affected by poverty in Chad. Poverty is believed to begin in the southern part of the country. When the French settlers arrived, they came from the southern part of Chad and pushed up. From there the population spread upwards and took control of most of the Chadian territory. This has left many Chadians in the… middle of paper… a limited amount of medical supplies are being shipped to Chad. This creates many problems such as spread of diseases, infant mortality and other worrying issues. In Chad, half the population lives in poverty. This is the population count of Los Angeles and California combined. Most Chadians have no sources of clean water or decent food. The State of Chad is actually very poor and is getting worse as time goes by. The increase in infant and child mortality rates increases almost every three to two years. People depend on a source of agriculture to provide small necessities that most people do not have. The healthcare system is terrible. Chad has few or no doctors, there are also many diseases and illnesses that spread rapidly, not only does this make their lives worse, but also increases the number of deaths counted in the country.