Toubou

Toubou or Gouran people (Teda & Dazagra)

A Toubou near rocky lands in north Chad
Total population
725,000
Regions with significant populations
Chad	375,000
Libya	52,000
Niger	125,710
Sudan	150,000
Languages
Tebu (Tedaga,Dazaga)
Religion
Islam (Sunni)

The Tubu or Toubou (Old Tebu: "Rock People") are an ethnic group inhabiting not only northern Chad but also southern Libya, northeastern Niger, and northwestern Sudan. The majority of Toubou live in the north of Chad around the Tibesti mountains. They are generally studied as two closely associated people, particularly in the French literature, the Teda people who are found in the north, and the Daza or Dasa people who are found to their south. They speak the Tebu languages, in the Saharan branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family.

Numbering about 0.5 million, they are Muslims. Toubou live either as herders and nomads, or as farmers near oases. Their society is clan-based, with each clan having certain oases, pastures and wells.

The Toubou people are also referred to as the Tibu, Tibbu, Tebu, Tubu, Tebou, Todga, Todaga, Toda, Tuda and Tudaga people. Many of Chad's leaders have been Toubou, including presidents Goukouni Oueddei and Hissène Habré.

The Toubou people have historically lived in northern Chad, northwestern Niger and southern Libya. The Toubou people are distributed across a large area in the central Sahara, as well as the north-central Sahel. They are particularly found north of the Tibesti mountains, which in Old Tebu means "Rocky Mountains." Their name is derived from this. The Toubou people have sometimes been called the "black nomads of the Sahara".

The Toubou are studied in two groups: the Teda (or Toda) and the Dazagra. They are believed to share a common origin, but speak now two distinct if clearly associated languages called Tedaga (Téda Toubou) and Dazaga (Dazaga Toubou), both Nilo-Saharan languages. Of the two, the Daza found to the south of the Teda are the most numerous, being 358,000 persons, while the Teda are only 47,000.