Wadai, wah di', a native state in the central part of Africa, and now a French protectorate. It borders upon Lake Tchad on the north and upon an extension of the French Kongo on the south, known as Upper Ubangui. The boundaries are indefinite. The surface is arid and mostly of a desert character, but there are a number of oases scattered through the region, and in some sections are fertile tracts covered with forests. The population, estimated at about 2,000,000, is composed chiefly of negroes and Arabs, who are Mohammedans. The capital is Abeshr, and it is connected with bengeazi by caravan route.