There are rock engravings in the area of Zouar, featuring, among others, cows eating fresh grass, attesting to the wet past of the Sahara.

In 1869, Gustav Nachtigal was sent by Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to contact the Sultan of Bornu, and was the first European to travel the Tibesti region from Zouar to Bardaï.

[6] An opposition leader, Goukouni Oueddei, established a base in the Tibesti region in the early 1980s with Libyan military backing.

[10] An offensive from the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) rebel group began in the region on the day of the 2021 Chadian presidential election.

On 20 April, President Idriss Déby was killed while visiting the frontlines of the conflict, the country's borders has been shut as a result of this.

The region's northern border lies within the Aouzou Strip, historically a point of dispute between Chad and Libya.

[12] The regional capital is Bardaï; other major settlements include Aouzou, Goubonne, Wour, Zouar and Zoumri.