Sudan

Sudan, formerly spelled Soudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in the Northern Africa region. Its capital is Khartoum. Surface area of this country is 2,505,813 sq km and the name of its currency is pound.

Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. It is now the third largest country in Africa and also in the Arab world.

History

Historically, Sudan or "The Land of the Blacks", refers to a region much larger than the present Sudan, is the cradle of the negro race, a vast tract of territory stretching East and West across the African continent from the Atlantic (West) to the Red Sea and Highlands of Abyssinia (East), between the Sahara (West) and the Gulf of Guinea and the central equatorial provinces (South). The region is divided into -
(a) Upper Sudan, embracing Senegambia, Sierra Leone, Ashanti, Dahomey, Liberia, and west coast-lands;
(b) Lower Sudan, including the Fulah States, Massina, Gando, Sokoto, &c.;
(c) Egyptian Sudan, which in 1882 was subdivided into (1) West Soudan, including Dar-Fur, Kordofan, Bahr-el-Ghazal, and Dongola; (2) Central Soudan, comprising Khartoum, Sennaar, Berber, Fashoda, and the Equatorial Province, &c.; (3) Eastern Sudan, bordering on the Red Sea, and embracing Taka, Suakim, and Massowah; (4) Harar, stretching East of Abyssinia. The extension of Egyptian rule into this territory began in 1819 with the capture of Khartoum, which became the base of military operations, ending in the gradual conquest of the surrounding regions in 1874. A serious revolt, fanned by religious fanaticism, broke out in 1882, and headed by the Mahdi and his lieutenant Osman Digna, ended in the utter rout of the Egyptian forces under Hicks Pasha and Baker Pasha. Gordon, after a vain attempt to relieve him, perished in Khartoum. However, but Stanley was more successful in relieving Emin Bey in the Equatorial Province. Anarchy and despotism ensued until the victorious campaign of Kitchener again restored the lost provinces to Egypt.

Nearby pages
Sudarium, Sudarshan Chakra, Sudbury, Sudetic Mountains, Sudhangshu Kumar Lahiri