The Mimi in Chad are mostly settled farmers who inhabit the hilly eastern part of Dar ("home of") Mimi. There, they raise cereals, beans, sesame, and a variety of other crops; they also keep some livestock. A few of the Mimi are nomadic herdsmen. They live like the pastoral Arabs, rather than farm for their livelihood. The Mimi nomads live in mud homes made with thatched-roofs.

Dar Mimi is sandy and virtually treeless. Because of the shortage of water in the area, the settled Mimi are limited in the number of animals they can keep. For this reason, they tend to force the nomadic Mimi to migrate southward and westward. They are surrounded on all sides by a number of other ethnic groups.

The settled Mimi sometimes intermarry with the Maba and the Arabs; whereas, the nomadic Mimi intermarry with the Zaghawa and the Abu Sharib peoples. A Mimi will never marry a Tama. Because of this intermarriage among the Mimi and the neighboring groups, cultivation techniques and some vocabulary, among other things, have been assimilated into Mimi culture.

The Mimi have a history of being politically significant and were divided into twenty or thirty subsections headed by native chiefs. They fought well in battle and were commended for their bravery. They are looked upon by outsiders as not being dedicated or orthodox in their Muslim religion and as being somewhat uncivil when dealing with strangers.

Islam is a religion of works based on five basic teachings or "pillars." Muslims must affirm that "there is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet." They are also required to pray five times a day, give alms to the poor, fast during the month of Ramadan, and try to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca. The Mimi are not as strict in their observance of Islam as are some other Muslim groups in the area; however, most of the rules are followed.