Though the Bahá'í Faith in Chad began after its independence in 1960 members of the religion were present in associated territories since 1953. The Bahá'ís of Chad elected their first National Spiritual Assembly in 1971. Through succeeding decades Bahá'ís have been active in a number of ways and by some counts have become the third largest international religion in Chad with over 80,300 members by 2000 and 96,800 in 2005.