Is Doba safe?
Chad · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Doba is a city in Chad, home to about 177k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,594 of 6,168, with a safety score of 57.9 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance and fire 1212 · Police 2020
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Chad, updated 2026-04-27.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country9 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Chad as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Nya Pende area of Logone Oriental province Timberi canton13 deaths · 3 events
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Doba, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, Ennedi Est and Tibesti provinces
- Kanem Province, including Nokou
- Lake Chad region
- Within 30km of all Chad’s other borders
- The rest of Chad
- Borkou Province
- Ennedi Ouest Province
- Ennedi Est Province
- Tibesti Province
Named in the official UK travel advice for Chad (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Doba.
How safe is Doba really?
Neither Doba nor Chad has a published homicide rate in the sources this site uses (UNODC and the Igarapé Homicide Monitor), so the strongest single indicator of city safety is simply missing here. Chad's income inequality is middling (Gini 37.4) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Doba also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 35 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 7 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Nya Pende area of Logone Oriental province Timberi canton (13 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Chad at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-04-27). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 9 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Chad
Terrorism in Chad · Terrorist kidnapping · Political situation · Carjacking · Armed robbery · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Personal ID · Ramadan · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Driving standards and security · Travelling outside N’Djamena · +1 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Chad — country-level, not specific to Doba. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 35within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 37.4country, 2022
- Human development
- HDI 0.416country, 2023
- Income
- $2,770/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 177kurban centre · 8,029/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 32.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 36/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 32/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 22/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.48Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 43.0 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 6%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.1 doctors /1k0.2 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 206 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Chad
- Flood
- 8.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 5.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Chad as a whole, not Doba specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Chad (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Chad; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Doba that gives 57.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Doba compared with Koumra
| Measure | Doba | Koumra | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 57.9 | 64.7 | −6.8 — better for Koumra |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | no data | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 35 | 7 | +28 — better for Koumra |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Chad, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Koumra →
Nearby cities
- Koumra 64.7
- Moundou 56.3
- Kelo 61.6
- Sarh 55.9
- Pala 61.6
- Bongor 62.9
- Yagoua, Cameroon 52.1
- Kaélé, Cameroon 47.7
See Doba on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →