{"id":8904,"date":"2021-11-17T04:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=8904"},"modified":"2021-11-17T12:23:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T20:23:38","slug":"sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/sudan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in\u00a0Northeast Africa<\/a>. It is bordered by\u00a0Egypt<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0north<\/a>,\u00a0Libya<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0northwest<\/a>,\u00a0Chad<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0west<\/a>, the\u00a0Central African Republic<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0southwest<\/a>,\u00a0South Sudan<\/a>\u00a0to the south,\u00a0Ethiopia<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0southeast<\/a>,\u00a0Eritrea<\/a>\u00a0to the east, and the\u00a0Red Sea<\/a>\u00a0to the northeast. Sudan has a population of 44.91 million people as of 2021<\/sup> and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometers (728,215 square miles), making it\u00a0Africa<\/a>‘s\u00a0third-largest country by area<\/a>\u00a0and also the third-largest by area in the\u00a0Arab league<\/a>. It was also the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab league until the\u00a0secession of South Sudan in 2011<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0since which both titles have been held by\u00a0Algeria<\/a>. Its\u00a0capital<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0Khartoum<\/a>, while its largest city is\u00a0Omdurman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sudan’s history goes back to the\u00a0Pharaonic period<\/a>, witnessing the\u00a0Kingdom of Kerma<\/a>\u00a0(c.<\/abbr>\u00a02500\u20131500 BC), the subsequent rule of the\u00a0Egyptian New Kingdom<\/a>\u00a0(c.<\/abbr>\u00a01500 BC\u20131070 BC) and the rise of the\u00a0Kingdom of Kush<\/a>\u00a0(c.<\/abbr>\u00a0785 BC\u2013350 AD), which would in turn\u00a0control Egypt<\/a>\u00a0itself for nearly a century. After the fall of Kush, the\u00a0Nubians<\/a>\u00a0formed the three Christian kingdoms of\u00a0Nobatia<\/a>,\u00a0Makuria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Alodia<\/a>, with the latter two lasting until around 1500. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, much of Sudan was settled by\u00a0Arab nomads<\/a>. From the 16th\u201319th centuries, central and eastern Sudan were dominated by the\u00a0Funj sultanate<\/a>, while\u00a0Darfur<\/a>\u00a0ruled the west and the\u00a0Ottomans<\/a>\u00a0the far north.<\/p>\n

From the 19th century, the entirety of Sudan was conquered by Egypt under the\u00a0Muhammad Ali dynasty<\/a>. It was under Egyptian rule that Sudan acquired its modern borders, and began the process of political, agricultural, and economic development. In 1881, nationalist sentiment in Egypt led to the\u00a0Orabi Revolt<\/a>, weakening the power of the Egyptian monarchy, and eventually leading to the occupation of Egypt by the\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>. At the same time, religious-nationalist fervor in Sudan erupted in the Mahdist Revolt<\/a>\u00a0led by the self-proclaimed\u00a0Mahdi<\/a>\u00a0Muhammad Ahmad<\/a>, resulting in the establishment of the rebel\u00a0Caliphate of Omdurman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Mahdist forces were eventually defeated by a joint Egyptian-British military force, restoring the authority of the Egyptian monarch. However, Egyptian sovereignty in Sudan would henceforth be largely nominal, as the true power in both Egypt and Sudan was now the United Kingdom. In 1899, under British pressure, Egypt agreed to share sovereignty over Sudan with the United Kingdom as a\u00a0condominium<\/a>. In effect, Sudan was governed as a British possession.<\/sup>\u00a0The 20th century saw the growth of both Egyptian and Sudanese nationalism focusing on ending the United Kingdom’s occupation. The\u00a0Egyptian Revolution of 1952<\/a>\u00a0toppled the monarchy, and demanded the withdrawal of British forces from all of Egypt and Sudan.\u00a0Muhammad Naguib<\/a>, one of the two co-leaders of the revolution, and Egypt’s first President, who was half-Sudanese and raised in Sudan, made securing Sudanese independence a priority of the revolutionary government. The following year, under continuous Egyptian and Sudanese pressure, the United Kingdom agreed to Egypt’s demand for both governments to terminate their shared sovereignty over Sudan, and to grant Sudan independence. On 1 January 1956, Sudan was duly declared an independent state.<\/p>\n

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Elmek Nimir Bridge in Khartoum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since independence, Sudan has been ruled by a series of unstable parliamentary governments and military regimes. Under the\u00a0Jaafar Nimeiry<\/a>\u00a0regime, Sudan began\u00a0Islamist<\/a>\u00a0rule.<\/sup>\u00a0This exacerbated the rift between the Islamic north, the seat of the government and the Animists and Christians in the\u00a0south<\/a>. Differences in language, religion, and political power erupted in a\u00a0civil war<\/a>\u00a0between government forces, strongly influenced by the\u00a0National Islamic Front<\/a>\u00a0(NIF), and the southern rebels, whose most influential faction was the\u00a0Sudan People’s Liberation Army<\/a>\u00a0(SPLA), eventually concluding in the independence of South Sudan in 2011.<\/sup>\u00a0Between 1989 and 2019, Sudan experienced a 30-year-long\u00a0military dictatorship<\/a>\u00a0led by\u00a0Omar al-Bashir<\/a>\u00a0accused of widespread\u00a0human rights abuses<\/a>\u00a0including torture, persecution of minorities,\u00a0allegations of sponsoring global terrorism<\/a>\u00a0and notably, ethnic genocide due to its role in the\u00a0War in the Darfur region<\/a>\u00a0that broke out in 2003. Overall, the regime’s actions killed between 300,000 and 400,000 people.\u00a0Protests erupted<\/a>\u00a0in late 2018, demanding Bashir’s resignation, which resulted in a successful\u00a0coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0on 11 April 2019.<\/p>\n

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Protestors in Khartoum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Islam<\/a>\u00a0was the Sudan’s state religion and\u00a0Islamic laws<\/a>\u00a0applied from 1983 until 2020 when the country became a\u00a0secular state<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0economy<\/a>\u00a0has been described as lower-middle income and relies on\u00a0oil production<\/a>\u00a0despite a long-term international sanctions and isolation. Sudan is a member of the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>, the\u00a0Arab League<\/a>,\u00a0African Union<\/a>,\u00a0COMESA<\/a>,\u00a0Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Organisation of Islamic Co-operation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

Prehistoric Sudan (before c. 800 BC):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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By the eighth millennium BC, people of a <\/span>Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0culture had settled into a sedentary way of life there in fortified\u00a0<\/span>mudbrick<\/a>\u00a0villages, where they supplemented hunting and fishing on the Nile with\u00a0<\/span>grain<\/a>\u00a0gathering and\u00a0<\/span>cattle<\/a> herding. During the fifth millennium BC, migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed a social hierarchy over the next centuries which became the Kingdom of Kush (with the capital at Kerma) at 1700 BC.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ancient City of Kerma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anthropological and archaeological research indicate that during the predynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were ethnically, and culturally nearly identical, and thus, simultaneously evolved systems of pharaonic kingship by 3300 BC.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Kingdom of Kush (c. 1070 BC\u2013350 AD):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The <\/span>Kingdom of Kush<\/a>\u00a0was an ancient\u00a0<\/span>Nubian<\/a>\u00a0state centered on the confluences of the\u00a0<\/span>Blue Nile<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>White Nile<\/a>, and the\u00a0<\/span>Atbarah River<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>Nile River<\/a>. It was established after the\u00a0<\/span>Bronze Age<\/a>\u00a0collapse and the disintegration of the\u00a0<\/span>New Kingdom of Egypt<\/a>, centered at Napata in its early phase.<\/span><\/sup><\/div>\n
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After King\u00a0Kashta<\/a>\u00a0(“the Kushite”) invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the\u00a0Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt<\/a>\u00a0for a century before being defeated and driven out by the\u00a0Assyrians<\/a>. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as\u00a0South Kordofan<\/a>\u00a0to the Sinai. Pharaoh\u00a0Piye<\/a>\u00a0attempted to expand the empire into the Near East but was thwarted by the Assyrian king\u00a0Sargon II<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Fortress of Buhen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was still at Mero\u00eb. In\u00a0ancient Greek<\/a>\u00a0geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as\u00a0Ethiopia<\/a>\u00a0(a term also used earlier by the Assyrians when encountering the Nubians). The civilization of Kush was among the first in the world to use iron smelting technology.<\/p>\n

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Mero\u00eb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Nubian kingdom at Mero\u00eb persisted until the mid-4th century AD.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Medieval Christian Nubian Kingdoms (c. 350\u20131500):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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On the turn of the fifth century the <\/span>Blemmyes<\/a>\u00a0established a short-lived state in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, probably centered around Talmis (<\/span>Kalabsha<\/a>), but before 450 they were already driven out of the Nile Valley by the Nobatians. The latter eventually founded a kingdom on their own,\u00a0<\/span>Nobatia<\/a>.<\/span>[26]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0By the 6th century there were in total three Nubian kingdoms: Nobatia in the north, which had its capital at Pachoras (<\/span>Faras<\/a>); the central kingdom,\u00a0<\/span>Makuria<\/a>\u00a0centred at Tungul (<\/span>Old Dongola<\/a>), about 13 kilometers\u00a0(8 miles) south of modern\u00a0Dongola<\/a>; and\u00a0<\/span>Alodia<\/a>, in the heartland of the old Kushitic kingdom, which had its capital at\u00a0<\/span>Soba<\/a>\u00a0(now a suburb of modern-day Khartoum).<\/span>[27]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Still in the sixth century they converted to Christianity.<\/span>[28]<\/a><\/sup> In the seventh century, probably at some point between 628 and 642, Nobatia was incorporated into Makuria.<\/span><\/sup><\/div>\n
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Between 639 and 641 the Muslim Arabs of the\u00a0Rashidun Caliphate<\/a>\u00a0conquered<\/a>\u00a0Byzantine<\/a>\u00a0Egypt. In\u00a0641 or 642<\/a>\u00a0and again in\u00a0652<\/a>\u00a0they invaded Nubia but were repelled, making the Nubians one of the few who managed to defeat the Arabs during the\u00a0Islamic expansion<\/a>. Afterward the Makurian king and the Arabs agreed on a\u00a0unique non-aggression pact that also included an annual exchange of gifts<\/a>, thus acknowledging Makuria’s independence.<\/sup>\u00a0While the Arabs failed to conquer Nubia they began to settle east of the Nile, where they eventually founded several port towns<\/sup>\u00a0and intermarried with the local\u00a0Beja<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Three Christian Nubian kingdoms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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From the mid 8th-mid 11th century the political power and cultural development of Christian Nubia peaked.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In 747 Makuria invaded Egypt, which at this time belonged to the declining\u00a0<\/span>Umayyads<\/a>,<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0and it did so again in the early 960s, when it pushed as far north as\u00a0<\/span>Akhmim<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Makuria maintained close dynastic ties with Alodia, perhaps resulting in the temporary unification of the two kingdoms into one state.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The culture of the medieval Nubians has been described as “<\/span>Afro-Byzantine<\/i>“,<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0but was also increasingly influenced by Arab culture.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The state organization was extremely centralized,<\/sup>\u00a0being based on the\u00a0<\/span>Byzantine bureaucracy<\/a> of the 6th and 7th centuries.<\/span> Arts flourished in the form of pottery paintings<\/span>\u00a0and especially wall paintings.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The Nubians developed an own alphabet for their language,\u00a0<\/span>Old Nobiin<\/a>, basing it on the\u00a0<\/span>Coptic alphabet<\/a>, while also utilizing\u00a0<\/span>Greek<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Coptic<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Arabic<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Women enjoyed high social status: they had access to education, could own, buy and sell land and often used their wealth to endow churches and church paintings.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Even the royal succession was\u00a0<\/span>matrilineal<\/a>, with the son of the king’s sister being the rightful heir.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Moses George, King of Makuria and Alodia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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From the late 11th\/12th century, Makuria’s capital Dongola was in decline, and Alodia’s capital declined in the 12th century as well.<\/sup>\u00a0In the 14th and 15th centuries\u00a0Bedouin<\/a> tribes overran most of Sudan,<\/sup>\u00a0migrating to the\u00a0Butana<\/a>, the\u00a0Gezira<\/a>,\u00a0Kordofan<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Darfur<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0In 1365 a civil war forced the Makurian court to flee to\u00a0Gebel Adda<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Lower Nubia<\/a>, while Dongola was destroyed and left to the Arabs. Afterwards Makuria continued to exist only as a petty kingdom. After the prosperous\u00a0reign of king\u00a0Joel<\/a>\u00a0(fl.<\/abbr> 1463\u20131484) Makuria collapsed.\u00a0Coastal areas from southern Sudan up to the port city of\u00a0Suakin<\/a>\u00a0was succeeded by the\u00a0Adal Sultanate<\/a> in the fifteenth century.\u00a0To the south, the kingdom of Alodia fell to either the Arabs, commanded by tribal leader\u00a0Abdallah Jamma<\/a>, or the\u00a0Funj<\/a>, an African people originating from the south.\u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n

<\/span>Islamic Kingdoms of Sennar and Darfur (c. 1500\u20131821):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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In 1504 the Funj are recorded to have founded the <\/span>Kingdom of Sennar<\/a>, in which Abdallah Jamma’s realm was incorporated.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0By 1523, when Jewish traveler\u00a0<\/span>David Reubeni<\/a> visited Sudan, the Funj state already extended as far north as Dongola. <\/span>Meanwhile, Islam began to be preached on the Nile by\u00a0<\/span>Sufi<\/a>\u00a0holymen who settled there in the 15th and 16th centuries<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0and by David Reubeni’s visit king\u00a0<\/span>Amara Dunqas<\/a>, previously a Pagan or nominal Christian, was recorded to be Muslim.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0However, the Funj would retain un-Islamic customs like the divine kingship or the consumption of alcohol until the 18th century.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Sudanese\u00a0<\/span>folk Islam<\/a> preserved many rituals stemming from Christian traditions until the recent past.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ku\u0161iya Soldier of the Achaemenid Army<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Soon the Funj came in conflict with the\u00a0Ottomans<\/a>, who had occupied\u00a0Suakin<\/a> around 1526 and eventually pushed south along the Nile, reaching the third Nile cataract area in 1583\/1584. A subsequent Ottoman attempt to capture Dongola was\u00a0repelled<\/a>\u00a0by the Funj in 1585.<\/sup>\u00a0Afterwards,\u00a0Hannik<\/a>, located just south of the third cataract, would mark the border between the two states. The aftermath of the Ottoman invasion saw the attempted usurpation of\u00a0Ajib<\/a>, a minor king of northern Nubia. While the Funj eventually killed him in 1611\/1612 his successors, the\u00a0Abdallab<\/a>, were granted to govern everything north of the confluence of Blue and White Niles with considerable autonomy.<\/p>\n

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Islamic States 1800<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the 17th century the Funj state reached its widest extent,<\/sup>\u00a0but in the following century it began to decline.<\/sup> A coup in 1718 brought a dynastic change,<\/sup>\u00a0while another one in 1761\u20131762<\/sup>\u00a0resulted in the\u00a0Hamaj regency<\/a>, where the\u00a0Hamaj<\/a>\u00a0(a people from the Ethiopian borderlands) effectively ruled while the Funj sultans were their mere puppets.<\/sup>\u00a0Shortly afterwards the sultanate began to fragment;<\/sup> by the early 19th century it was essentially restricted to the Gezira.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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The coup of 1718 kicked off a policy of pursuing a more orthodox Islam, which in turn promoted the <\/span>Arabization<\/a>\u00a0of the state.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In order to legitimize\u00a0their rule over their Arab subjects the Funj began to propagate an\u00a0Umayyad descend<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0North of the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, as far downstream as\u00a0<\/span>Al Dabbah<\/a>, the Nubians adopted the tribal identity of the Arab\u00a0<\/span>Jaalin<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup> Until the 19th century Arabic had succeeded in becoming the dominant language of central riverine Sudan<\/span> and most of Kordofan.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Great Mosque of Sennar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

West of the Nile, in\u00a0Darfur<\/a>, the Islamic period saw at first the rise of the\u00a0Tunjur kingdom<\/a>, which replaced the old\u00a0Daju kingdom<\/a>\u00a0in the 15th century<\/sup>\u00a0and extended as far west as\u00a0Wadai<\/a>. The\u00a0Tunjur people<\/a> were probably Arabized\u00a0Berbers<\/a>\u00a0and, their ruling elite at least, Muslims.<\/sup>\u00a0In the 17th century the Tunjur were driven from power by the\u00a0Fur<\/a>\u00a0Keira sultanate<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The Keira state, nominally Muslim since the reign of\u00a0Sulayman Solong<\/a>\u00a0(r.\u00a0c.<\/abbr>\u00a01660\u20131680),<\/sup>\u00a0was initially a small kingdom in northern\u00a0Jebel Marra<\/a>, but expanded west- and northwards in the early 18th century and eastwards under the rule of\u00a0Muhammad Tayrab<\/a>\u00a0(r. 1751\u20131786),<\/sup> peaking in the conquest of Kordofan in 1785.<\/sup>\u00a0The apogee of this empire, now roughly the size of present-day\u00a0Nigeria<\/a>,\u00a0would last until 1821.[91]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

<\/span>Turkiyah and Mahdist Sudan (1821\u20131899):<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 1821, the Ottoman ruler of Egypt,\u00a0Muhammad Ali of Egypt<\/a>, had invaded and conquered northern Sudan. Although technically the\u00a0Vali<\/a>\u00a0of Egypt under the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>, Muhammad Ali styled himself as\u00a0Khedive<\/a>\u00a0of a virtually independent Egypt. Seeking to add Sudan to his domains, he sent his third son Ismail (not to be confused with\u00a0Isma\u02bbil Pasha<\/a>\u00a0mentioned later) to conquer the country, and subsequently incorporate it into Egypt. With the exception of the Shaiqiya and the Darfur sultanate in Kordofan, he was met without resistance. The Egyptian policy of conquest was expanded and intensified by\u00a0Ibrahim Pasha<\/a>‘s son, Isma\u02bbil, under whose reign most of the remainder of modern-day Sudan was conquered.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian authorities made significant improvements to the Sudanese infrastructure (mainly in the north), especially with regard to irrigation and cotton production. In 1879, the\u00a0Great Powers<\/a>\u00a0forced the removal of Ismail and established his son\u00a0Tewfik Pasha<\/a>\u00a0in his place. Tewfik’s corruption and mismanagement resulted in the\u00a0‘Urabi revolt<\/a>, which threatened the Khedive’s survival. Tewfik appealed for help to the British, who subsequently occupied Egypt in 1882. Sudan was left in the hands of the Khedivial government, and the mismanagement and corruption of its officials.<\/p>\n

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Ismail Pasha, the Ottoman Khedive of Egypt and Sudan from 1863 to 1879<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the Khedivial period, dissent had spread due to harsh taxes imposed on most activities. Taxation on irrigation wells and farming lands were so high most farmers abandoned their farms and livestock. During the 1870s, European initiatives against the\u00a0slave trade<\/a>\u00a0had an adverse impact on the economy of northern Sudan, precipitating the rise of\u00a0Mahdist<\/a>\u00a0forces.<\/sup>\u00a0Muhammad Ahmad ibn Abd Allah<\/a>, the\u00a0Mahdi<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(Guided One), offered to the\u00a0ansars<\/i>\u00a0(his followers) and those who surrendered to him a choice between adopting Islam or being killed. The Mahdiyah (Mahdist regime) imposed traditional Sharia\u00a0Islamic laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From his announcement of the Mahdiyya in June 1881 until the\u00a0fall of Khartoum<\/a>\u00a0in January 1885, Muhammad Ahmad led a\u00a0successful military campaign<\/a>\u00a0against the Turco-Egyptian government of the Sudan, known as the\u00a0Turkiyah<\/a>. Muhammad Ahmad died on 22 June 1885, a mere six months after the conquest of Khartoum. After a power struggle amongst his deputies,\u00a0Abdallahi ibn Muhammad<\/a>, with the help primarily of the\u00a0Baggara<\/a>\u00a0of western Sudan, overcame the opposition of the others and emerged as the unchallenged leader of the Mahdiyah. After consolidating his power, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad assumed the title of\u00a0Khalifa<\/i>\u00a0(successor) of the Mahdi, instituted an administration, and appointed\u00a0Ansar<\/a>\u00a0(who were usually\u00a0Baggara<\/a>) as emirs over each of the several provinces.<\/p>\n

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Regional relations remained tense throughout much of the Mahdiyah period, largely because of the Khalifa’s brutal methods to extend his rule throughout the country. In 1887, a 60,000-man Ansar army invaded <\/span>Ethiopia<\/a>, penetrating as far as\u00a0<\/span>Gondar<\/a>. In March 1889, king\u00a0<\/span>Yohannes IV<\/a>\u00a0of Ethiopia marched on\u00a0<\/span>Metemma<\/a>; however, after Yohannes fell in battle, the Ethiopian forces withdrew. Abd ar-Rahman an-Nujumi, the Khalifa’s general, attempted an invasion of Egypt in 1889, but British-led Egyptian troops defeated the Ansar at Tushkah. The failure of the Egyptian invasion broke the spell of the Ansar’s invincibility. The\u00a0<\/span>Belgians<\/a>\u00a0prevented the Mahdi’s men from conquering\u00a0<\/span>Equatoria<\/a>, and in 1893, the Italians repelled an Ansar attack at\u00a0<\/span>Agordat<\/a>\u00a0(in\u00a0<\/span>Eritrea<\/a>) and forced the Ansar to withdraw from Ethiopia.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Muhammad Ahmad, Ruler of Sudan (1881\u20131885)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the 1890s, the British sought to re-establish their control over Sudan, once more officially in the name of the Egyptian Khedive, but in actuality treating the country as a British colony. By the early 1890s, British, French, and Belgian claims had converged at the\u00a0Nile<\/a>\u00a0headwaters. Britain feared that the other powers would take advantage of Sudan’s instability to acquire territory previously annexed to Egypt. Apart from these political considerations, Britain wanted to establish control over the Nile to safeguard a planned irrigation dam at\u00a0Aswan<\/a>.\u00a0Herbert Kitchener<\/a>\u00a0led military campaigns against the\u00a0Mahdist Sudan<\/a>\u00a0from 1896 to 1898. Kitchener’s campaigns culminated in a decisive victory in the\u00a0Battle of Omdurman<\/a>\u00a0on 2 September 1898.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899\u20131956):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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In 1899, Britain and Egypt reached an agreement under which Sudan was run by a governor-general appointed by Egypt with British consent.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In reality, Sudan was effectively administered as a\u00a0<\/span>Crown colony<\/a>. The British were keen to reverse the process, started under\u00a0<\/span>Muhammad Ali Pasha<\/a>, of uniting the\u00a0<\/span>Nile Valley<\/a> under Egyptian leadership and sought to frustrate all efforts aimed at further uniting the two countries.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Battle of Omdurman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Under the Delimitation, Sudan’s border with Abyssinia was contested by raiding tribesmen trading slaves, breaching boundaries of the law. In 1905 Local chieftain\u00a0Sultan Yambio<\/a>\u00a0reluctant to the end gave up the struggle with British forces that had occupied the\u00a0Kordofan<\/a> region, finally ending the lawlessness. The continued British administration of Sudan fueled an increasingly strident nationalist backlash, with Egyptian nationalist leaders determined to force Britain to recognize a single independent union of Egypt and Sudan. With a formal end to Ottoman rule in 1914, Sir Reginald Wingate<\/a>\u00a0was sent that December to occupy Sudan as the new Military Governor.\u00a0Hussein Kamel<\/a>\u00a0was declared\u00a0Sultan of Egypt and Sudan<\/a>, as was his brother and successor,\u00a0Fuad I<\/a>. They continued upon their insistence of a single Egyptian-Sudanese state even when the\u00a0Sultanate of Egypt<\/a>\u00a0was retitled as the\u00a0Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan<\/a>, but it was\u00a0Saad Zaghloul<\/a>\u00a0who continued to be frustrated in the ambitions until his death in 1927.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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From 1924 until independence in 1956, the British had a policy of running Sudan as two essentially separate territories; the north and south. The <\/span>assassination of a Governor-General of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in Cairo<\/a>\u00a0was the causative factor; it brought demands of the newly elected\u00a0<\/span>Wafd<\/a>\u00a0government from colonial forces. A permanent establishment of two battalions in Khartoum was renamed the\u00a0<\/span>Sudan Defence Force<\/a>\u00a0acting as under the government, replacing the former garrison of Egyptian army soldiers, saw action afterward during the\u00a0<\/span>Walwal Incident<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>Wafdist<\/a>\u00a0parliamentary majority had rejected\u00a0<\/span>Sarwat Pasha<\/a>‘s accommodation plan with\u00a0<\/span>Austen Chamberlain<\/a> in London; yet Cairo still needed the money. The Sudanese Government’s revenue had reached a peak in 1928 at \u00a36.6 million, thereafter the Wafdist disruptions, and Italian borders incursions from Somaliland, London decided to reduce expenditure during the Great Depression. Cotton and gum exports were dwarfed by the necessity to import almost everything from Britain leading to a balance of payments deficit at Khartoum.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In July 1936 the Liberal Constitutional leader, Muhammed Mahmoud was persuaded to bring Wafd delegates to London to sign the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, “the beginning of a new stage in Anglo-Egyptian relations”, wrote\u00a0Anthony Eden<\/a>.<\/sup> The British Army was allowed to return to Sudan to protect the Canal Zone. They were able to find training facilities, and the RAF was free to fly over Egyptian territory. It did not, however, resolve the problem of Sudan: the Sudanese Intelligentsia agitated for a return to metropolitan rule, conspiring with Germany’s agents.<\/p>\n

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A Camel Soldier of the Native Forces of the British army<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mussolini made it clear that he could not invade Abyssinia without first conquering Egypt and Sudan; they intended unification of Libya with Italian East Africa. The British Imperial General Staff prepared for military defense of the region, which was thin on the ground.<\/sup>\u00a0The British ambassador blocked Italian attempts to secure a Non-Aggression Treaty with Egypt-Sudan. But Mahmoud was a supporter of the\u00a0Grand Mufti of Jerusalem<\/a>; the region was caught between the Empire’s efforts to save the Jews, and moderate Arab calls to halt migration. <\/sup>The Sudanese Government was directly involved militarily in the\u00a0East African Campaign<\/a>. Formed in 1925, the\u00a0Sudan Defence Force<\/a>\u00a0played an active part in responding to incursions early in World War Two. Italian troops occupied\u00a0Kassala<\/a>\u00a0and other border areas from\u00a0Italian Somaliland<\/a>\u00a0during 1940. In 1942, the SDF also played a part in the invasion of the Italian colony by British and Commonwealth forces. The last British\u00a0governor-general<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0Robert George Howe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Egyptian revolution of 1952<\/a>\u00a0finally heralded the beginning of the march towards Sudanese independence. Having abolished the monarchy in 1953, Egypt’s new leaders,\u00a0Mohammed Naguib<\/a>, whose mother was Sudanese, and later\u00a0Gamal Abdel Nasser<\/a>, believed the only way to end British domination in Sudan was for Egypt to officially abandon its claims of sovereignty. In addition, Nasser knew it would be difficult for Egypt to govern an impoverished Sudan after its independence. The British on the other hand continued their political and financial support for the Mahdist successor,\u00a0Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi<\/a>, whom it was believed would resist Egyptian pressure for Sudanese independence. Rahman was capable of this, but his regime was plagued by political ineptitude, which garnered a colossal loss of support in northern and central Sudan. Both Egypt and Britain sensed a great instability fomenting, and thus opted to allow both Sudanese regions, north and south to have a free vote on whether they wished independence or a British withdrawal.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Independence (1956\u2013present):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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A polling process was carried out resulting in the composition of a democratic parliament and <\/span>Ismail al-Azhari<\/a>\u00a0was elected first Prime Minister and led the first modern Sudanese government.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0On 1 January 1956, in a special ceremony held at the People’s Palace, the Egyptian and British flags were lowered and the new Sudanese flag, composed of green, blue and yellow stripes, was raised in their place by the prime minister\u00a0<\/span>Ismail al-Azhari<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Independence Ceremony 1956<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dissatisfaction culminated in a second\u00a0coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0on 25 May 1969. The coup leader, Col.\u00a0Gaafar Nimeiry<\/a>, became prime minister, and the new regime abolished parliament and outlawed all political parties. Disputes between\u00a0Marxist<\/a>\u00a0and non-Marxist elements within the ruling military coalition resulted in\u00a0a briefly successful coup in July 1971<\/a>, led by the\u00a0Sudanese Communist Party<\/a>. Several days later, anti-communist military elements restored Nimeiry to power.<\/p>\n

In 1972, the\u00a0Addis Ababa Agreement<\/a>\u00a0led to a cessation of the north\u2013south civil war and a degree of self-rule. This led to ten years hiatus in the civil war but an end to American investment in the\u00a0Jonglei Canal<\/a> project. This had been considered absolutely essential to irrigate the Upper Nile region and to prevent an environmental catastrophe and wide-scale famine among the local tribes, most especially the Dinka. In the civil war that followed their homeland was raided, looted, pillaged, and burned. Many of the tribe were murdered in a bloody civil war that raged for over 20 years.<\/p>\n

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Until the early 1970s, Sudan’s agricultural output was mostly dedicated to internal consumption. In 1972, the Sudanese government became more pro-Western and made plans to export food and\u00a0<\/span>cash crops<\/a>. However, commodity prices declined throughout the 1970s causing economic problems for Sudan. At the same time, debt servicing costs, from the money spent mechanizing agriculture, rose. In 1978, the\u00a0<\/span>IMF<\/a>\u00a0negotiated a\u00a0<\/span>Structural Adjustment Program<\/a>\u00a0with the government. This further promoted the mechanized\u00a0export agriculture sector. This caused great hardship for the pastoralists of Sudan (see\u00a0Nuba peoples<\/a>). In 1976, the Ansars had mounted a bloody but unsuccessful coup attempt. But in July 1977, President Nimeiry met with Ansar leader\u00a0<\/span>Sadiq al-Mahdi<\/a>, opening the way for a possible reconciliation. Hundreds of political prisoners were released, and in August a general amnesty was announced for all oppositionists.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Bashir government (1989\u20132019):<\/span><\/h4>\n

On 30 June 1989, Colonel\u00a0Omar al-Bashir<\/a>\u00a0led a bloodless\u00a0military coup<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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Omar al-Bashir in 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new military government suspended political parties and introduced an Islamic legal code on the national level.<\/sup>\u00a0Later al-Bashir carried out purges and executions in the upper ranks of the army, the banning of associations, political parties, and independent newspapers, and the imprisonment of leading political figures and journalists.<\/sup>\u00a0On 16 October 1993, al-Bashir appointed himself “President<\/a>” and disbanded the Revolutionary Command Council. The executive and legislative powers of the council were taken by al-Bashir.<\/p>\n

