Everything about Sudan totally explained
Sudan (officially the
Republic of Sudan) (as-Sūdān) is the largest country in
Africa and
tenth largest country in the world by area. 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. The country's name derives from the Arabic
Bilad-al-sudan, literally "land of the blackened."
First Sudanese Civil War 1955 - 1972
In 1955, 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 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 from 1983 - 2005
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 Sudan, which violated the Addis Ababa Agreement that had granted the south considerable autonomy.
Southern Sudan
The
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), based in southern Sudan, was formed in May 1983. Finally, in June 1983, the Sudanese government under President Gaafar Nimeiry abrogated the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement (A.A.A.)
(External Link
). The situation was exacerbated after President Gaafar Nimeiry went on to implement
Sharia Law in September of the same year
(External Link).
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 Sudan but agreed to negotiate with government officials as representative of their political parties.
In 1989, a bloodless coup brought control of Khartoum into 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 Defence 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. In 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 20 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." 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.
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 deposits equally, but also left both the north's and south's armies in place.
John Garang, the south's peace agreement appointed 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.
In October 2007 the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew from government in protest over slow implementation of a landmark 2005 peace deal which ended the civil war. Observers say the biggest obstacle to reconciliation is the unresolved status of the oil-rich region of Abyei, which is on the north-south border. Few weeks afterwards, leading Islamist opposition party leader Hassan al-Turabi affirmed that South Sudan could unilaterally split from the north because of a dispute over the region of Abyei.
Darfur conflict 2003 - Present
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's 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. According to declarations by the United States Government, these militias have been engaging in
genocide; the fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of them seeking refuge in neighbouring
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", claiming it as the worst
humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. 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. So far, over 2.5 million civilians have been displaced and the death toll is variously estimated at 200,000 to 400,000 killed.
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. 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. The agreement, which was brokered by the
African Union, however, wasn't signed by all of the rebel groups. Recently, both the Sudanese government and government-sponsored Muslim 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. 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
Black Arabs.
The
International Criminal Court has indicted State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun and alleged Muslim Janjaweed militia leader Ali Mohammed Ali Mohammed Ali aka Ali Kosheib, in relation to the atrocities in the region.
Ahmed Haroun belongs to the Bargou 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.
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.
Eastern Front
The
Eastern Front is a coalition of rebel groups operating in eastern
Sudan along the border with
Eritrea, particularly the
states of
Red Sea and
Kassala. The Eastern Front's Chairman is
Musa Mohamed Ahmed. While the
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was the primary member of the Eastern Front, the SPLA was obliged to leave by the January 2005 agreement that ended the
Second Sudanese Civil War. Their place was taken in February 2004 after the merger of the larger
Beja Congress with the smaller
Rashaida Free Lions, two tribal based groups of the
Beja and
Rashaida people, respectively. The
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a rebel group from
Darfur in the west, then joined.
Both the Free Lions and the Beja Congress stated that government inequity in the distribution of oil profits was the cause of their rebellion. They demanded to have a greater say in the composition of the national government, which has been seen as a destabilizing influence on the agreement ending the conflict in
Southern Sudan.
The Eastern Front had threatened to block the flow of
crude oil, which travels from the
oil fields of the south-central regions to outside
markets through Port Sudan. A government plan to build a second
oil refinery near Port Sudan was also threatened. The government was reported to have three times as many soldiers in the east to suppress the rebellion and protect vital infrastructure as in the more widely reported Darfur region.
The Eritrean government in mid-2006 dramatically changed their position on the conflict. From being the main supporter of the Eastern Front they decided that bringing the Sudanese government around the negotiating table for a possible agreement with the rebels would be in their best interests.
They were successful in their attempts and on the
19 June 2006, the two sides signed an agreement on declaration of principles. This was the start of four months of Eritrean-mediated negotiations for a comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Eastern Front, which culminated in signing of a peace agreement on
14 October 2006, in Asmara. The agreement covers security issues, power sharing at a federal and regional level, and wealth sharing in regards to the three Eastern states
Kassala,
Red Sea and
Al Qadarif.
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. 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.
In July 2007, many parts of the country were devastated by
flooding, 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. Over 400,000 people were directly affected, with over 3.5 million at risk of epidemics. 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.
