'Sudan' (or 'The Sudan'; officially the 'Republic of the Sudan' or 'Republic of Sudan') (as-Sūdān, ''lit.'', (country) of Blacks.
[1]) is the largest African country by area.
[2] The country is situated at a crossroads between the
Horn of Africa and the
Middle East. It is bordered by
Egypt to the north, the
Red Sea to the northeast,
Eritrea and
Ethiopia to the east,
Kenya and
Uganda to the southeast,
Democratic Republic of the Congo and the
Central African Republic to the southwest,
Chad to the west, and
Libya to the northwest. It is the
tenth largest country in the world by area.
==Humanitarian Needs and
2007 floods==
The humanitarian branch of the
United Nations, consisting of several UN agencies coordinated by
OCHA, works to bring life-saving relief to those in need. It is estimated by
OCHA, that over 3.5 million people in Darfur (including 2.2 million
IDPs) are heavily reliant on humanitarian aid for their survival.
[3] By contrast, in 2007 OCHA, under the leadership of
Eliane Duthoit, started to gradually phase out in
Southern Sudan, where humanitarian needs are gradually diminishing, and are slowly but markedly leaving the place to recovery and development activities.
[4]
In July 2007, many parts of the country started being devastated by the
2007 Sudan floods, prompting an immediate humanitarian response by the
United Nations and partners, under the leadership of acting
United Nations Resident Coordinators
David Gressly and
Oluseyi Bajulaiye.
[5] Over 400,000 people were directly affected, with over 3.5 million at risk of epidemics.
[6] The United Nations have allocated US$ 13.5 million for the response from its pooled funds, but will launch an appeal to the international community to cover the gap.
[7][8]
History
Statue of a
Nubian king, Sudan.
Early history of Sudan
Main articles: Early history of Sudan
In the fifth century, Rome subsidized the Nobatae and used Meroe as a buffer between Egypt and the Blemmyes. About AD 350, an Axumite army from Abyssinia captured and destroyed Meroe city, ending the kingdom's independent existence.
Christian kingdoms
By the sixth century, three states had emerged as the political and cultural heirs of the Meroitic kingdom. Nobatia in the north, also known as Ballanah, had its capital at Faras, in what is now Egypt; the central kingdom, Muqurra (Makuria), was centered at Dunqulah, about 150 kilometers south of modern Dunqulah; and Alawa (
Alodia), in the heartland of old Meroe, which had its capital at Sawba (now a suburb of modern-day Khartoum). In all three kingdoms, warrior aristocracies ruled Meroitic populations from royal courts where functionaries bore Greek titles in emulation of the Byzantine court.
A missionary sent by Byzantine empress Theodora arrived in Nobatia and started preaching the
Gospel of
Christ about 540. The Nubian kings became Monophysite Christians. However,
Makuria was of the
Melkite Christian faith, unlike
Nobatia and
Alodia.
The spread of Islam
After many attempts at military conquest failed, the Arab commander in Egypt concluded the first in a series of regularly renewed treaties known as AlBaqt (pactum) with the Nubians that governed relations between the two peoples for more than six hundred years.
Islam progressed in the area over a long period of time through intermarriage and contacts with Arab merchants and settlers. In 1315, a Muslim prince of Nubian royal blood ascended the throne of Dunqulah as king.
The two most important Arabic-speaking groups to emerge in Nubia were the Jaali and the Juhayna. Both showed physical continuity with the indigenous pre-Islamic population. Today's Northern Sudanese culture combines Nubian and Arabic elements.
Kingdom of Sinnar
During the 1600s, the people called the
Funj under a leader named
Amara Dunqus appeared in southern Nubia and supplanted the remnants of the old Christian kingdom of Alwa, establishing
As-Saltana az-Zarqa (the
Black Sultanate)at Sinnar. The Black Sultanate eventually became the keystone of the Funj Empire. By the mid-sixteenth century, Sinnar controlled Al Jazirah and commanded the allegiance of vassal states and tribal districts north to the third cataract and south to the rain forests. The government was substantially weakened by a series of succession arguments and coups within the royal family. In 1820 Muhammad Ali of Egypt sent 4,000 troops to invade Sudan. The pasha's forces accepted Sinnar's surrender from the last Funj sultan, Badi IV.
Foreign Control: Egyptian Rule - 1821-1885
Main articles: Turkiyah
In 1820, Northern Sudan came under Egyptian rule when
Muhammad Ali, the
Ottoman viceroy of
Egypt, sent armies led by his son
Ismail Pasha and Mahammed Bey to conquer eastern Sudan. The Egyptians developed Sudan’s trade in ivory.
Ismail Pasha,
khedive of
Egypt from 1863-1879, tried to extend Egyptian (and therefore British) influence south.
Mahdist Revolt
Main articles: Mahdist War
Egyptian mismanagement eventually led to a revolt led by religious leader
Muhammad ibn Abdalla, the self-proclaimed
Mahdi (
Guided One), who sought to purify Islam in Sudan. He led a nationalist revolt against Egyptian/British rule culminating in the fall of
Khartoum and the death of the British
General Charles George Gordon in 1885. The revolt was successful and Egypt and the British abandoned Sudan, and the resulting state was a theocratic Mahdist state.
Mahdist Rule: The Mahdiya
Main articles: History of Sudan (1884-1898)
The Mahdiyah (Mahdist regime) imposed traditional
Islamic laws. Sudan's new ruler also authorized the burning of lists of pedigrees and books of law and theology because of their association with the old order and because he believed that the former accentuated tribalism at the expense of religious unity.
The Mahdiyah has become known as the first genuine Sudanese nationalist government. The Mahdi maintained that his movement was not a religious order that could be accepted or rejected at will, but that it was a universal regime, which challenged man to join or to be destroyed.
Originally, the Mahdiyah was a jihad state, run like a military camp.
Sharia courts enforced Islamic law and the Mahdi's precepts, which had the force of law. Six months after the fall of Khartoum, the Mahdi died of
typhus, and after a power struggle amongst his deputies,
Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, with the help primarily of the
Baqqara Arabs of western Sudan, overcame the opposition of the others and emerged as unchallenged leader of the Mahdiyah. After consolidating his power, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad assumed the title of
Khalifa (successor) of the Mahdi, instituted an administration, and appointed Ansar (who were usually Baqqara) as emirs over each of the several provinces.
Regional relations remained tense throughout much of the Mahdiyah period, largely because of the Khalifa's commitment to using the jihad to extend his version of Islam throughout the world. In 1887, a 60,000-man Ansar army invaded
Ethiopia, penetrating as far as
Gondar. In March 1889, king
Yohannes IV of Ethiopia, marched on Metemma; however, after Yohannes fell in battle, the Ethiopian forces withdrew.
Abd ar Rahman an Nujumi, the Khalifa's best general, invaded 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 Belgians prevented the Mahdi's men from conquering Equatoria, and in 1893, the Italians repulsed an Ansar attack at Akordat (in Eritrea) and forced the Ansar to withdraw from Ethiopia.
Return of Foreign Control: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan - 1899-1955
Main articles: History of the Anglo-Egyptian co-dominium
In the 1890s, the British sought to regain control of Sudan. By the early 1890s, British, French, and Belgian claims had converged at the Nile headwaters. Britain feared that the other colonial 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 Aswan.
Lord Kitchener led military campaigns from 1896-98, culminating in the
Battle of Omdurman. Following defeat of the Mahdists, an agreement was reached in 1899 establishing
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, under which Sudan was run by a governor-general appointed by Egypt with British consent. In reality, Sudan was a colony of Great Britain.
From 1924 until independence in 1956, the British had a policy of running Sudan as two essentially separate colonies, the south and the north. The last British
Governor-General was
Sir Robert Howe, from 1947 to 1955.
Independence
The first real independence attempt was made in 1924 by a group of Sudanese military officers known as The
White Flag Association. The group was led by first lieutenant
Ali Abdullatif and first lieutenant
Abdul Fadil Almaz. The latter led an insurrection of the military training academy, which ended in their defeat and the death of Almaz after the British army blew up the military hospital where he was garrisoned. This defeat was (allegedly) partially the result of the Egyptian garrison in Khartoum North not supporting the insurrection with artillery as was previously promised.
Afterwards, the newly elected government led by the first prime minister Ismael Al-Azhari, went ahead with the process of Sudanization of the state's government, with the help and supervision of an international committee. In November 1955, it declared the intentions of the Sudanese people to exercise their right to independence. This was duly granted and on
January 1,
1956, Sudan was formally declared independent. In a special ceremony held at the People's Palace, the British and Egyptian flags were brought down and the new Sudanese flag, composed of green, blue and yellow stripes, was raised in their place.
[9]
First Sudanese Civil War
Main articles: First Sudanese Civil War
The year before independence, a
civil war began between Northern and
Southern Sudan. The Southerners, anticipating independence, feared the new nation would be dominated by the North.
Historically, the north of Sudan had closer ties with Egypt and was predominantly Arab and
Muslim while the south was predominantly black, with a mixture of
Christianity and
Animism. These divisions had been further emphasized by the British policy of ruling the North and South under separate administrations. From 1924, it was illegal for people living above the 10th parallel to go further south and for people below the 8th parallel to go further north. The law was ostensibly enacted to prevent the spread of
malaria and other
tropical diseases that had ravaged British troops, as well as to facilitate spreading Christianity among the predominantly animist population while stopping the Arabic and Islamic influence from advancing south. The result was increased isolation between the already distinct north and south and arguably laid the seeds of conflict in the years to come.
The resulting conflict, known as the
First Sudanese Civil War, lasted from 1955 to 1972. In 1972, a cessation of the north-south conflict was agreed upon under the terms of the
Addis Ababa Agreement, following talks which were sponsored by the World Council of Churches. This led to a ten-year hiatus in the national conflict.
Second Sudanese Civil War
Main articles: Second Sudanese Civil War
In 1983, the civil war was reignited following President
Gaafar Nimeiri's decision to circumvent the
Addis Ababa Agreement. President Gaafar Nimeiry attempted to create a Federated Sudan including states in southern Sudhuan, which violated the Addis Ababa Agreement that had granted the south considerable autonomy..........
Southern Sudan
The
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) formed in May 1983. Finally, in June 1983, the Sudanese Government under President Gaafar Nimeiry abrogated the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement (A.A.A.)
[1]. The situation was exacerbated after President Gaafar Nimeiry went on to implement
Sharia Law in September of the same year
[2].
The war continued even after Numeiri was ousted and a democratic government was elected with Al Sadig Al Mahdi's Umma party having the majority in the parliament. The leader of the SPLA John Garang refused to recognize the government and to negotiate with it as representative of the Sudan but agreed to negotiate with Government officials as representative of their political parties.
In 1989, a bloodless coup brought control of Khartoum to the hands of
Omar al-Bashir and the National Islamic Front headed by Dr.
Hassan al-Turabi. The new government was of Islamic orientation and later it formed the Popular Defense Forces (al Difaa al Shaabi) and began to use religious propaganda to recruit people, as the regular army was demoralised and under pressure from the SPLA rebels. This worsened the situation in the tribal south, as the fighting became more intense, causing casualties among the Christian and animist minority.
The SPLA started as a Marxist movement, with support from the Soviet Union and the Ethiopian Marxist President Mengistu Haile Meriem. Over time, however, it sought support in the West by using the Northern Sudanese government's religious propaganda to portray the war as a campaign by the Arab Islamic government to impose Islam and the Arabic language on the Christian South.
The war went on for more than twenty years, including the use of Russian-made combat helicopters and military cargo planes which were used as bombers to devastating effect on villages and tribal rebels alike. "Sudan's independent history has been dominated by chronic, exceptionally cruel warfare that has starkly divided the country on racial, religious, and regional grounds; displaced an estimated four million people (of a total estimated population of thirty-two million); and killed an estimated two million people."
[10] It damaged Sudan's economy and led to food shortages, resulting in starvation and malnutrition. The lack of investment during this time, particularly in the south, meant a generation lost access to basic health services, education, and jobs.
It is important to distinguish the Sudanic Arab from other Arabs of the middle east. Sudanic Arabs are descended primarily from the ancient Nubians. In terms of racial origin, it is not clear what specific racial or ethnic group the Nubians originated from. Over a period of centuries, Arab immigration into the Sudan, intermarriage among Nubians and Arabs, and the introduction of Islam and the Arabic language, Arabized the Nubians into the Sudanic Arab of today. In appearance, the Nubians are similar to some Ethiopians and Eritreans; at one point, they shared a common history with the latter (See ancient Kush, and Axum). The Sudanic Arabs are further divided into many different tribes of Nubian or Arab origin, and some Sudanese speak a Nubian language as a mother tongue, and Arabic as a second language. This process of Arabization was repeated throughout North Africa and the Middle East, i.e., in Libya, where the indigenous Berbers and conquering Arabs merged to form the modern Libyan Arab, as distinguished from the Persians of Iran, who accepted Islam, but rejected Arabic, and an Arab identity.
Peace talks between the southern rebels and the government made substantial progress in 2003 and early 2004. The peace was consolidated with the official signing by both sides of the Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement
9 January 2005, granting
Southern Sudan autonomy for six years, to be followed by a referendum about independence. It created a co-vice president position and allowed the north and south to split oil equally, but also left both the North's and South's armies in place.
John Garang, the south's elected co-vice president died in a helicopter crash on
August 1,
2005, three weeks after being sworn in. This resulted in riots, but the peace was eventually able to continue.
The
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was established under UN Security Council Resolution 1590 of
March 24,
2005. Its mandate is to support implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and to perform functions relating to humanitarian assistance, and protection and promotion of human rights.
Darfur conflict
Map of Northeast Africa highlighting the Darfur region of Sudan.
Just as the long north-south civil war was reaching a resolution, some tribal clashes occurred in the western region of
Darfur in the early 1970s between the pastoral tribes and the agricultural tribes, after Africa's greatest famine. The rebels accused the central government of neglecting the Darfur region economically, although there is uncertainty regarding the objectives of the rebels and whether they merely seek an improved position for Darfur within Sudan or outright "secession." Both the government and the rebels have been accused of atrocities in this war, although most of the blame has fallen on Arab militias known as the
Janjaweed, who are armed men appointed by the
Al Saddiq Al Mahdi administration to stop the long standing chaotic disputes between Darfur tribes. The rebels have alleged that these militias have been engaging in
genocide; the fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of them seeking refuge in neighboring
Chad. The government claimed victory over the rebels after capturing a town on the border with Chad, in early 1994. However, the fighting resumed in 2003.
On
September 9 2004, the
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell termed the Darfur conflict a "genocide", acknowledging it as one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century.
[11] There have been reports that the Janjaweed have been launching raids, bombings, and attacks on villages, killing civilians based on ethnicity, raping women, stealing land, goods, and herds of livestock.
[12] So far, over 2.5 million civilians have been displaced and the death toll is variously estimated at 200,000
[13] to 400,000 killed.
[14]
On
May 5 2006, the Sudanese government and Darfur's largest rebel group the SLM (Sudan Liberation Movement) signed the
Darfur Peace Agreement, which aimed at ending the three-year long conflict.
[15] The agreement specified the disarmament of the janjaweed and the disbandment of the rebel forces, and aimed at establishing a temporal government in which the rebels could take part.
[16] The agreement, which was brokered by the African Union, however, was not signed by all of the rebel groups.
[16]
Since the agreement was signed, however, there have been reports of wide-spread violence throughout the region. A new rebel group has emerged called the "National Redemption Front" (which is made up of the 4 main rebel groups who refused to sign the May peace agreement).
[18] Recently, both the Sudanese government and government-sponsored militias have launched large offensives against the rebel groups, resulting in more deaths and more displacements. Clashes among the rebel groups have also contributed to the violence.
[18] Recent fighting along the Chad border has left hundreds of soldiers and rebel forces dead and nearly a quarter of a million refugees cut from aid.
[20] In addition, villages have been bombed and more civilians have been killed. UNICEF recently reported that around 80 infants die each day in Darfur as a result of malnutrition.
The people in Darfur are predominantly black Africans of Muslim beliefs, whereas the Janjaweed militia is made up of Arabs.
The International Criminal Court has indicted State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun and alleged Janjaweed militia leader Ali Mohammed Ali Mohammed Ali aka Ali Kosheib, in relation to the atrocities in the region.
Ahmed Haroun belongs to the
Fur tribe one of the non Arab tribes of Darfur and is alleged to have incited attacks on specific (non Arab) ethnic groups.
Ali Kosheib is an ex soldier and a leader of the popular defence forces and is alleged to be one of the key leaders responsible for attacks on villages in West Darfur.
On
August 2, 2007, in repeated attempts to escape the conflict,
refugees crossed the border into
Egypt and then attempted to cross into
Israel where Egyptian soldiers then killed the four Sudanese trying to cross border.
Israel Defense Force soldiers described the incident. "What happened there yesterday was a lynch. These are not men, they're animals. They killed the refugees without even using firearms", the soldier said. "We just heard screams of pain and the sounds of beatings, and then the screams stopped."
The
Jerusalem Post stated that the
entire event was caught on IDF tapes. An Israel Channel 10 commentator said the channel preferred not to show the tape, so as not to cause a diplomatic incident with Egypt.
Chad-Sudan conflict
Main articles: Chad-Sudan conflict
The
Chad-Sudan conflict officially started on
December 23,
2005, when the
government of Chad declared a
state of war with Sudan and called for the citizens of
Chad to mobilize themselves against the
"common enemy," which the Chadian government sees as the
Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) militants, Chadian rebels backed by the Sudanese government, and Sudanese militiamen. The militants attacked villages and towns in eastern Chad, stealing cattle, murdering citizens, and burning houses. Over 200,000 refugees from the
Darfur region of northwestern Sudan currently claim asylum in eastern Chad.
Chadian president
Idriss Déby accuses Sudanese President
Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir of trying to "destabilize our country, to drive our people into misery, to create disorder and export the war from Darfur to Chad."
The incident prompting the declaration of war was an attack on the Chadian town of
Adré near the Sudanese border that led to the deaths of either one hundred rebels (as most news sources reported) or three hundred rebels. The Sudanese government was blamed for the attack, which was the
second in the region in three days, but Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman
Jamal Mohammed Ibrahim denied any Sudanese involvement, "We are not for any escalation with Chad. We technically deny involvement in Chadian internal affairs." The Adre attack led to the declaration of war by Chad and the alleged deployment of the
Chadian air force into Sudanese airspace, which the Chadian government denies.
The leaders of Sudan and Chad signed an agreement in
Saudi Arabia on
May 3 2007 to stop fighting from the
Darfur conflict along their countries' border.
[21]
Politics
Main articles: Politics of Sudan
Sudan has an authoritarian government in which all effective political power is in the hands of President Omar al-Bashir. Bashir and his party have controlled the government since he led the military coup on
30 June 1989.
From 1983 to 1997, the country was divided into five regions in the north and three in the south, each headed by a military governor. After the military coup on
April 6 1985, regional assemblies were suspended. The
RCC was abolished in 1993, and the ruling
National Islamic Front changed its name to the
National Congress Party. The new party included some non Muslim members; mainly Southern Sudanese Politicians, some of whom were appointed as ministers or state governors. After 1997, the structure of regional administration was replaced by the creation of twenty-six states. The executives, cabinets, and senior-level state officials are appointed by the president, and their limited budgets are determined by and dispensed from Khartoum. The states, as a result, remain economically dependent upon the central government.
Khartoum state, comprising the capital and outlying districts, is administered by a governor.
In December 1999, a power struggle climaxed between President al-Bashir and then-
speaker of parliament
Hassan al-Turabi, who was the NIF founder and an Islamic ideologue. Al-Turabi was stripped of his posts in the ruling party and the government, parliament was disbanded, the constitution was suspended, and a state of national emergency was declared by presidential decree. Parliament resumed in February 2001 after the December 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections, but the national emergency laws remained in effect. Al-Turabi was arrested in February 2001, and charged with being a threat to national security and the constitutional order for signing a memorandum of understanding with the
SPLA. Since then his outspoken style has had him in prison or under house-arrest, his most recent stint beginning in March 2004 and ending in June 2005. During that time he was under house-arrest for his role in a failed coup attempt in September 2003, an allegation he has denied. According to some reports, the president had no choice but to release him, given that a coalition of National Democratic Union (NDA) members headquartered in both Cairo and Eritrea, composed of the political parties known as the SPLM/A, Umma Party, Mirghani Party, and Turabi's own National People's Congress, were calling for his release at a time when an interim government was preparing to take over in accordance with the Naivasha agreement and the Machokos Accord.
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of Sudan
Sudan has had a troubled relationship with many of its neighbors and much of the international community due to what is viewed as its aggressively Islamic stance. For much of the 1990s,
Uganda,
Kenya and
Ethiopia formed an ad-hoc alliance called the "Front Line States" with support from the
United States to check the influence of the
National Islamic Front government. The southern Sudanese rebels supported anti-Uganda rebel groups such as the
Lord's Resistance Army. Beginning from the mid-1990s Sudan gradually began to moderate its positions as a result of increased US pressure following the
1998 U.S. embassy bombings and the new development of oil fields previously in rebel hands. Sudan also has a territorial dispute with Egypt over the
Hala'ib Triangle. Since 2003, the foreign relations of Sudan have centered on the support for ending the
Second Sudanese Civil War and condemnation of government support for militias in the
Darfur conflict.
U.S. firms have been barred from doing business in Sudan since 1997.
[3] The United States has listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993.
[4]
On
December 23 2005,
Chad, Sudan's neighbour to the west, declared war on Sudan and accused the country of being the "common enemy of the nation [Chad]." This happened after the
December 18 attack on
Adre, which left about 100 people dead. A statement issued by Chadian government on
December 23, accused Sudanese militias of making daily incursions into Chad, stealing cattle, killing people and burning villages on the Chadian border. The statement went on to call for Chadians to form a patriotic front against Sudan.
[5] The
Organization of the Islamic Conference(OIC) have called on Sudan and Chad to exercise self-restraint to defuse growing tensions between the two countries.
[6]
On
December 27 2005, Sudan became one of the few
states to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over
Western Sahara.
[7]
On
June 20 2006 President Omar al-Bashir told reporters that he would not allow any UN peacekeeping force into Sudan. President al-Bashir denounced any such mission as "colonial forces."
[8]
On
November 17 2006, UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan announced that "Sudan has agreed in principle to allow the establishment of a joint African Union and UN peacekeeping force in an effort to solve the crisis in Darfur" - but had stopped short of setting the number of troops involved. Annan speculated that this force could number 17,000.
[22] Despite this claim, no additional troops have been deployed as of late December 2006. Violence continues in the region and on
December 15 2006, prosecutors at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) stated they would be proceeding with cases of human rights violations against members of the Sudan government.
[23] A Sudanese legislator was quoted as saying that Khartoum may permit UN peace keepers to patrol Darfur in exchange for immunity from prosecution for officials charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Amid business pressures to divest from companies doing buinsess in Sudan, Warren Buffet has come into criticism, including from Mia Farrow due to Berkshire's Hathaways reported billions of investment in PetroChina.
Human rights
Main articles: Human rights in Sudan
A letter dated
August 14 2006 from the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch found that the Sudanese government is both incapable and unwilling to protect its own citizens in Darfur and that its militias are guilty of crimes against humanity. The letter added that these human rights abuses have existed since 2004.
[24]
Some reports attribute part of the violations to the rebels as well as the government and the
Janjaweed. The US State Department's human rights report issued in March 2007 claims that "All parties to the conflagration committed serious abuses, including widespread killing of civilians, rape as a tool of war, systematic torture, robbery and recruitment of child soldiers"
[25]
Both government forces and militias allied with the government are known not only to attack civilians in Darfur, but also humanitarian workers. Sympathizers of rebel groups are arbitrarily detained, as are foreign journalists,
human rights defenders, student activists, and displaced people in and around Khartoum, some of whom face torture. The rebel groups have also been accused in a report issued by the American government of attacking humanitarian workers and of killing innocent civilians.
Amnesty International report
States and districts
Political map of Sudan.
,
Districts of Sudan
Sudan is divided into
twenty-six states (''
wilayat'',
sing. ''
wilayah'') which in turn are subdivided into
133 districts. The states are:
A map of Sudan's districts indicating autonomous and insurgent regions.
Autonomy, separation, conflicts
★
Southern Sudan is an autonomous region intermediate between the states and the national government. Southern Sudan is scheduled to have a referendum on independence in 2011.
[26] As agreed in the peace agreement a new currency, the Sudan Pound was launched throughout the country on
January 10,
2007, and will replace the Sudanese Dinar. The Southern Sudanese government tried to launch a new currency, but stopped after the central Sudanese government declared that such a move constituted a breach of the peace agreement.
★
Darfur, a region of three western states, is plagued by a violent conflict between the
Janjaweed militia and the non-
Baggara peoples of the region. (see
Darfur conflict).
★ There is also an insurgency in the east led by the
Eastern Front. On
October 14,
2006, both the Sudanese government and the Eastern Front signed a power-sharing agreement ending the insurgency.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Sudan
Sudan is situated in northern Africa, bordering the
Red Sea and it has a coastline of 853 km along the Red Sea.
[27] With an area of 2,505,810 square kilometres (967,499
sq mi), it is the largest country in the continent and tenth largest in the world. It borders the countries of
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Egypt,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
Kenya,
Libya and
Uganda. It is dominated by the River
Nile and its tributaries.
The terrain is generally flat plains, broken by several mountain ranges; in the west the
Jebel Marra is the highest range; in the south is the highest mountain
Mount Kinyeti Imatong, near the border with
Uganda; in the east are the Red Sea Hills.
[28]
The
Blue and
White Niles meet in
Khartoum to form the
River Nile, which flows northwards through
Egypt to the
Mediterranean Sea.
Blue Nile's course through Sudan is nearly 800 km long and is joined by the rivers
Dinder and
Rahad between
Sennar and
Khartoum. The
White Nile within Sudan has no significant tributaries.
The amount of rainfall increases towards the south. In the north there is the very dry
Nubian Desert; in the south there are swamps and rain forest. Sudan’s rainy season lasts for about three months (July to September) in the north, and up to six months (June to November) in the south. The dry regions are plagued by
sand storms, known as
haboob, which can completely block out the sun. In the northern and western semi-desert areas, people rely on the scant rainfall for basic agriculture and many are
nomadic, traveling with their herds of
sheep and
camels. Nearer the
River Nile, there are
well-irrigated farms growing
cash crops.
[29]
There are several dams on the
Blue and
White Niles. Among them are the
Sennar and
Roseires on the
Blue Nile, and
Jebel Aulia dam on the
White Nile. There is also
Lake Nubia on the Sudan-Egyptian border.
Rich mineral resources are available in Sudan including:
petroleum,
natural gas,
gold,
silver,
chromite,
asbestos,
manganese,
gypsum,
mica,
zinc,
iron,
lead,
uranium,
copper,
kaolin,
cobalt,
granite,
nickel and
tin.
[30]
Desertification is a serious problem in Sudan.
[31] There is also concern over
soil erosion.
Agricultural expansion, both public and private, has proceeded without
conservation measures. The consequences have manifested themselves in the form of
deforestation, soil desiccation, and the lowering of
soil fertility and the
water table.
[32]
The nation's wildlife is threatened by hunting. As of 2001, twenty-one
mammal species and nine bird species are endangered, as well as two types of plants. Endangered species include: the
waldrapp, northern
white rhinoceros, tora
hartebeest, slender-horned
gazelle, and
hawksbill turtle. The Sahara
oryx has become extinct in the wild.
[33]
In May 2007, it was announced that hundreds of wild
elephants have been located on a previously unknown, treeless island in the
Sudd swampland region of southern Sudan. The exact location being kept secret to protect the animals from
poachers.
[34]
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Sudan
Despite new economic policies and infrastructure investments, Sudan still faces formidable economic problems as it must rise from a very low level of per capita output. Since 1997, Sudan has been implementing the macroeconomic reforms recommended by the
IMF. In 1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus. Increased oil production (the current production is about 520,000 barrels per day) revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones helped sustain GDP growth at 6.1% in 2003. These gains, along with improvements to monetary policy, have stabilized the exchange rate. Currently oil is Sudan's main export, and the production is increasing dramatically. With rising oil revenues the Sudanese economy is booming at a growth rate of nearly 7% in 2005.
Rich mineral resources are available in Sudan including: petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, chrome, asbestos, manganese, gypsum, mica, zinc, iron, lead, uranium, copper, kaolin, cobalt, granite, nickel and tin. [24]
Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 39% of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability — including the long-standing civil war between the Muslim north and the Christian/animist south, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices — ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.
The Merowe High Dam, also known as Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project or Hamdab Dam, is a large construction project in northern Sudan, about 350 km north of the capital Khartoum. It is situated on the river Nile, close to the 4th Cataract where the river divides into multiple smaller branches with large islands in between. Merowe is a city about 40 km downstream from the construction site at Hamdab. The main purpose of the dam will be the generation of electricity. Its dimensions make it the largest contemporary hydro power project in Africa. The construction of the dam will be finished by mid 2008, supplying more than 90% of the population with electricity. Other gas powered electricity station are under construction in Khartoum state, these are also due to be completed by 2008.
Despite the American sanctions, the Sudanese economy is the one of the fastest growing in the world according to a New York Times report of October 2006.
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Sudan
In Sudan's 1993
census, the population was recorded to be 25 million. No comprehensive census has been carried out since then due to the continuation of the civil war. A 2006
United Nations estimate put the population at about 37 million. The population of metropolitan Khartoum (including Khartoum,
Omdurman, and
Khartoum North) is growing rapidly and is estimated at about 5 to 7 million, including around 2 million displaced persons from the southern war zone as well as western and eastern drought-affected areas.
Sudan has two distinct major cultures – Arabs with Nubian (Kushite) roots and non-Arab Black Africans – consisting of hundreds of ethnic and tribal divisions and language groups. This makes collaboration between them a major difficulty.
The northern states cover most of the Sudan and include most of the urban centers. Most of the 22 million Sudanese who live in this region are Arabic-speaking Muslims, though the majority also use a traditional non-Arabic mother tongue (e.g. Nubian, Beja, Fur, Nuban, Ingessana, etc) as education is in Arabic language. Among these are several distinct tribal groups: the
camel-raising Kababish of northern Kordofan; the Dongolawiyin (الدنقلاويين); the Ga’aliyin (الجعلين); the Rubatab (الرباطاب); the
Manasir (المناصير); the Shaiqiyah (الشايقيّة); the Bideiria ; the semi-nomadic Baggara of
Kurdufan and
Darfur; the
Beja in the Red Sea area and who extend into Eritrea; and the Nubians of the northern Nile areas, some of whom have been resettled on the Atbara River. Shokrya in the
Butana land, Bataheen bordering the Ga’alin and Shokrya in the south west of
Butana. Rufaa, Halaween,
Fulani and many other tribes have settled in the Gazeera region and on the banks of the
Blue Nile, Damazine and the Dindir region. The Nuba of southern Kurdufan and Fur in the western reaches of the country.
The southern region has a population of around 6 million and a predominantly rural, subsistence economy. This region has been affected by war for all but 10 years since independence in 1956, resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement. More than 2 million people have died, and more than 4 million are internally displaced or have become refugees as a result of the civil war and war-related impacts. Here a majority of the population practices traditional indigenous beliefs, although some practice
Christianity, a result of Christian
missionary efforts. The south also contains many tribal groups and many more languages are used than in the north. The
Dinka, whose population is estimated at more than 1 million, are the largest of the many black African tribes of the Sudan. Along with the
Shilluk and the
Nuer they are
Nilotic tribes. The
Azande,
Bor, and
Jo Luo are “Sudanic” tribes in the west, and the
Acholi and
Lotuhu live in the extreme south, extending into
Uganda.
The linga franca in Southern Sudan is a variant of Arabic called "Juba Arabic"; the
English language is used by the educated elite.
Some western African tribes like the Fallata also known as Fulani and Hausa have migrated to Sudan long times ago and have settled in various regions of Sudan, mainly in the north, and most of them speak Arabic as well as their original languages.
Peoples of Sudan
Jawamaa
Official languages
According to the 2005 constitution, Sudan's official languages are
Arabic and
English:
[35]
Culture
A man falls into a trance during a
Sufi ceremony in
Khartoum.
★
Culture of Sudan
★
Music of Sudan
★
Islam in Sudan
According to estimates, Sudan is predominantly
Muslim. Approximately 75% of the population adheres to
Islam, while approximately 15-20% of the population subscribe to animist or indigenous beliefs, and about 5% of the population (concentrated in the south) is Christian. Sudan's largest Christian denominations are the
Roman Catholic Church, the
Episcopal Church of the Sudan, the
Presbyterian Church in the Sudan and the
Coptic Orthodox Church.
Sudanese writers, artists and singers
★
List of Sudanese writers
★
List of Sudanese singers
Education
Main articles: Education in Sudan
Institutions of higher education in the Sudan include:
See also
External links
★
Government of Sudan official homepage (in Arabic)
★
Sudan.Net
★
Sudan Photographic Exhibition - Documentary photographer's images of Sudan's displaced
★
The Juba Post - South Sudan's Independent Newspaper
★
IRIN humanitarian news and analysis - Sudan
★ [http://www.soatsudan.org Sudan Organisation Against Torture
Notes and references
1. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sudan&searchmode=none
2. http://www.sudani.co.za/economy_agricul_sudan.htm
3. 2007 Work Plan of the United Nations and partners
4. Comments to IRIN by UN Spokesperson Maurizio Giuliano
5. IHT: United Nations concerned that floods emergency may worsen
6. Press Relase by United Nations, 06 August 2007.
7. Press Release by United Nations, 16 August 2007
8. Press Release by United Nations, 20 August 2007
9. http://www.sudan-embassy.co.uk/infobook/history.php
10. Morrison, J. Stephen and Alex de Waal. "Can Sudan Escape its Intractability?" 'Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict'. Eds. Crocker, Chester A., Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamel Aall. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2005, p. 162
11. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-09-09-sudan-powell_x.htm
12. http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/38/9182
13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm
14. http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/background
15. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/65972.htm
16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4978668.stm
17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4978668.stm
18. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,1893427,00.html
19. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,1893427,00.html
20. http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/sudan/articles/20061011.aspx
21. Sudan, Chad agree to stop fighting
22. Guardian (UK), November 17, 2006 - Sudan agrees to allow UN troops in Darfur
23. - Guardian (UK), December 15, 2006 - Prosecutors move closer to Darfur trial
24. Human Rights Watch letter
25. [9]
26. http://www.iss.co.za/af/profiles/Sudan/darfur/cpaprov.htm
27. ISS Sudan geography
28. Country Studies
29. Oxfam
30. Sudan embassy website
31. University of Khartoum
32. Dept of Forestry, University of Khartoum
33. Nations Encyclopedia
34. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/05/28/sudan.elephants.reut/index.html
35.
★ Short History Of Sudan, iUniverse (
April 30,
2004), ISBN-13: 978-0595314256.
★ The Problem of Dar Fur iUniverse, Inc. (
July 21,
2005), ISBN-13: 978-0595365029
★ UN Intervention in Dar Fur, iUniverse, Inc. (
February 9,
2007), ISBN-13: 978-0595429790
★ Quo Vadis bilad as-Sudan? The Contemporary Framework for a National Interim Constitution, in: Law in Africa Vol. 8, (Cologne 2005), pp.63-82. ISSN 1435-0963
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