Amdjarass or Am-Djarass (Arabic: أم جرس) is the capital city of the Ennedi-Est Region in northern Chad. It is also the capital of the second level administrative division, the Am-Djarass department. It is the largest city in the region and the fourth largest in Saharan (Northern) Chad.

Amdjarass
أم جرس
Amdjarass أم جرس is located in Chad
Amdjarass أم جرس
Amdjarass
أم جرس
Location in Chad (Ennedi-Est Region highlighted)
Coordinates: 16°3′57″N 22°50′35″E / 16.06583°N 22.84306°E / 16.06583; 22.84306
CountryChad
RegionEnnedi-Est (since 2012)
DepartmentAm-Djarass
Sub-PrefectureAm-Djarass
Elevation
896 m (2,940 ft)
Population
 (2009 Census)
 • Total20,850

The city is presently mapped in OpenStreetMap, but many atlases do not put this city on the map. Despite formerly being an isolated Saharan oasis, its population as of the 2009 census is 20,850, and has grown considerably from just 657 residents in the 1993 census. Since 1990 for more than 33 years it has been the home town of the Déby family ruling over the country.[1] On July 3, 2015, Chadian president Idriss Deby visited Amdjarass. It is the city in which he would be buried 6 years later.

The town has a hotel called the Toumai Hotel Amdjarass and a fortress. There is a boomerang-shaped rock with the town's name at the entrance to the town. The mayor is Ismael Miss.

Declan Walsh of The New York Times has reported that in 2023, during the War in Sudan, the United Arab Emirates set up a base at the airport in Amdjarass, to support the Rapid Support Forces in the war.[2] The UAE has also provided financial support to the Chad military junta,[1] despite officially declaring a neutral stance in the conflict as a Western ally.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Will Chad be the next Western ally in Africa to fail?". The Economist. 2023-11-23. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  2. ^ Walsh, Declan; Koettl, Christoph; Schmitt, Eric (2023-09-29). "Talking Peace in Sudan, the U.A.E. Secretly Fuels the Fight". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-30.