Politics
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's 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
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 Sudanese Government 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.
The United States has listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993.
(External Link) U.S. firms have been barred from doing business in Sudan since 1997.
(External Link) In 1998, the
Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum was destroyed by a US cruise missile strike because of its alleged production of chemical weapons and links to
al-Qaeda.
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.
(External Link) 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.
(External Link) On
May 11,
2008 Sudan announced it was cutting diplomatic relations with Chad, claiming that it was helping rebels in
Darfur to attack the Sudanese capital
Khartoum .
On
December 27 2005, Sudan became one of the few
states to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over
Western Sahara.
(External Link)
On
June 20 2006 President Omar al-Bashir told reporters that he wouldn't allow any UN peacekeeping force into Sudan. President al-Bashir denounced any such mission as "colonial forces."
(External Link)
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. 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'd be proceeding with cases of human rights violations against members of the Sudan government. 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.
Legal system
The legal system in Sudan is based on English common law and Islamic law; as of 20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion; however, the CPA establishes some protections for non-Muslims in Khartoum; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; the southern legal system is still developing under the CPA following the civil war; Islamic law won't apply to the southern states.
The
judicial branch of the government consist of: Constitutional Court of nine justices; National Supreme Court; National Courts of Appeal; other national courts; National Judicial Service Commission will undertake overall management of the National Judiciary .
Human rights
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.
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"
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.
(External Link)
States and districts
Sudan is divided into
twenty-six states (
wilayat,
sing. wilayah) which in turn are subdivided into
133 districts. The states are:
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. 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 Sudanese government and a group of rebelling peoples of the region. (see Darfur conflict, Transitional Darfur Regional Authority).
There was 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
Sudan is situated in northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea and it has a coastline of 853 km along the Red Sea. With an area of 2,505,810 square kilometres (967,499 sq mi), it's 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.
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's 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.
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.
Desertification is a serious problem in Sudan. 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 dessication, and the lowering of soil fertility and the water table.
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.
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.
Image:Africa_Mt_Dair.jpg|Mount Dair in central Sudan
Image:Sudd_swamp.jpg|A swamp in southern Sudan
Image:Sudan_sat.jpg|Sudan satellite image
Economy
Despite being the sixth fastest growing economy in the world, 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 ) 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 about 9% in 2007. Sustained growth is expected next year, not only because of increasing oil production, but also due to the boost of hydroelectricity(annual electricity yield of 5.5 TWh) by Merowe Dam, which will produce energy later this year.
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 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 stations 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
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 597 tribes that speak over 400 different languages dialects, but there are two distinct major cultures Arabs with Nubian roots and non-Arab Africans consisting of hundreds of ethnic and tribal divisions and language groups. The northern states cover most of 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 (for example 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 (فولاني) 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.
It is important to distinguish the Sudanese Arab from other Arabs of the Middle East. Sudanese Arabs are descended primarily from the ancient Nubians. In terms of racial origin, it isn't 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, Arabised the Nubians into the Sudanese 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). This process of Arabisation was repeated throughout North Africa and the Middle East, for example, 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.
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 Sudan. Along with the Shilluk and the Nuer they're 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 "lingua 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
Arakeien
Abddallab
Ababda
Ashraf
Azande
Bataheen
Baggara
Beja
Bideiria Dahmshiia
Dinka
Fulbe
Fur people
Hausa
Halfaween
Hamar
Hasania
Horefaen
Ja'Alin
Gaalin
Luo
Madi
Mahas
Manasir
Masalit
Mundari
Nuba
Nuer
Rashaida
Rubatab
Shaigiya
Shokrya
Zande
Zaghawa
Sudanese Arabs
Tama People
Official languages
According to the 2005 constitution, Sudan's official languages are Arabic and English:
Culture
Culture of Sudan
Music of Sudan
Islam in Sudan
According to estimates, Sudan is predominantly Muslim. Approximately 70% of the population adheres to Islam, while approximately 20-25% of the population subscribe to animist or indigenous beliefs. The remaining 5-10% of the population (concentrated largely in the south) are Christian. Sudan's largest Christian denominations are the following: 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
Institutions of higher education in Sudan include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sudan'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://sudan.totallyexplained.com">Sudan Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