In the\u00a01996 general election<\/a>, he was the only candidate by law to run for election.<\/sup>\u00a0Sudan became a\u00a0one-party state<\/a>\u00a0under the\u00a0National Congress Party<\/a>\u00a0(NCP).<\/sup>\u00a0During the 1990s,\u00a0Hassan al-Turabi<\/a>, then Speaker of the National Assembly, reached out to\u00a0Islamic fundamentalist<\/a>\u00a0groups, invited\u00a0Osama bin Laden<\/a>\u00a0to the country.<\/sup>\u00a0The United States subsequently listed Sudan as a\u00a0state sponsor of terrorism<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Following Al Qaeda’s\u00a0bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania<\/a>\u00a0the U.S. launched\u00a0Operation Infinite Reach<\/a>\u00a0and targeted the\u00a0Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory<\/a> which the U.S. government falsely believed was producing chemical weapons for the terrorist group. Al-Turabi’s influence began to wane, others in favor of more pragmatic leadership tried to change Sudan’s\u00a0international isolation<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The country worked to appease its critics by expelling members of the\u00a0Egyptian Islamic Jihad<\/a> and encouraging bin Laden to leave.<\/p>\n

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Before the <\/span>2000 presidential election<\/a>, al-Turabi introduced a bill to reduce the President’s powers, prompting al-Bashir to\u00a0<\/span>order a dissolution<\/a>\u00a0and declare a\u00a0<\/span>state of emergency<\/a>. When al-Turabi urged a boycott of the President’s re-election campaign signing agreement with\u00a0<\/span>Sudan People’s Liberation Army<\/a>, al-Bashir suspected they were plotting to overthrow the government.<\/span>\u00a0Hassan al-Turabi was jailed later the same year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Government Militia in Darfur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In February 2003, the\u00a0Sudan Liberation Movement\/Army<\/a>\u00a0(SLM\/A) and\u00a0Justice and Equality Movement<\/a>\u00a0(JEM) groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in favor of\u00a0Sudanese Arabs<\/a>, precipitating the\u00a0War in Darfur<\/a>. The conflict has since been described as a\u00a0genocide<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0and the\u00a0International Criminal Court<\/a>\u00a0(ICC) in The Hague has issued two\u00a0arrest warrants<\/a> for al-Bashir.\u00a0Arabic-speaking nomadic militias known as the\u00a0Janjaweed<\/a>\u00a0stand accused of many atrocities.<\/p>\n

On 9 January 2005, the government signed the\u00a0Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement<\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0Sudan People’s Liberation Movement<\/a>\u00a0(SPLM) with the objective of ending the\u00a0Second Sudanese Civil War<\/a>. The\u00a0United Nations Mission in Sudan<\/a>\u00a0(UNMIS) was established under the\u00a0UN Security Council Resolution 1590<\/a>\u00a0to support its implementation. The peace agreement was a prerequisite to the 2011\u00a0referendum<\/a>: the result was a unanimous vote in favor of secession of South Sudan<\/a>; the region of Abyei will hold\u00a0its own referendum<\/a>\u00a0at a future date.<\/p>\n

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The <\/span>Sudan People’s Liberation Army<\/a>\u00a0(SPLA) was the primary member of the\u00a0<\/span>Eastern Front<\/a>, a coalition of rebel groups operating in eastern Sudan. After the peace agreement, their place was taken in February 2004 after the merger of the larger\u00a0<\/span>fulani<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Beja Congress<\/a>\u00a0with the smaller\u00a0<\/span>Rashaida Free Lions<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0A peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Eastern Front was signed on 14 October 2006, in Asmara. On 5 May 2006, the\u00a0<\/span>Darfur Peace Agreement<\/a>\u00a0was signed, aiming at ending the three-year-long conflict.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The Chad\u2013Sudan Conflict (2005\u20132007) had erupted after the\u00a0<\/span>Battle of Adr\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0triggered a declaration of war by Chad.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The leaders of Sudan and Chad signed an agreement in\u00a0<\/span>Saudi Arabia<\/a>\u00a0on 3 May 2007 to stop fighting from the\u00a0<\/span>Darfur conflict<\/a> spilling along their countries’ 1,000-kilometre (600\u00a0mi) border.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Southern Sudanese wait to vote during the 2011 South Sudanese independence referendum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In July 2007 the country was hit by\u00a0devastating floods<\/a>, with over 400,000 people being directly affected.\u00a0Since 2009, a series of\u00a0ongoing conflicts<\/a>\u00a0between rival nomadic tribes in Sudan and South Sudan have caused a large number of civilian casualties.<\/p>\n

Partition and Rehabilitation:<\/span><\/h4>\n

The\u00a0Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile<\/a>\u00a0in the early 2010s between\u00a0the Army of Sudan<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Sudan Revolutionary Front<\/a>\u00a0started as a dispute over the oil-rich region of\u00a0Abyei<\/a>\u00a0in the months leading up to\u00a0South Sudanese independence<\/a>\u00a0in 2011, though it is also related to civil war in Darfur that is nominally resolved. The events would later be known as the\u00a0Sudanese Intifada<\/a>, which would end only in 2013 after al-Bashir promised he would not seek re-election in 2015. He later broke his promise and sought re-election in 2015, winning through a boycott from the opposition who believed that the elections would not be free and fair. Voter turnout was at a low 46%.<\/p>\n

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Map of Abyei Area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 13 January 2017, US president\u00a0Barack Obama<\/a>\u00a0signed an Executive Order that lifted many sanctions placed against Sudan and assets of its government held abroad. On 6 October 2017, the following US president\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a> lifted most of the remaining sanctions against the country and its petroleum, export-import, and property industries.<\/p>\n

2019 Sudanese Revolution and Transitional Government of Hamdok:<\/span><\/h4>\n
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On 19 December 2018, <\/span>massive protests<\/a> began after a government decision to triple the price of goods at a time when the country was suffering an acute shortage of foreign currency and inflation of 70 percent. <\/span>In addition, President al-Bashir, who had been in power for more than 30 years, refused to step down, resulting in the convergence of opposition groups to form a united coalition. The government retaliated by arresting more than 800 opposition figures and protesters, leading to the death of approximately 40 people according to the Human Rights Watch,<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0although the number was much higher than that according to local and civilian reports. The protests continued after the overthrow of his government on 11 April 2019 after a massive sit-in in front of the\u00a0<\/span>Sudanese Armed Forces<\/a> main headquarters, after which the chiefs of staff decided to intervene and they ordered the arrest of President al-Bashir and declared a three-month state of emergency.<\/span>\u00a0Over 100 people died on 3 June after security forces dispersed the sit-in using tear gas and live ammunition in what is known as the\u00a0<\/span>Khartoum massacre<\/a>,<\/span><\/sup> resulting in Sudan’s suspension from the African Union. <\/span>Sudan’s youth had been reported to be driving the protests.<\/span>\u00a0The protests came to an end when the\u00a0<\/span>Forces for Freedom and Change<\/a>\u00a0(an alliance of groups organizing the protests) and\u00a0<\/span>Transitional Military Council<\/a> (the ruling military government) signed the July 2019 Political Agreement and the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Abdalla Hamdok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The transitional institutions and procedures included the creation of a joint military-civilian <\/span>Sovereignty Council of Sudan<\/a>\u00a0as head of state, a new\u00a0<\/span>Chief Justice of Sudan<\/a>\u00a0as head of the judiciary branch of power,\u00a0<\/span>Nemat Abdullah Khair<\/a>, and a new prime minister. The new Prime Minister,\u00a0<\/span>Abdalla Hamdok<\/a>, a 61-year-old economist who worked previously for the\u00a0<\/span>UN<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Economic Commission for Africa<\/a>, was sworn in on 21 August. He initiated talks with the\u00a0<\/span>IMF<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>World Bank<\/a>\u00a0aimed at stabilizing\u00a0the economy, which was in dire straits because of shortages of food, fuel and hard currency. Hamdok estimated that US$10bn over two years would suffice to halt the panic, and said that over 70% of the 2018 budget had been spent on civil war-related measures. The governments of\u00a0Saudi Arabia<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>United Arab Emirates<\/a> had invested significant sums supporting the military council since Bashir’s ouster.<\/span> On 3 September, Hamdok appointed 14 civilian ministers, including the first female foreign minister and the first Coptic Christian, also a woman.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Sudan is situated in northern Africa, with an 853 km (530 mi) coastline bordering the\u00a0<\/span>Red Sea<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0It has land borders with\u00a0<\/span>Egypt<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Eritrea<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Ethiopia<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>South Sudan<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Central African Republic<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Chad<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span>Libya<\/a>. With an area of 1,886,068\u00a0km<\/span>2<\/sup>\u00a0(728,215\u00a0sq\u00a0mi), it is the third-largest country on the continent (after\u00a0<\/span>Algeria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a>) and the\u00a0<\/span>fifteenth-largest<\/a>\u00a0in the world.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The terrain is generally flat plains, broken by several mountain ranges. In the west, the Deriba Caldera<\/a>\u00a0(3,042\u00a0m or 9,980\u00a0ft), located in the\u00a0Marrah Mountains<\/a>, is the highest point in Sudan. In the east are the\u00a0Red Sea Hills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Topographic Map of Sudan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Blue Nile<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0White Nile<\/a>\u00a0rivers meet in\u00a0Khartoum<\/a>\u00a0to form the\u00a0Nile<\/a>, which flows northwards through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The Blue Nile’s course through Sudan is nearly 800\u00a0km (497\u00a0mi) long and is joined by the\u00a0Dinder<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Rahad Rivers<\/a>\u00a0between\u00a0Sennar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Khartoum<\/a>. The White Nile within Sudan has no significant tributaries.<\/p>\n

There are several dams on the Blue and White Niles. Among them are the\u00a0Sennar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Roseires Dams<\/a>\u00a0on the Blue Nile, and the\u00a0Jebel Aulia Dam<\/a>\u00a0on the White Nile. There is also\u00a0Lake Nubia<\/a>\u00a0on the Sudanese-Egyptian border.<\/p>\n

Rich mineral resources are available in Sudan including\u00a0asbestos<\/a>,\u00a0chromite<\/a>,\u00a0cobalt<\/a>,\u00a0copper<\/a>,\u00a0gold<\/a>,\u00a0granite<\/a>,\u00a0gypsum<\/a>,\u00a0iron<\/a>,\u00a0kaolin<\/a>,\u00a0lead<\/a>,\u00a0manganese<\/a>,\u00a0mica<\/a>,\u00a0natural gas<\/a>,\u00a0nickel<\/a>,\u00a0petroleum<\/a>,\u00a0silver<\/a>,\u00a0tin<\/a>,\u00a0uranium<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0zinc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

In 2010, Sudan was considered the 17th-fastest-growing economy<\/sup>\u00a0in the world and the rapid development of the country largely from oil profits even when facing international sanctions was noted by\u00a0The New York Times<\/a><\/i>\u00a0in a 2006 article.<\/sup>\u00a0Because of the secession of\u00a0South Sudan<\/a>, which contained over 80 percent of Sudan’s oilfields, Sudan entered a phase of\u00a0stagflation<\/a>, GDP growth slowed to 3.4 percent in 2014, 3.1 percent in 2015 and was projected to recover slowly to 3.7 percent in 2016 while inflation remained as high as 21.8% as of 2015.<\/sup> Sudan’s GDP fell from US$123.053 billion in 2017 to US$40.852 billion in 2018.<\/p>\n

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Oil and Gas Fields in Sudan and South Sudan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even with the oil profits before the secession of South Sudan, Sudan still faced formidable economic problems, and its growth was still a rise from a very low level of per capita output. Oil<\/a>\u00a0was Sudan’s main export, with production increasing dramatically during the late 2000s, in the years before South Sudan gained independence in July 2011. With rising oil revenues, the Sudanese economy was booming, with a growth rate of about nine percent in 2007. The independence of oil-rich\u00a0South Sudan<\/a>, however, placed most major\u00a0oilfields<\/a>\u00a0out of the Sudanese government’s direct control and oil production in Sudan fell from around 450,000 barrels per day (72,000\u00a0m3<\/sup>\/d) to under 60,000 barrels per day (9,500\u00a0m3<\/sup>\/d). Production has since recovered to hover around 250,000 barrels per day (40,000\u00a0m3<\/sup>\/d) for 2014\u201315.<\/p>\n

In order to export oil, South Sudan relies on a pipeline to\u00a0Port Sudan<\/a>\u00a0on Sudan’s\u00a0Red Sea<\/a>\u00a0coast, as South Sudan is a\u00a0landlocked country<\/a>, as well as the oil refining facilities in Sudan. In August 2012, Sudan and South Sudan agreed a deal to transport South Sudanese oil through Sudanese pipelines to Port Sudan.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0People’s Republic of China<\/a>\u00a0is one of Sudan’s major trading partners, China owns a 40 percent share in the\u00a0Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company<\/a>.\u00a0The country also sells Sudan small arms, which have been used in military operations such as the conflicts in Darfur and\u00a0South Kordofan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Agricultural production remains Sudan’s most-important sector, employing 80 percent of the workforce and contributing 39 percent of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Instability, adverse weather and weak world-agricultural prices ensures that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.<\/p>\n

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Sudan Exports 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Merowe Dam<\/a>, also known as Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project or Hamdab Dam, is a large construction project in northern Sudan, about 350 kilometers (220 mi) north of the capital, Khartoum. It is situated on the River Nile, close to the\u00a0Fourth Cataract<\/a>\u00a0where the river divides into multiple smaller branches with large islands in between.\u00a0Merowe<\/a> is a city about 40 kilometers (25\u00a0mi) downstream from the dam’s construction site.<\/p>\n

The main purpose of the dam will be the generation of electricity. Its dimensions make it the largest contemporary hydropower project in Africa. The construction of the dam was finished December 2008, supplying more than 90 percent of the population with electricity. Other gas-powered generating stations are operational in Khartoum State and other states.<\/p>\n

Transportation:<\/h2>\n

Sudan has 4,578 kilometers of narrow-gauge, single-track railroads that serve the northern and central portions of the country. The main line runs from\u00a0Wadi Halfa<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0Egyptian<\/a>\u00a0border to\u00a0Khartoum<\/a>\u00a0and southwest to\u00a0Al-Ubayyid<\/a>\u00a0via\u00a0Sannar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kusti<\/a>, with extensions to\u00a0Nyala<\/a>\u00a0in southern\u00a0Darfur<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Wau<\/a>\u00a0in Bahr al Ghazal.<\/sup>\u00a0Other lines connect\u00a0Atbarah<\/a>\u00a0and Sannar with Port Sudan, and Sannar with\u00a0Ad Damazin<\/a>. A 1,400-kilometer line serves the\u00a0al Gezira<\/a> state cotton-growing region. Modest efforts to upgrade rail transport were reported to be underway in 2013 and 2015<\/sup>\u00a0to reverse decades of neglect and declining efficiency. Service on some lines may be interrupted during the rainy season.<\/p>\n

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Railways in Sudan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sudan remains heavily dependent on railroads, but the road network has played an increasingly important role.<\/sup>\u00a0Estimates of the road network in 2009 ranged upwards from 55,000 kilometers, but it is an inadequate network for the size of the country.<\/sup> Asphalted all-weather roads, excluding paved streets in cities and towns, amounted to roughly 3,600 kilometers, of which the Khartoum\u2013Port Sudan road, the most important highway, accounted for almost 1,200 kilometers.<\/sup> There were about 3,740 kilometers of gravel roads and an estimated 45,000 kilometers of mainly seasonal earth roads and sand tracks.<\/p>\n

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Road Map of Sudan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The roads were generally in poor condition in 2009\u201310 but usable all year round, although travel might be interrupted at times during the rainy season.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Sixteen international airlines provided regular flights to Khartoum.<\/p>\n

Flag of Sudan:<\/h2>\n

The current\u00a0flag of\u00a0Sudan<\/a> was adopted on 20 May 1970 and consists of a horizontal red-white-black\u00a0tricolour<\/a>\u00a0with a green triangle at the hoist. The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag of the\u00a0Egyptian Revolution of 1952<\/a>, as are the flags of\u00a0Egypt<\/a>,\u00a0Iraq<\/a>,\u00a0Syria<\/a>, and\u00a0Yemen<\/a>, and formerly of the United Arab Republic, North Yemen, South Yemen, and the Libyan Arab Republic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Flag of Sudan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whereas there is no fixed order for the\u00a0Pan-Arab Colours<\/a> of black, white, red, and green, flags using the Arab Liberation Colors (a subset of the Pan-Arab Colors) maintain a horizontal triband of equal stripes of red, white, and black, with green being used to distinguish the different flags from each other by way of green stars, Arabic script, or, in the case of Sudan, the green triangle along the hoist. In the original Arab Liberation Flag, green was used in the form of the flag of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan emblazoned on the breast of the Eagle of Saladin<\/a>\u00a0in the middle stripe. For 13 years from Sudan’s independence in 1956 to\u00a0the 1969 military coup<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Gaafar Nimeiry<\/a>, Sudan used a tricolour flag of blue-yellow-green.<\/p>\n

Red, white, black and green are called the pan-Arab colours and have been historically linked to the Arab people and Islamic religion for centuries. The colors\u00a0stand for Arab unity and independence. The red stripe represents Sudan’s struggle for independence and many other struggles, and the sacrifices of the country’s martyrs. The white represents the people, light and optimism. It also represents the White Flag League<\/a>\u00a0which was a nationalist group that rose up against colonial rule in 1924. The black represents Sudan; in Arabic, ‘Sudan,’ means \u2018land of the black people.\u2019 It also represents the black flag of nationalists who fought colonial rule during the\u00a0<\/span>Mahdist Revolution<\/a>, late in 19th century. Green represents\u00a0<\/span>Islam<\/a>, agriculture and the prosperity of the land.<\/span><\/sup><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red, white, black and green are called the pan-Arab colours and have been historically linked to the Arab people and Islamic religion for centuries. The colours stand for Arab unity and independence. The red stripe represents Sudan’s struggle for independence and many other struggles, and the sacrifices of the country’s martyrs. The white represents the people, light and optimism. It also represents the White Flag League which was a nationalist group that rose up against colonial rule in 1924. The black represents Sudan; in Arabic, ‘Sudan,’ means \u2018land of the black people.\u2019 It also represents the black flag of nationalists who fought colonial rule during the Mahdist Revolution, late in 19th century. Green represents Islam, agriculture and the prosperity of the land.[<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,59,5,6,7,31,18,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9533,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904\/revisions\/9533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}