page_title: Chad Basin
section_title: Rivers
hierarchical_section_title: Chad Basin / Water resources / Rivers
caption_attribution_description: English: Sketch map of the catchment area of the Yobe river in north-east Nigeria
context_page_description: The Chad Basin is the largest endorheic basin in Africa, centered on Lake Chad. It has no outlet to the sea and contains large areas of desert or semi-arid savanna. The drainage basin is roughly coterminous with the sedimentary basin of the same name, but extends further to the northeast and east. The basin spans eight countries, including most of Chad and a large part of Niger. The region has an ethnically diverse population of about 30 million people as of 2011, growing rapidly.
  A combination of dams, increased irrigation, climate change, and reduced rainfall are causing water shortages, contributing to terrorism and the rise of Boko Haram in the region. Lake Chad continues to shrink.
context_section_description: The seasonal Korama River in the south of Niger does not reach Lake Chad. Nigeria includes two sub-basins that drain into Lake Chad. The Hadejia - Jama'are - Yobe sub-basin in the north contains the Hadejia and Jama'are rivers, which supply the 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) Hadejia-Nguru wetlands. They converge to form the Yobe, which defines the border between Niger and Nigeria for 300 kilometres (190 mi), flowing into Lake Chad. About .5 cubic kilometres (0.12 cu mi) of water reaches Lake Chad annually. Construction of upstream dams and growth in irrigation have reduced water flow, and the floodplains are drying up. The Yedseram - Ngadda sub-basin further south is fed by the Yedseram River and Ngadda River, which join to form an 80 square kilometres (31 sq mi) swamp to the southwest of the lake. There is no significant water flow from the swamp to the lake.
  The Central African Republic (CAR) contains the sources of the Chari and Logone rivers, which flow north into the lake. The volume of water entering Chad annually from the CAR has fallen from about 33 cubic kilometres (7.9 cu mi) before the 1970s to 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) in the 1980s. A further 3 cubic kilometres (0.72 cu mi) to 7 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi) of water annually flows from Cameroon into Chad via the Logone River. The Chari-Logone system accounts for about 95% of the water entering Lake Chad.
caption: Yobe River catchment area showing location of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands
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